Aki Schilz

Aki Schilz is the Director of The Literary Consultancy, the UK's longest-running editorial consultancy for writers, providing editing services, mentoring and literary events. In 2020 she launched the Being A Writer platform, which focuses on the importance of cultivating creativity and building resilience. Aki is a judge for various literary awards including the Bridport Prize First Novel Award, and appears regularly at conferences and events to talk about the value of editing, about publishing, and the importance of building inclusive cultures in the creative industries. She regularly campaigns for systemic change, including as founder of the #BookJobTransparency campaign for which she was shortlisted for the Kim Scott Walwyn Women in Publishing Award. In 2020, Aki was named as one of the Bookseller 150, a list of the most influential people in UK publishing. She is also the founder of the Rebecca Swift Foundation, a registered charity that celebrates and advocates for women poets in the UK, and is home to the Women Poets’ Prize and the Women Poets’ Network.