Agents

Julie Gourinchas (she/they) is developing a selective list focused on upmarket and literary adult fiction across a wide variety of genres. Writers she represents have been nominated for the British Book Awards, the Hugo Awards, the BSFA Awards, and the Saltire National Book Awards, among others.

Please note: Julie is not looking for young adult, middle grade, and children’s books. Strictly no AI-generated content.

In fiction, she's drawn to a uncommon voices, and striking, intelligent writing – whether it be vibrant and floral or tense, quick, and sparse – as well as texture in both tone and setting (particularly anything with a strong sense of aesthetic). Above all, she is looking for hooky, high-concept work, but her taste can perhaps be best summarised as "the weird, dark, and gruesome." 

While the literary-speculative is her sweet spot, she considers herself genre agnostic within upmarket/literary fiction, and remains open to compelling and well-executed genre overlap. These include:

• upmarket and literary horror:
  • especially featuring feminist or cultural themes, body horror, mangled nature, or cosmic, Lovecraftian vibes.
  • especially looking for a fresh, literary take on vampires.
  • think Mona Awad, Lucy Rose, Julia Armfield, Jade Song, Stephen Graham Jones, etc.
• dark and spiky literary dramas with high emotional stakes:
  • think Eliza Clark, Julia May Jonas, etc.
• razor-sharp dark academia:
  • especially any with something to say about the complex and exploitative systems within academia.
  • more The Secret History, less The Atlas Six.
• gothic fiction:
  • specifically regional gothic anchored in an evocative sense of place.
  • think Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, etc.
• grounded fantasy or otherwise speculative fiction:
  • with coherent, sharp worldbuilding that feels recognisable and familiar, or directly set in our world.
  • especially anything that plays with any interaction of magic, faith, and technology.
  • think Babel, a more literary version Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Blood Over Bright Haven, Metal From Heaven, etc.
• searing contemporary fiction centred on themes of identity and belonging:
  • think Sally Rooney (I know!), Torrey Peters, or what Saltburn should have been.
• dark westerns:
  • especially any that play with the truth and false hopes of the American Dream.
• magical realism
  • both whimsy with a touch of darkness and darkness with a touch of whimsy.
• unhappy romances
• anything -punk:
  • steampunk, solarpunk, silkpunk, clockpunk, dieselpunk, cyberpunk, etc – see more definitions here.
  • suffice to say: if you can successfully and smartly comp to Arcane, she wants to see it!
• character-focused historical fiction with a literary edge:
  • think Lauren Groff, Anthony Doerr, Eleanor Catton, etc.
  • particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries; including and indeed encouraging alternate history.

Stylistically, she loves uncommon, thought-provoking experimentation with both prose and form, and loves anything spiky, toothy, and dark. Happy endings, to her, should feel earned. In all things, compelling character development should come first. First person narration is a hard sell for her, but not impossible. A smart genre blend is always welcome, as is any fresh-eyed approach to a well-trodden trope. Julie is also very much looking for her first romantasy – especially one that approaches this exciting new genre from a fresh, bold perspective. 

(Please do bear in mind that, despite a deep and abiding love for all things Tolkien and Star Wars, she is not typically the right fit for epic or high fantasy, nor space-faring science fiction. She would also prefer to avoid pulpy crime and straightforward romance/romcoms.)

She is keenly interested in hearing from authors traditionally underrepresented in the industry, including but not restricted to writers of colour; queer, trans, and nonbinary writers; working class writers; disabled writers; etc. 

Her enduring favourite books include All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. More recent favourites include the masterful Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Babel by R.F. Kuang, Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters, Matrix by Lauren Groff, Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt, Brother Alive by Zain Khalid, and Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield.

In non-fiction, Julie is keen to read in the narrative and “big ideas” spaces, particularly in the realms of politics, history, and the social sciences.