US Poetry Literary Agents

Author-illustrators, picture books, board books, middle grade, young adult, children's books, poetry

Wants: Query letter, portfolio link, picture book dummy, first three pages, bio, comparison titles

Authors and author-illustrators of books for children and teens, including board books, picture books, fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, Middle Grade, and Young Adult. She does not want adult projects and does very few chapter books or Young Adult projects.

Email the full text for board books or picture books in the body of the message. Author-illustrators should include a link to the dummy and sample illustrated pages, with no attachments. Longer works should include the first three pages, project description, bio information, relevant experience, recent comparison titles, audience notes, and why Mary Cummings may be a fit.

History, science, medical, politics, biography, literary fiction, poetry, theology

Wants: Query letter

Don roams widely in terms of subject areas and categories, but what catches his attention first is the author's voice. He is particularly drawn to historians, scientists, medical writers, political commentators, novelists, poets, and theologians.

Send a query letter using the online form to one agent only. Query should include only a paragraph about yourself, a brief plot synopsis and contact information. Do not include manuscript, proposal, or writing samples unless requested.

Literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, cultural criticism, reportage, social history, cultural history, memoir, poetry

Wants: Query letter, sample chapters

Alice represents a wide range of nonfiction, including voice-driven narrative non-fiction, cultural criticism, reportage, social and cultural history, and memoir, literary fiction, and a select list of poets.

Send a query letter briefly describing your project and professional background, along with up to three chapters of sample material. Do not query more than one agent.

Literary fiction, psychological thrillers, poetry, children's books, narrative nonfiction, cookbooks

Wants: Query letter, brief sample in email body

Literary fiction, psychological thrillers, poetry, children's books, narrative nonfiction, and cookbooks

Submissions strictly via dedicated email address: submissions@dvagency.com

Literary fiction, book club fiction, grounded speculative, horror, thrillers, narrative nonfiction, practical nonfiction, poetry, ya

Wants: Query letter, first 10 pages

Literary and book club fiction, grounded speculative, horror, thrillers, narrative and practical nonfiction, as well as select poetry and YA

Email queries directly to Ashley at ashley@mmqalit.com with word 'query' and project title in subject line, include first 10 pages in body of email

Children's books, picture books, middle grade, young adult, children's nonfiction, mystery, ghost story, poetry, theater

Wants: First twenty pages, bio, synopsis, proposal, sample chapter

Stephen Fraser is Executive Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency and represents children's books in a wide range of genres. He is looking for good, original writing: picture books with delicious words, enduring middle grade stories with strong characters and plots, young adult novels with identifiable teens and hopeful, interesting stories for the soon-to-be adult, and nonfiction for children, both picture books and longer works, about original, child-friendly topics. He mentions a good mystery, a ghost story, poetry, theater, and work that dazzles him.

For children's fiction queries, email Stephen Fraser at fraserstephena@gmail.com with the first 20 pages in the body of the email, plus a one-paragraph bio and one-paragraph synopsis. For nonfiction queries, attach the entire proposal as a Word document, including a sample chapter, and include a one-paragraph bio and one-paragraph synopsis in the email body. JDLA asks writers to query one agency agent at a time and does not accept snail-mail queries.

Memoir, biography, food writing, graphic nonfiction, essays, pop science, pop culture, self-help, historical narrative, humor, business, high concept suspense, women's fiction, literary fiction, verse novels, graphic novels

Wants: Query letter, first chapter, graphic excerpt, proposal

Gordon Warnock seeks fresh voices, timely and timeless projects, socially responsible nonfiction by authors with strong expertise or platforms, memoir and biography, food narrative and history, graphic and illustrated nonfiction, essays on social issues, pop science, pop or geek culture, self-help, historical narrative, humor, how-to, business and career, high-concept suspense, book club women's fiction, literary fiction, verse novels for YA and MG, and graphic novels for adults, YA, and MG.

Query Gordon Warnock by email at querygordon@fuseliterary.com or through conferences he attends. For text-based works, paste the first chapter below the query, for memoir, paste the first chapter, for graphic nonfiction or graphic novels, attach a 10-page sequential PDF excerpt of finished artwork not exceeding 50 MB. Unsolicited submissions by paper mail or social media will be discarded unread.

Nonfiction, memoir, faith, culture, poetry, children's books

Wants: Query letter, proposal, sample pages

John Blase is listed as a literary agent at The Bindery and is associated with nonfiction, memoir, faith and culture, poetry-adjacent writing, and selected children's work.

Use the agent-specific submission link from John Blase's profile on The Bindery about page. The agency states every project submitted is considered.

Romantic comedy, women's fiction, ghost stories, thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, young adult, middle grade, picture books, graphic novels, children's books

Wants: Query letter, first fifty pages, proposal, sample chapter, complete poetry collection, full picture book text, graphic novel pitch package

Katelyn Detweiler is a literary agent at Jill Grinberg Literary Management whose list spans all age groups and categories, with an emphasis on fresh perspectives and strong voices. She looks for voice and quality writing above all else. On the adult side, she wants smart, swoony rom coms, women's fiction with love in many forms, atmospheric ghost stories, thrillers or mysteries with emotional cores and compelling narrators, and sweeping historical or twisty dual-timeline intergenerational sagas. She is open to narrative nonfiction and memoirs that feel intimate, immersive, and as compelling as novels. In YA she likes fresh contemporary with humor and heart, magical realism, fantasy, speculative, historical, and light sci-fi grounded in teen experience. In MG she likes stories that capture the complicated moments of growing up, and she likes picture books that illuminate deeper truths in funny, inspiring, and unconventional ways.

Email submissions to info@jillgrinbergliterary.com and address the query directly to Katelyn Detweiler. Use the subject format QUERY: Title of Project by Your Name or Your Book's Age Category and Genre or ATTN: Katelyn Detweiler. Paste the query letter in the email body. For fiction, send the first 50 pages as a docx attachment. For nonfiction, send a query letter and proposal with overview or outline, chapter summaries, comparable titles, a sample chapter, biography, and bibliography. Picture book submissions should include the full text, and graphic novels should include a full pitch package.

Commercial nonfiction, cookbooks, lifestyle, memoir, pop culture, health, wellness, essay collections, illustrated books, gift books, feminist voices, underrepresented voices, select fiction, young adult, middle grade, poetry, ghostwriting

Wants: Query letter, proposal, sample chapter, cover letter, manuscript

Katherine Latshaw is looking for commercial nonfiction including cookbooks, lifestyle, memoir, pop culture, health and wellness, social media-platformed projects, incisive essay collections, illustrated and gift books, feminist and underrepresented voices, select fiction, and seasoned collaborators and ghostwriters. Her official profile also lists nonfiction, cookbook, memoir, narrative nonfiction, prescriptive nonfiction, YA, middle grade, poetry, and ghostwriting.

Email submissions directly to klatshaw@foliolit.com. Folio asks writers to review all agents, follow the individual agent page guidelines, submit to one Folio agent at a time, query one project at a time, and prepare a polished completed novel or a complete nonfiction proposal with sample chapter as applicable.

Literary fiction, essay collections, memoir, hybrid texts, commercial fiction, poetry, speculative fiction, science fiction, horror, short stories, cookbooks, cultural issues, food, journalism, lgbtq and issues, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, women's issues

Wants: Query letter, first ten pages, full proposal

Kima Jones is interested in representing literary fiction, essay collections, memoir, hybrid texts, commercial fiction, poetry, speculative fiction, science fiction, and horror. Her official QueryManager genre list also includes short stories, cookbooks, cultural and social issues, food, gardening, journalism, LGBTQ+ issues, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, and women's issues.

Submit to Kima Jones through the QueryManager link on Triangle House Literary's official staff page. Her QueryManager asks for a query letter and the first 10 pages, or for nonfiction the full proposal. Do not query Kima if you have queried another Triangle House agent.

Literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, history, biography, art history, cultural criticism, poetry

Wants: Query letter, first five to ten pages

Rob McQuilkin is a partner at Massie McQuilkin & Altman. He specializes in fiction, memoir, history, cultural criticism, and poetry; MMQA's contact page says he focuses on literary fiction as well as narrative nonfiction and nonfiction in memoir, history, biography, art history, and cultural criticism.

Email a query to the attention of Rob McQuilkin at info@mmqalit.com. Include Query in the subject line, a brief description of the project, relevant personal or professional information, and the first 5-10 pages pasted into the body of the email. Query only one MMQA agent at a time, if one agent passes, you may query another. MMQA accepts electronic submissions only and does not represent screenplays.

Literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, narrative nonfiction, international fiction

Wants: Query letter, reading material

Sandra Pareja is an agent at Massie McQuilkin & Altman. She is looking for authentic, unconventional literary voices in fiction, nonfiction, and sometimes poetry. She reads and edits in English, Spanish, and Italian at a native level, can tackle manuscripts in French, Portuguese, and Catalan, and will consider works from other languages if attached to an English translator. Her official profile says she specializes in groundbreaking literary fiction from Spanish, English, French, and Italian and has an eye out for ambitious narrative nonfiction.

Email Sandra Pareja directly at sandra@mmqalit.com and strive to include as much reading material as possible. MMQA accepts electronic submissions only, does not represent screenplays, and asks writers not to query more than one agent at the agency at one time.

Narrative nonfiction, journalistic nonfiction, memoir, commercial fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, speculative fiction, folk tale, poetry

Wants: Query letter, sample chapter

Sophie is interested in smart narrative and journalistic nonfiction, memoirs from radical new voices, commercial and literary fiction with sci-fi, folk-tale, or speculative elements, and urgent poetry that plays with genre.

Email info@thegernertco.com with a query letter, author information, and a sample chapter if appropriate. Indicate that the query is for Sophie Pugh-Sellers.

Poetry, literary nonfiction, literary fiction, investigative nonfiction, translation, criticism, music writing, food writing, cookbooks, children's

Wants: Query letter

Erika seeks projects that excite, invigorate, argue or surprise across poetry, literary nonfiction and fiction, investigative nonfiction, translation, criticism, music writing and food writing/cookbooks. In children's literature, she seeks inclusive work for children with gender-expansive identities and families.

Submit through Erika Stevens's QueryManager form. Submit to only one SLM agent at a time, no response within 12 weeks means pass.

Young adult, poetry, adult fiction, horror, fantasy, romance, romantasy, dark academia, gothic horror, graphic novels, creative nonfiction, memoir

Wants: Query letter

Kenna is looking for LGBTQIA+ adult fiction and YA, horror, fantasy, romance, poetry collections, weird girl fiction, romantasy, dark academia, gothic horror, full-length story collections, graphic novels, and punk memoir or creative nonfiction.

Submit through Kenna's official QueryTracker route.

Literary fiction, upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, cookbooks, poetry, translation

Wants: Query letter, sample chapter

Nora is interested in literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoirs, cookbooks, select poetry, translation, Spanish-language authors, and international writers.

Email info@thegernertco.com with a query letter describing the work, author information, and a sample chapter if appropriate. Indicate which agent you are querying, do not email agents directly.

Fiction, nonfiction, children's, illustration, memoir, journalism, political nonfiction, literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, poetry

Wants: Closed to unsolicited queries

Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency represents fiction, nonfiction and children's book authors and illustrators, with a focus on diverse voices and previously untold stories through its SLM partnership.

Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency is not accepting submissions.

Literary fiction, commercial fiction, upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, graphic novels, ya, middle-grade, poetry, picture books

Fiction that breaks her heart, non-fiction that blows her mind. Literary fiction, commercial or upmarket fiction, funny or whimsical middle-grade fiction, contemporary or speculative YA fiction, narrative-driven non-fiction

Rachel is currently closed for submissions

Women's fiction, thriller, speculative fiction, commercial fiction, horror, mystery, historical romance, poetry, picture books

Wants: Query letter, first ten pages, bio, title/genre/word count

She seeks stories that surprise and delight with characters readers can't stop thinking about and sharp writing. She wants high-concept, twisty stories with strong voices in women's fiction, thriller, and speculative fiction. She's particularly interested in timely commercial fiction where the personal intersects with world events, stories about female rage and friendships, complex family dynamics, incisive horror with social commentary, and atmospheric mysteries set in close-knit communities.

Submit through Query Manager with a brief bio including writing credentials, title or genre or word count, query letter, and first ten pages.

Picture books, middle grade, young adult, children's fiction, graphic novels, illustrators, adult genre fiction, pop culture, contemporary fiction, fantasy, horror, novels in verse, middle grade nonfiction, young adult nonfiction

Jordan Hamessley represents diverse children's fiction from picture books through young adult, select adult genre and pop culture writers, graphic novelists, and illustrators. She is looking for stories that bring queer experience to the children's space across all age ranges. For picture books she is only looking for author-illustrators. In middle grade and young adult, she likes contemporary stories with heart and humor, queer joy, cozy or romantic fantasy, horror with ghosts, creepy forests, haunted houses, and murder, children's projects about space exploration, novels in verse, and graphic novel illustrators. In nonfiction, she is primarily looking for middle grade and YA STEM, space, math and science made fun, and underrepresented history including queer history.

Jordan Hamessley is currently closed to queries according to her official linked QueryManager page, even though the JABberwocky agents page still labels her open. When open, submit through her QueryManager page and query only one JABberwocky agent at a time.

Big idea nonfiction, narrative journalism, history, science, cultural criticism, upmarket fiction, literary fiction, poetry

Mackenzie Brady Watson is actively looking for compellingly written, deeply researched books that help readers better understand the societal forces and systems shaping their realities and how they might think or behave differently, including big idea books, narrative journalism, history, science, and cultural criticism. On the fiction side, she is seeking emotionally evocative and voice-driven upmarket and literary fiction and poetry with a surprising hook.

Mackenzie Brady Watson is currently closed to queries according to the official SKLA submissions page.

Literary fiction, commercial fiction, nonfiction, poetry, underrepresented voices, lgbtq and voices, bipoc voices

Monica Odom is founder and agent at Odom Media Management. The agency represents literary and commercial fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and serious nonfiction, with a foundational commitment to underrepresented voices, especially writers who identify as LGBTQ and/or people of color.

Odom Media Management is currently closed to unsolicited submissions according to its official submissions page. The page says to check back with Monica Odom's QueryManager page for any updates about whether she is open to queries.

Narrative nonfiction, memoir, commercial fiction, literary fiction, poetry, self-help

Aemilia Phillips represents fiction and nonfiction, with interests in narrative nonfiction, hybrid memoir, commercial and literary fiction, select poetry, and self-help. She is excited by diverse writing with impactful stories, social justice issues, nonfiction that challenges how readers think, smart cultural critiques, complex characters, commercial projects with literary intelligence, and stories with a touch of magic.

Aemilia Phillips is currently closed to queries according to the official Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency submissions page.

Poetry, picture books, graphic novels, contemporary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, young adult

Wants: Query letter

Tasneem is looking across categories for work from marginalized authors, especially under the BIPOC umbrella. Interests include genre-inflected poetry, picture books, graphic novels, contemporary MG/YA/adult, fantasy, YA/adult science fiction, and YA/adult romance.

Tasneem is currently closed to queries. The official Belcastro page links her QueryManager route, the linked form says she is closed until further notice, with a separate BIPOC-exclusive form noted there.

Literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry

Fiction and nonfiction notable for compelling storylines, singular voices, and unique perspectives, across literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, from both established and emerging writers

Submit through the contact and submissions form available on the Aevitas Creative Management website. You can also reach the agency by phone at and 1 (212) 765-6900 or by mail at 19 W. 21st Street, Suite 501, New York, NY 10010.