Our Community

Previous Authors-in-Residence + Guest Literary Agents

Rachel Khong, Virtual Author-in-Residence, 2020

Rachel’s debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Huffington Post, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, Booklist, and The Independent. Her novel was also the winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction. Rachel grew up in Southern California, and holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Florida. From 2011 to 2016, she was the managing editor then executive editor of Lucky Peach magazine. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Paris Review, Tin House, Joyland, American Short Fiction, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Believer, and California Sunday. She lives in San Francisco where she founded The Ruby, a creative work and event space for women and nonbinary people. You can find her on Twitter @rachelkhong, on Instagram @rrrrrrrachelkhong or on her website, rachelkhong.com.

Jasmine Guillory, Author-in-Residence 2020

Jasmine is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date, The Proposal, The Wedding Party, Royal Holiday, and Party of Two. Her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, Oprah Magazine.com, and Shondaland.com. She lives in Oakland, California. Visit her online at JasmineGuillory.com and follow her on Instagram @jasminepics and on Twitter @thebestjasmine, and on Facebook @jasmineguillorywriter.

Kirstin Chen, Author-in-Residence, 2023

Kirstin is the New York Times best-selling author of three novels. Her latest, Counterfeit, is a Reese’s Book Club pick, as well as a Roxane Gay book club pick. It has also been recommended by The New York Times, The Washington Post, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, Time, Oprah Daily, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and more. Translation rights have sold in six languages and television rights have been optioned by Sony Pictures. Her previous two novels are Bury What We Cannot Take and Soy Sauce for Beginners. Born and raised in Singapore, she lives in New York.

Chloe Benjamin, Virtual Author-in-Residence, 2020

Chloe is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Immortalists, a #1 Indie Next Pick, #1 Library Reads pick, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and an iBooks Favorite. Her first novel, The Anatomy of Dreams, received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was long listed for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has been translated into thirty languages. Originally from San Francisco, CA, Chloe is a graduate of Vassar College and the M.F.A. in fiction at the University of Wisconsin. She lives with her husband in Madison, WI. Visit her online at chloebenjamin.com and follow her on Instragram @chloekbenjamin.

Aja Gabel, Author-in-Residence 2019

Aja is the author of the novel The Ensemble. Aja’s short fiction can be found in New England Review, New Ohio Review, Glimmer Train, BOMB, and elsewhere. Her lyric essay, “The Sparrows in France,” appeared in Kenyon Review and earned her an honorable mention in Best American Essays 2015. She has taught fiction, non-fiction, and literature at the University of Virginia, the University of Houston, Sweet Briar College, and Pacific University, as well as at undergraduate creative writing conferences and community workshop organizations. She earned her BA at Wesleyan University, her MFA at the University of Virginia and has a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston.

Aja has been the recipient of awards from Atlantic Monthly and Inprint, as well as fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, where she was a fellow in fiction 2012-2013. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their dog. ajagabel.com.

Rufi Thorpe, Author-in-Residence 2019

Rufi received her MFA from the University of Virginia in 2009. Her first novel, The Girls from Corona del Mar, was longlisted for the 2014 International Dylan Thomas Prize and for the 2014 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. Her second novel, Dear Fang, With Love, was published by Knopf in May 2016, and her third novel, The Knockout Queen will publish in May 2020. She lives in California with her husband and two sons. RufiThorpe.com.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Author-in-Residence 2016

Vanessa is the New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers & We Never Asked for Wings. She was born in San Francisco and raised in Chico, California. After graduating from Stanford University, she worked in the non-profit sector, teaching art and technology to youth in low-income communities. Following the success of her debut novel, The Language of Flowers, she co-founded Camellia Network (now Lifeset Network), a non-profit whose mission is to connect every youth aging out of foster care to the critical resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive in adulthood. She lives in Monterey, CA, with her husband and children. VanessaDiffenbaugh.com.

Melanie Figueroa, Guest Agent 2023

Melanie is a literary agent at Root Literary, where she represents children’s literature and adult fiction. What she loves most about the job is the balance of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating with a masters in creative writing and book publishing from Portland State University, she worked in-house as an editorial project manager and freelance editor before joining the agency in 2018. Melanie was born and raised in Southern California in a multicultural, blended family, so she has a soft spot for books that shine a spotlight on the nuances of relationships and identity. When she's not working, you can find her stress baking, watching something scary, or snuggling with her chocolate lab, Oakley.

Sarah Bowlin, Virtual Guest Agent 2020

Literary Agent: Aevitas Creative Management

Sarah joined Aevitas Creative Management in 2017. Before becoming an agent, she spent a decade as an editor of literary fiction and nonfiction, first at Riverhead Books and most recently at Henry Holt & Company. She has edited many acclaimed and prize-winning writers including Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Sheila Heti, Salvatore Scibona, Helen Phillips, Ramona Ausubel, Rachel Khong, and Julie Buntin. As an agent, she represents Vanessa Veselka, Aysegul Savas, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Halimah Marcus, Lynn Steger Strong, Shane Jones, Elisa Albert and Kevin Nguyen, among others. She is interested in bold voices—specifically stories of strong or difficult women and unexpected narratives of place, identity, and the shifting ways we see ourselves and each other. Originally from the South, she now lives in Los Angeles. Follower her on Twitter @svbowlin.

Stephanie Danler, Author-in-Residence 2017 and 2018

Stephanie Danler is the author of the international bestselling novel Sweetbitter and the memoir Stray. She is the creator, writer and executive producer of the Sweetbitter television series on STARZ. She splits her time between New York City and Los Angeles. StephanieDanler.com.

Karen Joy Fowler, Author-in-Residence 2018

Karen is the author of seven novels and three short story collections, most recently, her 2022 novel Booth was longlisted for the Booker Prize. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was shortlisted for the 2014 Booker Prize, won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award, and appeared on numerous bestseller lists. Her novel The Jane Austen Book Club was a New York Times Notable Book, as well as a New York Times bestseller, and was made into a film in 2007. Her debut novel, Sarah Canary, was a New York Times Notable Book, and won the Commonwealth medal for best first novel by a Californian, and was listed for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize as well as the Bay Area Book Reviewers Prize. Her second novel, The Sweetheart Season, was also a New York Times Notable Book. Fowler’s short story collection Black Glass won the World Fantasy Award in 1999, and her collection What I Didn’t See won the World Fantasy Award in 2011. She is the co-founder of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the current president of the Clarion Foundation. Fowler and her husband, who have two grown children and seven grandchildren, live in Santa Cruz, California. KarenJoyFowler.com.

Michelle Brower, Guest Agent 2023

Michelle is a Founding Partner and Literary Agent at Trellis Literary Management. With more than fifteen years as an agent, her list spans the spectrum of literary and commercial fiction, from thought-provoking story collections to page-turning thrillers. She is primarily interested in work that focuses on storytelling and emotional connection, and believes that the best reading experience engages both the heart and the head. She is looking for book club novels (a commercial idea with a literary execution), literary fiction, literary suspense, genre fiction for a non-genre audience, and upmarket women’s fiction. In all of these areas, she is looking to support underrepresented voices. Michelle received her Masters degree in British and American Literature from New York University. Originally from New Jersey, she now lives in Seattle with her family.

Elizabeth Kratch, Virtual Guest Agent 2020

Literary Agent: Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Liz is a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. Elizabeth represents both fiction and nonfiction, and brings to the agency experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist, and writer. In fiction, she represents thrillers, mysteries, literary, commercial, women’s, and historical. In nonfiction, she is interested in finding true crime, investigative journalism, narrative/creative nonfiction, prescriptive, voice- or adventure-driven memoir, high concept, science, spirituality, sexuality, self-help, and pet stories. Visit her online at KimberleyCameron.com and follow her on Twitter @elizabethkratch.

Holly Root, Guest Agent 2020

Literary Agent: Root Literary

Holly is a literary agent and founder of Root Literary. She represents authors of fiction and select nonfiction for kids, teens, and adults, and her list includes New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly bestselling authors. She views publishing and the work of building an author’s career as an intriguing set of interconnected puzzles, and loves working with authors who are as thoughtful about their careers as their plots. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. Follow her on Twitter @hroot.

Danielle Svetcov, Guest Agent 2018

Literary Agent: Levine Greenberg Rostan

Danielle joined Levine Greenberg Rostan in 2002, based in the California office. Prior to that, she wrote for the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune Magazine. Danielle represents both fiction and nonfiction, with a particular flair for cookbooks (she represents a number of IACP and Beard Award winners). In all things, especially fiction, she’s drawn to quirkiness. Odd character combinations (a small-town accountant falls for the big city Vo-Ag teacher…), nutty situations (a reclusive island of hippies and farmers suddenly awash in wayward Columbian pot), and original voices.  She likes writing that reads easy but isn’t. She is the author of the middle grade novel, Parked. Visit her online at LGRLiterary.com.

Anna Ghosh, Guest Agent 2018

Literary Agent: Ghosh Agency

Ghosh Literary is an independent literary agency founded by Anna Ghosh.  Anna started her career as a literary agent in New York city in 1995 and was previously a partner at Scovil Galen Ghosh. The agency offers world wide literary representation for print and digital media and all allied rights, including motion picture, theatrical and multimedia rights. Originally from India, Anna lived in New York city for 16 years and now lives in San Francisco, California. GoshLiterary.com.

Amy Cloughley, Guest Agent 2019

Literary Agent: Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Amy came to the agency in 2013 with a background in editing, writing, and marketing. You can find her coaching writers via a Writer’s Digest course designed to help authors craft and strengthen their submission materials. She represents literary and commercial fiction and has a special interest in mystery/suspense, near historical, and upmarket women’s fiction. She also seeks narrative nonfiction projects. You can find her on Twitter @amycloughley. KimberleyCameron.com.

Andrea Morrison, Guest Agent 2019

Literary Agent: Writers House

Andrea started at Writers House as an intern in 2009. She’s worked with bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators from picture books to middle grade and YA to adult literary fiction and nonfiction. Having studied Literature/Writing at University of California, San Diego and having earned her MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, Andrea is hands-on editorially. She’s particularly excited about adult fiction that blends gorgeous sentence-level writing with stories featuring younger protagonists. She’s looking for characters that need to be heard—for stories that grab your heart and don’t let it go, even after they’re finished. You can find her on Twitter @AndreaAgency. Andrea represents our Author-in-Residence, Aja Gabel. WritersHouse.com.