Agent Pitch Sessions

Marilyn Biderman

Before joining Transatlantic Agency, Marilyn ran her own literary agency and consultancy for seven years, helping launch the careers of debut and prize-winning authors. She previously spent twelve years at McClelland & Stewart, most recently as Vice President, Director of Rights and Contracts, managing international rights for renowned authors like Leonard Cohen, Alistair MacLeod, and Madeleine Thien. At Transatlantic, she represents many prominent authors including Amanda Peters and katherena vermette.

Marilyn holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall and a BA in English Literature from the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and has mentored publishers through the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Canada Council. She has served on juries for literary competitions, helped found the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents, and contributed for years to Toronto’s International Festival of Authors. She’s also proud of her volunteer work with the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog program.

Looking to represent: I enjoy literary fiction, women’s historical fiction, book club fiction, and memoir. Above all, I need to connect with the writing itself, and I’m especially drawn to work that shows a high level of polish at the line level.

Jessica Friedman

Jessica Friedman is a literary agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, representing literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, literature in translation, and select graphic novels. She has worked with national and New York Times bestsellers, as well as finalists for major awards including the Pulitzer, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle, International Man Booker, Hugo, and Nebula.

Jessica seeks distinctive voices and writing that challenges expectations stylistically, formally, or otherwise, with a particular interest in voice-driven prose, thoughtful criticism, genre-bending work, and underrepresented narratives. Her clients include Anuj Chopra, Alfredo Corchado, Vinson Cunningham, Danielle Geller, Heather Hogan, Carole Hopson, Daniel Xin Huang, Oindrila Mukherjee, Sabina Murray, Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Jeremy Tiang, and Eugenia Triantafyllou. Before joining Sterling Lord Literistic, she worked at the Wylie Agency. Jessica holds a BA in English and an MA in the humanities from the University of Chicago and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and dog.

Looking to represent: Literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, and graphic novels for adult readers

Anna Knutson Geller

Anna Knutson Geller has over twenty years of experience in the publishing industry, ranging from editor to literary scout to rights director to agent. In 2016, she founded Write View, a literary agency with a focus on practical nonfiction, spirituality, and inspirational memoir.

Anna began her publishing career in Paris, working as an assistant at the literary agency Agence Michelle Lapautre and as a junior editor at Éditions Plon. In 2008, she moved to New York to join Maria B. Campbell Associates, where she scouted books for international publishers as well as for Warner Bros.

As Director of Foreign and Subsidiary Rights at The Book Group, she negotiated translation, film, and audio deals on behalf of bestselling authors such as Joshua Ferris, Paula McLain, Madeline Miller, Kevin Wilson, and Celeste Ng. She has been on the faculty of the Columbia Publishing Course since 2011.

Looking to represent: Exclusively nonfiction, with a focus on spirituality, personal development, and inspirational memoir.

Susan Golomb

Susan Golomb has been an agent of literary fiction and nonfiction for over 30 years. She founded the Susan Golomb Literary Agency in 1988, with Jonathan Franzen as her first client, and joined Writers House in 2015. Her authors include award winners and bestsellers such as William T. Vollmann, Rachel Kushner, Imbolo Mbue, Noah Hawley, Vauhini Vara, Nell Zink, Danielle Trussoni, Janelle Brown, Thomas Mullen, Charles Graeber, Yvon Chouinard, Angie Kim, Stephen Markley, Wayetu Moore, Lexi Freiman, and more.

Looking to represent:
Literary fiction
Upmarket Fiction
Psychological suspense
Literary horror

Elianna Kan

Elianna Kan is a literary agent, writer, and translator. She represents an international roster of authors at Regal Hoffmann & Associates in New York City. Her interviews with writers and artists have appeared in The Paris Review Daily BOMB Magazine, The Believer, and other publications. She is the former Senior Editor of The American Reader, where she curated a monthly portfolio of original work in English translation. She has taught seminars in creative writing and literary translation at Columbia University and Middlebury College.

Looking to represent: Literary fiction and occasionally nonfiction, in English or Spanish.

Anjali Singh

Anjali Singh founded her eponymous literary agency in 2024 after 28 years in the publishing industry. Before launching her own company, she worked as an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary and on the publisher side as Editorial Director at Other Press, as an acquiring editor at Vintage Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Simon & Schuster. She is best known for having championed Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” after stumbling across it on a visit to Paris and has always been drawn to the thrill of discovering new writers; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Samantha Hunt, and Saleem Haddad are all writers whose careers she helped launch.

Among the authors she represents are memoirist Bridgett Davis, author of the recently published “Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss and Legacy”; Zara Chowdhary, finalist for the 2025 PEN/Galbraith Prize for “The Lucky Ones”; Susan Abulhawa, Aspen Words finalist for “Against the Loveless World”; PEN/Faulkner finalist Nawaaz Ahmed, author of “Radiant Fugitives”; Tessa Hulls, winner of the 2025 NBCC John Leonard Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Prize for “Feeding Ghosts”; and Deena Mohamed, author of “Shubeik Lubeik,” winner of the Arab-American Book Prize, among others.

Looking to represent: Literary fiction, narrative non-fiction and memoir (in that order)

Julie Stevenson

Julie Stevenson is a literary agent at Massie, McQuilkin & Altman in New York. She represents literary and upmarket fiction, suspense, memoir, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, and young adult fiction. Her clients include #1 New York Times bestsellers and authors whose books have won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Edgar Award, Caldecott Honor, and Whiting Award. Prior to becoming an agent, Julie worked in the editorial departments of Tin House and Publishers Weekly. She holds a BA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College.