Molara Wood, the celebrated Nigerian journalist, critic, writer and editor has joined Ouida Books and One Read Africa as Chief Editor. Ouida Books made the announcement on their Twitter page on Wednesday. 

Ouida Books was founded in 2016 by Lola Shoneyin, Ake Festival director and author of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. Although the publishing house hasn’t been around for too long, they have published books by authors like Tomi Adeyemi, Frankie Edozien, Odafe Atogun, Nnedi Okorafor, Ayobami Adebayo, Dami Ajayi, Chike, Feyi Olubodun, Hadiza El Rufai, and Ayo Oyeku. Operating under Ouida Books are two other imprints named Tanja and Cognix, the former for children’s books and the latter for works of nonfiction. 

In addition, One Read Africa is set to kick off this year in collaboration with Sterling Bank. One Read is a subscription-based application designed to encourage reading in Africa. The application will grant readers access to one new book every month. 

The publishing house has announced that Molara Wood will be joining the Ouida family as its Chief Editor. 

Wood currently sits on the advisory board of the Ake Festival and edits Ake Review, the festival’s annual publication. She is the author of Indigo, a collection of short stories, and an art columnist for The Guardian. Her work has been published in a host of journals and anthologies including Chimurenga, African Literature Today, Farafina Magazine, DrumVoices Revue, Sable LitMag, Eclectica Magazine, and BBC Africa Beyond. She won the inaugural John La Rose Memorial Short Story Competition and received an award from the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. In 2015, she was on the panel of judges for the Etisalat Prize for Literature. 

Following the announcement, Per Brittle Paper, Shoneyin explained that Molara Wood has always been a member of the Ake Festival/Ouida Books family. She said that she has been editing their annual Ake Review for four years and has been doing a stellar job.

“Ouida Books was seeking a chief editor who not only had range and experience, but also could take the publishing house in new directions and to new heights. Ms Wood has the Midas touch. She has worked with writers of all ages and abilities and we are absolutely delighted to have her running Ouida Books. She is an asset on so many levels,” Shoneyin concluded.