ABOUT US
We believe in the basic right to have access to one's literary heritage and this underpins our mission to curate and make discoverable, a body of literature that speak to the African narrative globally. Using technology as an enabler to Discover Africa's Stories, Digitalback Books was launched as a virtual library service offering readers via institutional partnerships, instant and affordable access to a carefuly curated cross publisher collection of titles curated from across Africa and its diaspora. DAS Editions launched in 2020 as an extension of our mission statement. As an imprint, the Discover Africa's Stories Editions will focus on the republishing of classic and contemporary literature in both original language and translated print editions.
FOUNDER
The seed of Digitalback Books was planted many years ago when Heinemann announced the discontinuation of the Africa Writers Series. Recognising that Africans both on the continent and in the Diaspora need to take a more proactive approach to their creative content, founder Gersy Ifeanyi Ejimofo left her career in the city to gain more hands on experience in the publishing industry. She has since worked on many projects for global publishers developing and implementing digital strategies internationally. Gersy has a BSc (Joint Hons) from the University of Birmingham and a Masters from the London School of Economics.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Olakunle Sogbein is the Managing Director of Quantum Educational Resources Ltd, based in Ibadan, Nigeria. He was the Executive Secretary (Director) of the Nigerian Publishers Association from March 2004 to March 2014. He has previously worked as a Sales Promotion Manager with Longman Nigeria Plc and as the Marketing Manager with the distributor for World Book publications in Nigeria. He has organized collective exhibitions for books published in Nigeria at international book fairs including the London Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Olakunle has a BSc(Hons) degree in Microbiology and an MBA. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. Olakunle is a full professional member of both the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute for Training and Development.
Katy Loffman is founder of Dandelion Digital and Rights Solutions specialising in eBook sales, rights, production and consultancy in all aspects of digital publishing. Katy's background is in rights, in mainstream trade publishing, and she has over 20 years experience of working in publishing. She also lectures on the Publishing MA at City University and has given courses at the Publishing Training Centre.
Jacqueline Auma is founder and organiser of the London Afro-Caribbean Book Club which boasts over 400 members and has been running since 2009. She organises regular events relating to books and literature in and around London and has moderated panel discussions at both Africa Writes and Black Book Swap. Jacqueline’s background is in law and when she is not reading or travelling, she manages Westlaw UK, Thomson Reuters’ flagship legal research database.
Lynette Lisk was Commissioning Editor for the African Writers Series at Pearson where she commissioned educational material for East and West Africa. Lynette has a Masters in African Literature from SOAS University where she explored diverse literary representations of African diasporic experience and taught at the Department of African Languages and Culture.