Careers in Publishing - Edinburgh 2022

Caro Clarke is a literary agent with over ten years' experience in publishing – at Transworld (PRH) and at Canongate Books as a Senior Rights Manager. They were named Rights Professional of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021. In 2019, they co-founded the Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented nature writers, which kickstarted a passion to demystify the publishing industry and help emerging writers to develop their craft and build their writing careers. Portobello Literary was established in 2022 to build on that work.

Leodora Darlington currently works for Amazon Publishing UK, and is thoroughly enjoying the adventures of life as a publishing professional. She has a history of working on bestselling commercial fiction and working with number-one-bestselling authors. Before moving to Amazon Publishing, she worked for independent publisher Canelo, and before that, Hachette UK.

When it comes to finding new writing to publish, she is particularly fond unputdownable thrillers, but also has a soft spot for stories that truly pull on the heart strings, alongside quirky book club fiction. She is hugely passionate about books written by or featuring diverse voices, across the whole spectrum of diversity and is actively seeking them!

She is the founder of Owned Voices which aims to help writers who would one day like to see their novels in print develop both their writing talent and their understanding of the publishing industry. They believe that it is important for writers—particularly under-represented writers—to have a dedicated space and time in which they can think critically about their writing, find peers with whom they can share and discuss work, and have the routes into getting work published demystified by professionals who work within the industry.

Leodora first studied creative writing at undergraduate level at the University of Southampton. She went on to complete a creative writing MA at Brunel University, graduating with a distinction.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Children's Literature and Literacies in the School of Education, where I teach and research topics related to Children's and Young Adult literature and book culture. I joined Glasgow University in April 2021. Prior to my appointment at Glasgow University, I was an Associate Professor of Publishing and Book Culture for six years. I continue to be an Honorary Associate Professor of Publishing at UCL.

I am an expert in inclusive youth literature and have published widely on the topic; alongside numerous publications about contemporary book culture. My book Inclusive Young Adult Fiction: Authors of Colour in the United Kingdom, 2006-2016, was published by Palgrave in 2019. Some of the results of this research project have appeared in the Guardian. Cambridge University Press will publish my forthcoming book, Book Trade Activism and Anthologies: Advocating for Change in the UKYA Market, in 2022. I have also co-authored a Book Studies textbook The Publishing Business: A Guide to Starting Out and Getting on, which Bloomsbury published in 2018.

I am the editor of the book series: 'Young Adult Publishing' (Cambridge University Press), as well as the guest editor for a number of special editions including the “#ReflectingRealities and Inclusive Youth Literature in the U.K." edition of The Lion and the Unicorn (2020). My connection to inclusive youth literature extends beyond academia: I was a judge on the UKYA Book Prize in 2018, and am on the Advisory Boards for the CLPE Reflecting Realities project, the Pop-up Pathways into Children’s Publishing project, and the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards. I have also written articles for non-academic publications such as Pen&Inc, a magazine that celebrates diversity and inclusion in Children's Publishing, and English 4-11, a United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) publication.