by Ayo Oyeku

The international book market is getting filled with amazing middle-grade and young-adult novels by authors from Africa (and of African descent). The call for diversity and inclusion in children’s literature is yielding positive results, and a veteran in the industry, Sarah Odedina, has set up an agency that is will surely continue this wave of success—African children’s literature has come to stay. Accord Literary is the first African children’s book agency that connects both local and international African talents with international publishing houses. Sarah Odedina tells us how the agency has been helping African writers hone their writing skills, and also bridge the publishing gaps.

Ayo Oyeku (AO): Accord Literary serves as the first African children’s book agency connecting African writers with publishing houses within and beyond the continent. How did it all begin?

Sarah Odedina (SO): In 2018, I was doing a research paper for the British Council about children’s publishing in West Africa and I visited Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone where I was fortunate to meet with very motivated and exciting people, both publishers and authors. The message I got from nearly everyone was that it would be great to have more access to ‘training’ and specialist knowledge of the children’s book world. I have worked in publishing for over 30 years, and nearly all that time in the world of literature for young readers, so I felt there may be some value in sharing my knowledge and know-how of the industry and particularly the editorial process with people. By 2019, the word was out that Accord existed and was looking for authors to work with—authors that would benefit from one-to-one mentoring. And that was the start of our agency. At first, we were mentoring writers, but it was soon becoming clear that the authors who joined us had great book ideas which we thought we could help find international publishing partners for.

I believe that great writers become great by continually polishing their craft and improving their skills. Accord literary can serve as an opportunity for writers to do that, as well as a channel for those writers to find readers around the world through the commercial relationships that we can create for them.

AO: There are some amazing people behind the agency. Can you tell us about them and the roles they play?

SO: We are currently myself on the editorial side, and I work with a small team of editors in the UK who work one-to-one with the authors, and a rights person who handles and oversees the sales of the book. We also work with someone in Lagos who is the marketing and social media lead for Accord Literary. We are a small tight team.

AO: You have over 30 years’ experience in the international publishing space. How do you define children’s fiction?

SO: Children’s literature is a vitally important sector of the publishing industry. Without books for children that inspire, entertain and enthrall, it’s hard to imagine an adult market existing. Books for young people should be engaging and treat the young reader with respect. They are not an educational tool. They should be entertaining and from that, the reader engages with the world in a rich and informative way which expands their horizons and opens their minds. I feel sad that there is a divide in people’s minds between books for young readers and books for adults as I’m certain that the quality, use of language and rich imaginative powers of authors writing for children is in no way inferior to those writing for adults. The difference is in the age of the protagonists and the way in which subjects can be handled. Books for YA readers handle quite tricky and complex themes very often, but they would be expressed in a different way to the way they would be expressed were it a book for adults. I defy an adult to read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman or Holes by Louis Sachar and not be stunned by the creative genius of both authors.

AO: You were once the Publishing Director of the children’s list of Bloomsbury Publishing, which saw the publication of the Harry Potter series. Do you think African writers have the creative capacity to create such powerful and compelling stories?

SO: I think African writers have the capability and ability to write any number of wonderful, life-enhancing and brilliant books because talent is not based on geography. I think that original story-telling, which is what is at the base of the success of the Harry Potter series, is often hard to find anywhere in the world, and anywhere in the world it’s up to the author to pursue original ideas.

AO: Accord Literary has been hosting creative writing workshops online and offline. What has the experience been like, and how has these sessions affected the participants?

SO: One of the reasons for starting Accord was to offer writers access to information, training, wider community, the chance to build skills, meet with professionals, and grow their talents. The retreats, workshops and online work we have been doing aim to address the fact that sometimes it is difficult for African authors of books for young people to get access to resources. From the feedback from participants, it seems to me that we are achieving our goal for democratizing information. Our project in Accra in May this year brought together around 40 creatives, writers, and illustrators from all over the world. As a result of that, an illustrator from Madrid is working with someone in Accra, writers are being represented by Accord, we are working with an illustrator in Nigeria, there is an active WhatsApp group encouraging creatives to apply for retreats, grants and opportunities worldwide. In May 2022 we ran a retreat in Gibraltar and from that, authors and illustrators have gained literary agents, got book contracts, found friendships, and built their skills and confidence. Overall, we have worked with people from North America, five European countries, six African countries and five Caribbean countries. Our reach is wide. The mentors of the retreats as well as the guests we invite to join on Zoom represent a wide range of the publishing industry coming from a variety of companies, locations, and professions. Ken Wilson Max is the publisher of Kumush, an imprint of HarperCollins, as well as a prize-winning illustrator in his own right; Eleanor Taylor is the author of over 40 very successful books for children; Yesha Townsend is a renowned Bermudian poet, and in May 2024 when we run the retreat in Gibraltar (which is now open for applicants so please do visit www.therockretreats.com) we shall include Victoria Wells Arms, a literary agent and former publisher from New York. The list of professionals who join us on Zoom is long – too long to go into, but it’s an invaluable opportunity for attendees to learn so much about what makes a great book for young readers.

AO: Tell us a bit about your authors: what makes them stand out, and what should we be expecting from them?

SO: The Accord stable of authors is a wonderful ‘mixed bag’ of styles and voices. Ranging from fantasy to historical, from books that are concerned with social issues to delightful funny space adventures. They all stand out because of their originality which I have previously said is, I believe, really the vital ingredient in a great children’s book. The authors come from across the continent – from Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana. We also have a couple of authors we are working with who are based in North America. To find out about our work, interested writers should visit our website www.accordliterary.com and read our submission criteria.

AO: Finally, is there a huge and viable market for African children’s literature in the global publishing space?

SO: There is a huge global appetite for stories from Africa. Stories that tell of lives and experiences that are created by own voice authors. The best-seller list for adult titles is peppered with titles by African authors. My ambition is to see the same happen on the best-seller lists for children’s books. The audience for these books are both people in the diaspora which is a huge audience as well as readers who want to share stories of people with life experiences different to their own. In the last few years, the market has really opened up and there’s hunger for exciting, original and well-told stories, including stories by African writers.

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