About Owned Voices

Owned Voices was founded by Leodora Darlington, a commissioning editor passionate about hearing stories from a diverse range of voices. This passion led her to design the Owned Voices creative writing workshop, a workshop created specifically for writers from backgrounds traditionally under-represented in publishing. In 2021 she launched the Owned Voices Novel Award.

The aim of Owned Voices is 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. We 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 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!

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.