Congratulations! The Branford Boase shortlist has featured many popular authors as they started out.  What does it mean to make this shortlist?

Thank you! It’s incredible being shortlisted and to be following in the footsteps of so many amazing debut writers who have gone on to accomplish great things. Writing speculative fiction for young readers has been a long-time passion of mine, and knowing the Branford Boase Award recognises collaborations that set standards in publishing excellence makes the extended journey feel worthwhile. I wouldn’t be here without my brilliant editors, Natasha and Jenny, and I’m eternally grateful to them for encouraging me to delve deeper whenever they saw the potential for Augmented to be better. I love that this award publicly recognises their critical input, especially as not everyone realises how much work goes into editing manuscripts after a book is signed. It truly is a team effort.

Lots of librarians use this list to host book clubs in their schools, what would you love young readers to take from your book?

I have so many thoughts for this, but I’ll highlight two. We writers are urged by our editors to ensure our characters have agency, and I would love this to be reflected in the lives of our readers. I think it’s important for young people to be confident enough to question ‘the norm’, to become radical social thinkers and advocates for causes they feel passionate about. Akaego, my protagonist, starts off as a conformist in a social system that appears to be functioning well (and there’s nothing wrong with that), but it’s when she opens up her mind to the idea that things may not be as they seem that she discovers her true purpose.

Secondly, there are a lot of technological ‘advancements’ in the book intended to help civilisation survive in a climate-challenged world, and these are all rooted in existing science and technology. Yes, even the ‘fantastical’ idea of accelerated plant growth using sound frequency. Some things I knew from my job as an architect and my involvement in the built environment, and most I learned from tons of research which turned out to be a lot of fun. I’d like young readers to think further than the text on the page and envisage how fictional technology could become reality in the near future. Maybe they can write about developments they hope will exist, or they could be the ones who take an optimistic view on things seen as problems and invent solutions that add value to our world.

Many readers of your nominated book will be students between 8 – 13 years old (some are slightly older ahem). What book do you remember reading at that time that has stuck with you into adulthood?

I grew up in Nigeria and had a varied reading experience filled with fantastic books by both West African and international authors. I read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart as a teenager which really stuck with me for its rich storytelling and unexpected ending. I always read ahead for my age and some of the themes are a bit dark for younger readers, but I think Achebe’s writing is worth picking up for teens.

We’d love to know: the Worst Bit, the Best Bit and a Random Rest bit about writing a book for young people.

Worst Bit: Being much older than my target audience and worrying about keeping up with slang. I try to stay clear of this in general, but I’m sure a couple of ‘uncool’ terms slip in.

Best Bit: Nostalgia! I always joke that I’m eternally sixteen in my mind, so being able to write for that age feels like returning to a place of comfort, even if stakes are high or the world is perilous in my stories.

Random Rest Bit: This one is not so much about the writing process, but afterwards – attending school visits and other book festivals/events! At first, I was nervous about talking to rooms filled with young readers, but I’ve enjoyed exchanging ideas with a wide range of people and seeing firsthand how important reading for pleasure is for young readers. The best part of these outings is sharing writing tips with budding young writers.

Congratulations! The Branford Boase shortlist has featured many popular authors as debuts and their editors.  What does it mean to make this shortlist?

It’s such a special thing to be shortlisted alongside Jenny and Kenechi, and I am so grateful to the prize for highlighting that wonderful relationship between editor and author. I am relatively new to editing so it is extra special to have this recognition at this point in my career and there are so many incredible editors who have been shortlisted (and won) previously, including my mentors Leah Thaxton and Alice Swan, so to follow in their footsteps is a real honour.

How has being an editor changed in the last 2 years with the increasing access to AI tools?

Not really! I think the work of an editor can’t really be replicated by AI as it’s such a creative skillset.

For students reading wondering how a book comes together, what top three skills do you think are necessary for being an editor in 2026?

Attention to detail, time management and communication.

Many readers of your nominated book will be students between 8 – 13 years old (some are slightly older ahem). What book do you remember reading at that time that has stuck with you into adulthood?

Tamora Pierce’s books, starting with Alana: The First Adventure – I picked up of all her books in the school library, I have a whole shelf at home with her books and recently bought the gorgeous Illumicrate editions of the first quartet. They started my love of YA sci-fi and fantasy, which continues to this day!

We’d love to know: the Worst Bit, the Best Bit and a Random Rest bit about editing a book for young people.

Worst Bit: When you have to tell an author that the title they love for their book won’t work in the market.

Best Bit: Having meetings to discuss edits with your authors when you are all on the same page and bouncing ideas off one another! We had some brilliant chats about Augmented.

Random Rest Bit: Working with the designer on the cover brief and helping to choose an illustrator – a really fun and interesting bit of the process that not everyone might know about!

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Many thanks to Kenechi and Natasha for answering our questions about Kenechi’s debut novel Augmented.  You can find out more about this book below and catch up with all the Branford Boase shortlist books on our Book Awards page here.