Abigail Bergstrom

As a self-confessed book obsessive, what is it about reading that you love so much?

To me reading is meditative, what I love most is how it quietens my mind, slows me down and transports me into a different psychological state. I love having access to the places, worlds, centuries and perspectives I’ve never experienced. I love the smell of the pages, the crack of the spine. I love the solitude it brings, one that’s both peaceful and reflexive. Words fall short, they can’t possibly translate the complexity of feeling, nor the human experience, but a book can sometimes transcend the language that forms its skeleton and capture something too awesome and beyond our consciousness to name.

What were the stories that you grew up reading and being inspired by?

I loved Jacqueline Wilson, I was captivated by the darker and spiky edges of her characters and I loved the magical and fantastical in Roald Dahl’s stories. But for me, it was less about falling in love with one particular story and more a desperation to communicate. I had two older sisters who were bigger, cleverer and faster than I was. I wanted my own voice. I wanted to keep up. Books and language offered this; they were the gateway for me to better articulate myself and harness the power of language to be heard.

How did you find yourself in the book world?

By the time I finished university I had two CVs – one creative with placements at PR agencies, magazines, newspapers and the likes, and the other focused on a career in law. I couldn’t choose between the two and so killed myself doing double the internships to keep my options open for as long as possible. I took a gap year after I got my BA in English Literature and moved to Hong Kong where I’d set up placements for myself – one at an international law firm and one shadowing a barrister on what turned out to be a high-profile murder case. I remember going shopping with my parents for a suit, something appropriate to wear on my placements – we went everywhere. Every shop, department store, retailer and boutique and nothing worked, nothing fit, nothing felt right. My mother, totally dismayed (which is a nice way of saying pissed off), stormed off to see if they had anything else in my size, irritated that I was grimacing at myself in yet another perfectly good suit. “What’s the problem?” my stepdad asked. I didn’t know. “It’s not the suits love, it’s something else. What’s really the problem here?” I felt choked in the formal attire – restrained, restricted, blocked. My stepdad pointed out that if the clothes I’d need to wear in this corporate, hierarchal environment didn’t feel right, perhaps the job wasn’t either. It was a metaphor for unspoken reservations, an epiphany of sorts – “if the shoe doesn’t fit!” Books had always fit me so perfectly.

Publishing is often accused for being out of touch. What’s your answer to that criticism?

You’re reading the wrong books.

Can you tell us a bit about Gleam Titles and its mission?

I set up Gleam Titles in the summer of 2017. My ambition was to have a literary agency that could offer authors publishing expertise alongside knowledge and guidance in new media and brand development within the digital landscape. The common thread running through our list is books that create positive change; we’re known for representing thought-leaders, law changers, activists and experts. Gleam Titles is uniquely positioned and has represented multiple bestsellers that have changed the way publishers work with authors.

Gleam Titles represents some incredible young female authors – Liv Little, Chidera Eggerue, Emma Gannon and Gina Martin to name a few. How important is it to bolster this next generation of women and to amplify their activism?

We work with so many incredible activists and I am constantly in awe of the work they are doing to create real, tangible change in the world. Social media democratised publishing because it sidestepped privilege and enabled a platform for people to have their own voice. And if the audience came, it placed the power in the hands of the individual and away from the media as an industry. We walk in the footsteps of those women who came before us, and in the shadows of the work they did, I think bolstering the next generation of women and amplifying their activism is essential and critical for tackling the patriarchy and the real physical and emotional damage it does.

What do you look for in a writer and in their work?

I’m looking for something I’ve not heard or read before; for brave, fresh and original voices that are pushing the dial forward and changing the conversation.

Three tips for aspiring writers?

1. Write what you’re afraid to write.
2. Read as much work as you can by the writers you most admire and aspire to be like.
3. Write, write, and write.