Eight literary agents at Ayesha Pande Literary seek authors

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
represented by Ayesha Pande Literary

Ayesha Pande Literary 

128 West 132 Street

New York, NY 10027

http://pandeliterary.com/

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Ayesha Pande Literary is a New York based boutique literary agency with eight agents, all accepting new authors, and a small and eclectic roster of clients. They are especially passionate about discovering and nurturing talented new voices. 

Kayla Lightner is the newest member of the team, and like all new agents, she needs authors. Prior to joining Ayesha Pande Literary, Kayla worked as an assistant at Liza Dawson Associates. A Georgia native, she earned her B.A. in English from Vassar College. Before finding her way to publishing, she held various positions including a fashion market assistant at Harper’s Bazaar and a freelance writer at Creative Loafing Atlanta.

Kayla loves commercial fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction that masterfully straddles the line between story-telling and teaching her something new. She’s particularly enamored with speculative fiction that centers black voices, humorous essay collections, and compelling family sagas.

When Kayla’s not reading, she can be found writing, performing stand-up, and reminiscing on her rugby days. @LightnerKayla

Query Kayla through the agency’s query manager here.

Luba Ostashevsky has worked in the editorial departments of Alfred A. Knopf, Grove/Atlantic, Palgrave Macmillan and Nautilus magazine. She has written for Aeon, Mental Floss, Popular Science, Al Jazeera, and the Hechinger Report.

As an agent, she is interested in nonfiction popular science projects, written by either research scientists, medical or mental health professionals, or journalists. Luba is not comfortable representing fiction, cookbooks, YA, self help, nor business or politics (unless directly about science). She likes to help produce books that instill in readers a sense of wonder about the world, preferably, as part of an engaging narrative.

Query Luba through the agency’s query manager here.

Annie Hwang began her career at Folio Literary Management where she had the pleasure of working with debut and seasoned authors alike. As a former journalist, Annie possesses a keen editorial eye which she brings to her approach to agenting, taking an active role in the careers of her clients.

Annie represents voice-driven literary fiction and select nonfiction. In particular, she gravitates toward subversive and irreverent literary fiction and impactful mission-driven narrative nonfiction that grapples with the complexities of our world. A fierce champion of underrepresented voices, Annie is always on the hunt for gifted storytelling that stretches its genre to new heights. @AnnieAHwang

Query Annie through the agency’s query manager here.

Serene Hakim joined Ayesha Pande Literary in 2015 and was promoted to Associate Agent in February 2019. Previously, she worked at Laura Gross Literary Agency in Boston. Serene holds an M.A. in French to English translation from NYU and a B.A. in French and Women’s Studies from the University of Kansas. 

Born to Lebanese immigrants in the Midwest, she grew up straddling cultures and languages and still feels like a third culture kid. When she’s not reading, she can usually be found trying a new recipe while simultaneously balancing a toddler on her hip.

Serene loves to read a variety of genres but is particularly drawn to fiction with strong female voices, both YA and adult fiction and nonfiction with international themes, and LGBTQ and feminist issues. She is always on the lookout for great YA sci-fi and fantasy, realistic YA, and anything that gives voice to those whose voices are underrepresented and/or marginalized. She is especially interested in stories dealing with the Middle East and the variety of immigrant experiences out there. Specifically, she’s looking for writing that explores the different meanings of identity, home, family and parenthood/motherhood.

Query Serene through the agency’s submissions page here.

Madison Smartt Bell is the author of twelve novels, including The Washington Square Ensemble, Waiting for the End of the World, Straight Cut, The Year of Silence, Doctor Sleep, Save Me, Joe Louis, Ten Indians, Soldier’s Joy, Anything Goes, All Souls Rising (National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner finalist), Master of the Crossroads, The Stone That The Builder Refused, Devil’s Dream, and The Color of Night. Matt has also published three collections of short stories, two biographies, and a memoir of travel in HaitiWith Wyn Cooper, he has released two albums: Forty Words For Fear and Postcards out of the Blue.

Born and raised in Tennessee, he has lived in New York, Paris and London. A graduate of Princeton University and the Hollins College graduate creative writing program, he has taught in many other writing programs, including Goucher College, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars.

For thirty years he has helped writers place their manuscripts on a pro bono basis.

He is interested in literary fiction, noir, criminal procedurals, work from the Caribbean basin and other diasporas, and anything genuinely original and fresh.

Query Madison through the agency’s query manager here.

Stephany Evans put a toe in the publishing waters at Simon & Schuster Audio when audio publishing was just beginning to be “a thing.” Now, for more than twenty-five years, Stephany has represented nonfiction writers in the areas of health and wellness, spirituality, lifestyle, food and drink, and sustainability, running and fitness, memoir and narrative nonfiction. 

She also represents a range of women’s fiction, from literary to upmarket commercial, to romance, as well as crime fiction (mysteries, thrillers), and the occasional literary or commercial novel not aimed at a female market. She is looking for fine, accomplished writing, whether the work is by a first time or established author.

She loves to be told a great story!​

Stephany is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), the RWA, the MWA and the Agents Round Table (ART). She has served as ghostwriter on seven published books in the categories of memoir and spirituality.

Query Stephany through the agency’s submissions page here.

Anjali Singh started her career in publishing in 1996 as a literary scout. Most recently Editorial Director at Other Press, she has also worked as an editor at Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Vintage Books. She is best known for having championed Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis after stumbling across it on a visit to Paris. 

Anjali has always been drawn to the thrill of discovering new writers, and among the literary novelists whose careers she helped launch are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Samantha Hunt, Preeta Samarasan, Zoe Ferraris, Victoria Patterson, Natalie Bakopoulos, Enid Shomer and Brigid Pasulka. 

As a literary agent, she is looking for new voices, character-driven fiction or nonfiction works that reflect an engagement with the world around us, literary thrillers, memoirs, YA literature and graphic novels. She is a member of the International Committee of the Brooklyn Book Festival.

Query Anjali through the agency’s submissions page here.

Ayesha Pande has worked in the publishing industry for over twenty years. Before launching her boutique agency, Ayesha was a senior editor at Farrar Straus & Giroux. She has also held editorial positions at HarperCollins and Crown Publishers. 
She is a member of AAR (Association of Author’s Representatives), PEN, the Asian American Writer’s Workshop and the Women’s Media Group. 
She has attended numerous writing conferences and has taught college level courses in editing. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University. 
Among her many wonderful clients are National Book Award Winner Ibram X. Kendi, PEN/Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans, PEN/Bellwether Prize winner Lisa Ko, New York Times Bestseller Shilpi Somaya Gowda and PEN/Hemingway finalist Patricia Engel.

Her interests are wide-ranging and include literary as well as popular fiction, young adult, women’s, African-American and international fiction. She is also seeking authors of nonfiction, including biography, history, popular culture, cultural commentary, and memoir. She is particularly drawn to distinctive, original voices. @agent_ayesha

Query Ayesha through the agency’s query manager here.

Paige Sisley

If you’re interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our upcoming How to Get Published  workshops Saturday, Oct 3, in Toronto with Evan Brown of Transatlantic Literary Agency (see here) and Saturday, Oct 24, in Guelph with Paige Sisley of the CookeMcdermid agency  (see here).

In the meanwhile, though, the best way of upping your game as a writer may be with a weekly course. This summer, Brian Henry’s offering an Introductory course and two Intensive courses, one of them online and, so, accessible anywhere in the world:

Burlington: Welcome to Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, July 8 – August 19.   Details here.

Online: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, July 7 – Aug 25.  1st reading emailed June 30. Details here.

Georgetown: Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, July 8 – Aug 26. 1st reading emailed July 1. Details here.

Southampton, Ontario, lighthouse

Beyond that, Brian’s post-pandemic workshop schedule continues to take shape:

July 

Southampton Art School: Join me in this lovely beach town on Lake Huron for two workshops: How to Build Your Story, Saturday, July 25 (see here) and How to Write Great Characters, Sunday, July 26 (see here).

August

Oakville: "You can write great dialogue," Saturday, Aug 8. Details here.  

Collingwood: "You can write great dialogue," 
Saturday, Aug 15.  Details here.

St. Catharines: How to Make Yourself Write,"  Saturday, Aug 22.  Details here.

September
Alliston: Writing for Children and for Young Adults with Anne Shone, Executive Editor, Scholastic Books, Saturday, September 12. Details here.

October

Toronto: How to Get Published with Evan Brown of Transatlantic Literary  Agency, Saturday, Oct 3. Details here.

Guelph: How to Get Published with literary agent Paige Sisley of CookeMcDermid, Saturday, Oct 24. Details here.

London: How to Write Great Characters
 Saturday, Oct 31. Treats for everyone in costume.  Details here.

November

Jackson's Point: Writing Retreat at the Briar's Resort on Lake Simcoe, Friday, Nov 13 – Monday, Nov 16. Details to come.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Southampton, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.