Meet Savannah Brooks, literary agent with Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency

Savannah Brooks joined the Jennifer De Chiara team in 2018, after interning for a year and a half. She’s a nonfiction MFA candidate at Hamline University and earned her BS in marketing management from Virginia Tech. As well as agenting, she works as an editor at Red Bird Chapbooks, as a teaching artist at the Loft Literary Center, and as a reader for multiple literary magazines. Her own creative work has been publishing in Barely South Review, Hobart, Lime Hawk, and Every Writer’s Resource, among others. When not immersed in the world of words, she can be found on her motorcycle, at her boxing gym, or lounging at one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. She lives in the most beautiful literary capital: Saint Paul. Follow her @slbrooks91.

Savannah’s Wish List:

For YA, she’s interested in books that focus on friendship, conflicting identity, and the theme of truth. She’s always drawn in by a protagonist venturing into a realm where society says they don’t belong (think swapping gender norms), and characters with weird obsessions. She’s all about magical realism, mythology, and modern retellings (but not high fantasy or science fiction). She’s invested in representing the diverse world in which we live and would like to see that reflected in a cast of characters. Show her variations in race, sexuality, gender, dis/ability, and ethnicity without that difference being a point of contention.

For adult fiction, she’s interested in contemporary/literary novels/stories that are relevant to culture and focus on themes and issues that impact our daily lives. She loves a meaty cast and am drawn in by the fine line between humor and depth (think Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers). She would love to hear more from marginalized voices, regardless of whether or not marginalization is a central theme.

She’d love to bring more nonfiction into this world, especially topic-driven books/essays such as those written by the likes of Mary Roach, Leslie Jamison, Michelle McNamara, Malcolm Gladwell, and Bill Bryson. She’s also interested in memoir that will inspire generations to come—H is for Hawk is a personal favorite—and interested in humor that does more than just make her laugh—see: Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood.

MWW Board Member Marissa Rose interviewed Savannah about her life as an agent and about coming to MWW Agent Fest.

MWW: What’s something that comes out soon that you’re excited about? 

SB: I’m cheating a bit with this one because the book has already come out, but Angie Thomas’s new YA novel, On the Come Up, is on my immediately-to-read list. It just arrived on my doorstep the other day, and I can’t wait to crack it open.

MWW: Besides “good writing,” what are you looking for right now and not getting? What do you pray for when tackling the slush pile? 

SB: I really want to see more teenagers (and all characters, really) who are engaged in things outside of school. Not just sports (although sports are good too) but maybe a weird hobby or job. Or maybe they’re deeply embedded in a culture or community otherwise inaccessible to some readers. As a poster child of innate human curiosity, I want to learn about something new while I’m reading.

MWW: What are you tired of seeing? 

SB: YA novels where either the establishment of high school or the parents are the ultimate evil. Both high school and parents have an intense psychological impact on teenagers, and that impact can be negative, no doubt, but those relationships are always more nuanced than that of a hero and villain. For adult fiction, I’m tired of characters whose entire persona relies on other characters or on the plot. I want a narrator to be able to stand on his/her/their own.

MWW: What questions should a writer coming to Midwest Writers Agent Fest ask an agent who is offering representation? 

SB: Seeking representation is ultimately seeking someone to nurture and grow your professional development as a writer. So asking questions that move past the business logistics of writing and selling and get more at the ways you would work together and the future of your career are really telling for finding the best fit.

Come pitch to Savannah!

Read more about the MWW Agent Fest: May 10-11, 2019.

Register Today!