Literary Agents Seek Muslim Writers

February 15, 2017

In response to Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations (which remains blocked by a federal appeals court, as of Thursday, February 9), a group of literary agents from different agencies have announced an open call for submissions by Muslim writers, Publishers Weekly reports.

“The events following Trump’s executive order on January 27, 2017, deeply shocked and saddened all of us,” the group’s statement reads. “The messages of fear and discrimination against Muslims within this country and to those outside its borders are not ones that reflect our own beliefs and understanding. As a result, we are taking action by encouraging submissions from writers of Muslim heritage for children’s and adult fiction and nonfiction books.”

The agents involved in the call include Laura Biagi of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency; Melissa Edwards of Stonesong; Caitie Flum and Jennifer Johnson-Blalock of Liza Dawson Associates; Lilly Ghahremani of Full Circle Literary; Clelia Gore of Martin Literary Management; Tricia Lawrence and Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency, Carrie Pestritto, Kirsten Carleston, and Becca Stumpf of the Prospect Agency, and Cindy Uh of the Thompson Literary Agency.

Recently, We Need Diverse Books announced that nominations are now open for its inaugural Bookseller of the Year Award, which honors a bookstore or individual bookseller that fulfills WNDB’s mission to “promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.” The award, whose deadline for nominations is October 1, comes with one year’s ownership of the Bookseller of the Year trophy and $500.

Related reading: “Sensitivity readers” help ensure that stories “richly reflect the variety of human experience,” Katy Waldman reports for Slate.

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