The Virgins of Venice, Gina Buonaguro
represented by Westwood
Westwood Creative Artists
The Chelsea Shop
386 Huron Street
Toronto, Ontario
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Westwood is one of Canada’s
largest literary agencies. It’s also one of the oldest and most respected. Clients
include Rohinton Mistry, Joanne Levy, Justin, Alexandre, and Margaret Trudeau,
Thomas King, Alan Doyle, Rosemary Sullivan, Gina Buonaguro, and Yann Martel. They
have ten agents on the team, five of whom are accepting new authors:
Bridgette
Kam, Literary Agent
& Contracts Associate
Bridgette joined WCA in 2019 after interning at McClelland &
Stewart. She represents authors across three main areas: book club or upmarket
fiction, nonfiction, and kid lit (middle grade, YA, and picture books).
In fiction, she’s looking for book
club and upmarket novels that explore timely and urgent themes like Jessamine
Chan’s The School for Good Mothers and Shilpi Somaya
Gowda’s A Great Country; feature irresistibly lovable characters
like those in Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry; powerfully bring
history to life like Jabari Asim’s Yonder; and are brilliantly
multi-layered like R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface.
Submissions that keep her reading have: a strong hook, skillful
balance of good pacing and character immersion, emotional resonance, and very
polished writing on the line-by-line level.
In middle grade and YA, she wants to
see a protagonist with an unforgettable voice who she can root for, plus one or
more of: mystery, history, a little bit of fantasy, and family. She prefers romance
not be the central focus. “Give me a protagonist who is completely
surrendered to a cause!”
Some of her favourite YA writers are June Hur (The Forest of
Stolen Girls) and Stacey Lee (The Downstairs Girl), and in middle
grade, Susin Nielsen, Kelly Yang, and Daniel Nayeri.
In picture books, she’s
seeking kids-centric, age-appropriate books by writers and illustrators alike
that have a clear story, guaranteed rer-ead quality, and an inviting and
engaging approach rather than a didactic one.
In nonfiction, Kim welcomes proposals
from journalists, emerging writers, and deep thinkers alike on the topics of
culture, sociology, psychology, faith, and history. Some books in the last few
years that have stood out for her are Jessica J. Lee’s Two Trees Make a
Forest, Cheuk Kwan’s Have You Eaten Yet? Tara Isabella
Burton’s Self-Made, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, Tamara
Cherry’s The Trauma Beat, and Luke Burgis’ Wanting: The
Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.
Query Kim at: submissions@wcaltd.com
Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20
pages pasted into the email.
***
Note: If you’re interested in writing kid lit, don’t miss our upcoming one-day
online workshop “Writing for Children and for Young Adults,” with guest Karen Li, Publisher at Groundwood Books, Sunday, Sept 22. Details here.
Also, be sure to sign up for our weekly online course “Writing Kid
Lit ~ The Next Level” on Monday evenings, starting September 30. Details here.
***
Chris
Casuccio, Literary Agent
Chris started at Westwood in 2006, working at the front desk
and being groomed to become an agent. His clients now includes both emerging
authors and more acclaimed authors such as Stephen Bown, George Jonas, Richard
Wagamese, and Max Wallace.
Chris is actively growing his client list.
He’s looking for stories he hasn’t heard, told well – stories that
need to be told, particularly the ones that aren’t often shared, the dark
corners most people don’t explore.
He’s especially attracted to big ideas, diverse voices (like
everyone else), inspired experts, and driven journalism – to authors who know
something that he doesn’t and care deeply about sharing their knowledge; people
fearless enough to stand up and tell their truths.
He loves being floored by the impossibly simple and the endlessly
complex He’s represented journalists, scientists, chefs, adventurers, poets and
activists.
Chris also loves literary fiction that’s told fearlessly and
authentically.
Query Chris at: submissions@wcaltd.com
Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20
pages pasted into the email.
Jake Babad, Co-head
of Media Rights
& VP Finance
As Co-Head of Media Rights, Jake helps Westwood’s
clients share their stories with new audiences in film, television, theatre, etc.
But although his primary focus is on media rights and financial administration,
he is building a small list of clients for literary representation in the
following areas:
Fiction: crime and
mystery with a strong sense of place; upmarket literary fiction (especially
stories involving family dynamics); sci-fi and fantasy.
Nonfiction: behaviour
and neuroscience; economics; family and parenting; labour and the culture of
work; law and social justice; popular culture.
Query Jake at: submissions@wcaltd.com
Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20
pages pasted into the email.
Michael Levine, Chairman
At Westwood, Michael’s talents are focussed not only on book deals,
but also on the sale of rights for TV, film, and other media.
“My passions, taste and expertise are largely focused on nonfiction,” says Michael, “including
history, politics, ideas books, memoirs. I have also been privileged to do work
in the fiction area with such authors as the late Mordecai Richler.”
Query Michael at: submissions@wcaltd.com
Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20
pages pasted into the email.
Sara
Harowitz, Literary Agent
Sara come to WCA with a decade of magazine experience as an editor
and journalist. She specializes in narrative nonfiction, including lifestyle,
wellness, and culture reportage; essay collections; and memoirs (think: Durga
Chew-Bose’s TOO MUCH AND NOT IN THE MOOD; Alicia Elliott’s A MIND SPREAD OUT ON
THE GROUND; Lisa Taddeo’s THREE WOMEN; John Vaillant’s THE GOLDEN SPRUCE). She’s
interested in books that make her feel something, that take her outside of herself.
Include a brief synopsis of your work and a sample of 10 to 20
pages pasted into the email.
Full guidelines for Westwood Creative artists here.
See upcoming weekly
writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.
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