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Joelle Owusu-Sekyere joins #Merky Books as editorial director
Joelle Owusu-Sekyere has joined #Merky Books as editorial director. The news of her appointment follows the departure of senior commissioning editor Lemara Lindsay-Prince.
Owusu-Sekyere will report to publisher Helen Conford and joins an editorial team also including editor Danai Denga and freelance editor-at-large Ore Agbaje-Williams.
Having worked at Unbound, the world’s first crowdfunding publisher, Owusu-Sekyere was commissioning editor at Coronet before being appointed editorial director of non-fiction at Renegade Books, an imprint of Dialogue Books, in 2023.
A Bookseller Rising Star, her publishing includes Black and Great by Rene Germain, the Nero Book Prize shortlisted The Tidal Year by Freya Bromley and the Sunday Times bestseller, Finding Me by Viola Davis (both published by Hodder).
Joelle said: “I am delighted to join #Merky Books as editorial director and feel energised by the team’s ambition for the future. #Merky’s core values align so well with the books I love to publish so I am looking forward to getting started and being a part of the continued growth and success of the imprint.”
Conford said: “Joelle impressed us with her vision for the list, her track of creative and engaged publishing, and her engagement and commitment to the community values which underlay everything in #Merky Books. Her strategic mind, enthusiasm and wealth of ideas will bring dividends to our publishing, and I can’t wait to see what happens to the list under her eye.”
Lindsay-Prince, a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022, was senior commissioning editor for #Merky Books for four years, and left earlier this year. #Merky Books said of her contribution to the imprint: “While bringing the cultural vision of the imprint to life, she championed impactful titles such as Jade LB’s Keisha the Sket, (which won a British Book Award in 2022) and Caster Semenya’s autobiography; and acquired Jason Allen-Paisant and Tressie McMillan Cottom for Hutchinson Heinemann. She will continue to work with authors Ore Ogunbiyi and Ebony Reid at #Merky Books.”
The award-winning #Merky Books imprint now is now in its sixth year and will publish eight new titles this year. Last year saw five-year anniversary celebrations including a literary festival at the Roundhouse and an appearance at the Hay Festival.
