Stig Abell is on a mission for more people to discover his “treasure trove”.

The new Times Literary Supplement (TLS) Editor also firmly believes “more can be done” with the News UK title.

In late April, former The Sun managing editor Abell took over the TLS reins from Peter Stothard. Sir Peter, editor since 2002, will continue as a consultant editor to the TLS on classics and politics.

Abell becomes the 11th TLS editor in its 114-year history. He first started writing reviews for the weekly TLS after graduating from Emmanuel College in Cambridge with a double first in English 15 years ago.

He said from his News Building base:

The purpose of the TLS is to defend the importance of literary culture. Long-term writing about major issues not just literature but history, politics, arts for example. Hard-hitting but clever writing – a treasure trove, an intellectual powerhouse.”

Family man Abell, 36, is married with a seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. The family lives in Barnes, south-west London.

Abell joined the Press Complaints Commission from university in 2001, becoming the industry watchdog’s director eight years later. He became The Sun managing editor in 2013.

During his time with The Sun, he read the complete works of Shakespeare while commuting –such is his love of literature.

Abell was keen to stress that TLS changes will be “additionals, not substitutions”. He added: “We have highly-loyal readers. We don’t want to take away from what is well-loved.”

Content-wise, he was looking at extra cultural material, more film reviews, essays and works-in-progress.

He saw his audience in two main categories – academics and university-educated professionals.

The TLS has 30,000 subscribers for its print and digital versions, with Abell eager to embrace new technology.

There is to be a regular podcast with major book reviews and a Red Box-style TLS weekly newsletter. The title’s website has already been refreshed.

Abell sees further development in the American market, already accounting for almost one-third of sales.

He added: “The TLS is a small part of News, but that doesn’t mean being at the back of the queue for resources.”

For instance, Abell has big plans for the TLS presence at this October’s Times/Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. He also wants the TLS to become part of The Times subscription packages.

Abell also commented: “I see a healthy future for quality niche-defined content.”

He breaks a literary exclusive this week with excerpts of the latest work of 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Svetlana Alexievich, being translated from Russian. Second-hand Time charts the collapse of the USSR.

Investigative journalist and author Alexievich achieved fame with her collection of eyewitness accounts following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

Abell, who is continuing his roles as a LBC Radio Sunday show presenter and Sky News paper reviewer, is still looking at design changes on the TLS print version.

But he has already introduced sub-heads for all main reviews in the paper to help explain content. Clearly, precious little will escape this eagle-eyed editor.