Monday, July 3, 2017

Five agents at Canadian literary agency Transatlantic seek authors, middle grade, young adult and adult fiction and nonfiction

Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin,
winner of the Leacock Award for humour,
fianlist for the Giller Prize,
represented by Transatlantic
Transatlantic Agency
2 Bloor Street East
Suite 3500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
M4W 1A8

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~ Brian

Transatlantic Agency is one of Canada’s largest literary agencies, with eleven agents. It represents adult and children’s authors of all genres, including illustrators. Five of the agents at Transatlantic are currently looking for authors: 

Fiona Kenshole brings a lifetime of passion and experience of children’s and YA books: she was still just a teen when she started working in a children’s bookshop. After graduating with a Masters in English Literature from Cambridge University, she went on to spend 20 years as a senior publisher holding key positions in the UK, as Publishing Director at Oxford University Press Children’s Books, Deputy Managing Director of Hodder Children’s Books and Editorial Director at HarperCollins. Her authors have won or been nominated for every major British children’s literary award. Several have become million copy bestsellers.
Fiona has lectured widely on children’s books including at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and taught publishing to Masters degree students at Oxford Brookes University. She is herself a published author. She has organized children’s events for the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. In 2004 she became Vice President of Development Acquisition at Laika Inc. 
She moved to the USA and spent several years creating a development slate of new projects for the animation studio. Fiona has worked with major directors and screenwriters, acquiring and adapting children’s books and original scripts into movies, including the Academy nominated Coraline and Paranorman.
 Fiona’s list is currently open to queries from middle grade and young adult writers. She will consider anything with a powerful voice. Her wish list is quirky contemporary, humor, unreliable narrators, immigrant stories, stories by diverse writers, sister stories, real children in magical worlds, thrillers, mysteries and ghost stories. Fiona has a soft spot for a great detective story. Her dream is a submission so compelling she’d rather read it than engage with real life!
She is also looking for excellent food writers, including bloggers.
She’s not looking for high sword and sorcery fantasy (unless funny), faith based texts, or anything in rhyme. She considers picture books and illustrators by referral only.
Include the first three chapters plus a synopsis and bio pasted into the body of the email. No attachments.

Stephanie Sinclair is Samantha Haywood’s assistant and is also building her own list of authors. She is seeking literary fiction, upmarket women’s and commercial fiction and will consider literary thriller and suspense, and YA crossover. No historical or romance fiction.
In nonfiction, she’s looking for narrative nonfiction, memoir, investigative journalism and true crime.
Query Stephanie at: stephanie@transatlanticagency.com
Attach a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format. 

Amy Tompkins is an omnivorous reader with eclectic tastes. On the children’s side, she is looking for middle-grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, including fiction in all genres. She represents picture books only if the authors are also writing for other levels.
On the adult side, she is interested in nonfiction, and literary and commercial fiction in all genres (except horror, science fiction, and fantasy).
Attach a 20-page writing sample in Word or PDF format. 

Jesse Finkelstein specializes in upmarket, accessible non-fiction that challenges current conceptions, whether through a “big ideas” book or narrative. I am drawn to entrepreneurs and people who are innovators in their fields and writing about current affairs, business, culture, politics, technology, religion, and the environment. I am most interested in authors who have an existing platform.
Attach a maximum 20-page writing sample/excerpt (Microsoft Word document), along with a publishing history and synopsis. Please note if other agents are also considering the project. 


Trena White specializes in upmarket, accessible nonfiction that challenges current conceptions, whether through a “big ideas” book or narrative. “I am drawn to entrepreneurs and people who are innovators in their fields,” says Trena, “and to writing about current affairs, business, culture, politics, technology, and the environment. Journalists who are obsessed with a particular beat (gangs, climate change, etc.) always welcome.”
She’s also interested in “fascinating, exceptionally well written life stories, usually with a current affairs hook.”
She is most interested in authors who have an existing platform.
Include a maximum 20-page writing sample/excerpt embedded in the body of the email, along with a publishing history and synopsis. No attachments. Please note if other agents are also considering the project. 

Full submission guidelines here

Brian Henry will lead “You can write great dialogue," workshops on Saturday, July 15, in Mississauga (see here) and Saturday, July 22, in London (see here), and a Writing Your Life and Other True Stories workshop on Saturday, Aug 19. See here

And there are three weekly creative writing courses, introductory to advanced, starting soon (some of these may be full; email to inquire):
Exploring Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, July 4 – August 22, in Burlington. See here.
Next Step in Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, July 5 – August 23, in Burlington. See here.
Intensive Creative WritingWednesday afternoons, July 5 – August 23, in Burlington. See here.
      Details of all three courses  here.  

Also, Brian will lead a Writing for Children & for Young Adult workshop on Saturday, August 12, in Collingwood with literary agent Monica Pacheco (see here). 
In the fall, Brian will lead a weekly Writing Kid Lit class, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang (see here).
Note: For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

Join us for a Fall Colours Writing Retreat, at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park, Friday, Sept 15 – Sunday, Sept 17 (see here).

Also, in the fall, Brian will lead a full range of courses, including (for the first time) a creative writing course in Toronto:
Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Sept 28 – Nov 30, in Burlington. See here.
Writing Personal Stories, Wednesday evenings, Sept 27 – Nov 15, in Burlington. See here.
Writing Kid Lit, Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Oakville, with guest authors Sylvia McNicoll and Jennifer Mook-Sang. See here.
Next Step in Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons Sept 26 – Nov 28, in Burlington. See here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Monday mornings, Sept 25 – Dec 4, in Toronto. See here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, Sept 28 – Nov 30 in Georgetown. See here.
Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, Sept 20 – Dec 6, in Burlington

For more information or to reserve a spot in any workshop, retreat, or weekly course, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.
                                         
See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Navigation tips: Always check out the labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. Also, if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.