Awura Ama Barnie-Duah
Born and raised in the Bronx, Awura Ama has always fostered a passion for great books from a very young age. She is a graduate of St. John’s University in Queens, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and double-minored in Africana Studies and Creative Writing. She went on to work at Big Five publisher Simon & Schuster in their Associates Program for almost two years, as well as completing publishing internships at Writers House Literary Agency, Melville House Publishing, and HG Literary Agency.
She is interested in a wide range of genres including literary/upmarket fiction, coming-of-age, narrative nonfiction, memoirs, essay collections, and stories with strong, distinct characters and work from marginalized voices. She aspires to one day be a literary agent bringing more work by underrepresented authors into the world and working on both adult fiction and nonfiction. When not at SKLA, she works part-time as a bookseller at The Center for Ficiton in Fort Greene. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Mackenzie Brady Watson
Mackenzie began her career in publishing in 2010 and joined the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency in 2016. Her clients have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, and frequently win or are finalists for some of publishing’s highest honors, such as the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the NBCC Award, ALA Carnegie Medal, various PEN awards, and the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.
She represents an array of excellent writers, illustrators, and comic artists, and is actively taking on clients writing investigative journalism, history, science, memoir, poetry, non-fiction for children, and upmarket and literary fiction. She particularly appreciates books that explore today’s most pressing issues through a compelling story and can be used as tools for social change.
In addition to being an agent, she is also a Founding Board Member of the 501(c)(3) non-profit INKLUDED, whose mission is to make the publishing industry more accessible and inclusive.
Mackenzie is not currently open to text-only YA, MG or picture book fiction. She is interested in NF for children and illustrators/comic artists working for all ages.
Mackenzie’s Featured Titles
Melissa Danaczko
Melissa Danaczko became a literary agent after more than a decade of publishing experience, most recently as Senior Editor with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Today, Melissa represents a wide-range of Adult fiction and non-fiction titles. In fiction, she gravitates towards high-concept novels with a fresh perspective, energetic writing, deep emotional connection, and an immersive sense of place. Favorite categories include contemporary book club fiction, mystery, crime, psychological thrillers, speculative fiction, horror, and historical novels. She also represents history, science, memoir and idea-driven non-fiction books that are rigorous, emotionally compelling and have something big to say about our world.
Across all categories, she is looking for a diversity of voices and projects that are both entertaining and enlightening, the types of books that you can get lost in and then when you finally resurface, want to discuss with others. Her authors have won or been nominated for the Pulitzer, Edgar, Anthony, International Thriller, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Lambda, Stonewall, NAACP, Hurston Wright Legacy, among other awards.
Originally from Houston, TX, Melissa has lived in Miami, FL and now calls New York City home.
Melissa’s Featured Titles
Barbara Jones
Barbara Jones represents literary and upmarket fiction and nonfiction, with a special interest in voices from underrepresented communities. Barbara became a literary agent after several decades as an editor, first in magazines (Grand Street, Harper’s Magazine, Vogue, Real Simple) and then in books (as editorial director at Hyperion Books and, most recently as executive editor at Henry Holt). She has led writing workshops for more than thirty years, at Yale University, New York University, Queens University of Charlotte, and elsewhere. She lives with her family in Harlem, New York.
Barbara’s Featured Titles
Stuart Krichevsky
Stuart Krichevsky has over four decades of experience in the agency business. He founded the agency in 1995, after a fifteen-year career at Sterling Lord Literistic. with a focus on literary non-fiction, narrative journalism and commercial fiction. He has represented dozens of New York Times Best Sellers, with a focus on literary non-fiction, narrative journalism, and commercial fiction. His clients have been recipients of the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize and countless other literary awards. He is married with two adult children, is an avid road cyclist, and enjoys working with debut authors as well as his long-term clients.
Stuart’s Featured Titles
David Patterson
David Patterson represents a wide variety of narrative and idea-driven nonfiction and literary fiction, with an emphasis on journalists, public figures, scholars, and performers. His clients include Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists, winners of the Polk, Livingston, Whiting and Lukas Awards, and contributors and writers on the staff of The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Texas Monthly, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Slate, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Oxford American, and other publications.
David has been involved in publishing since his graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a degree in English, Highest Honors, in 1996. After completing an internship at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, David worked for several years at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC, and then worked for over a decade as an editor at PublicAffairs and then Henry Holt and Company. David serves on the board of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, organized by the journalism program at the University of North Texas, and is an adjunct faculty member at the Goucher College MFA program in creative nonfiction.
He is married, with two children, and lives in Brooklyn. His children's interests have informed his own over the last several years, which has led to an increased or renewed interest in soccer (you can call it football, or fútbol, or calcio, if you want), graphic arts, music, and theatre. He grew up in the North Carolina Piedmont with a mother from and deep family roots in Puerto Rico, and his list represents and aspires to represent the most perceptive authors and books about Americana and Latinidad.
David’s Featured Titles
Aemilia Phillips
Aemilia Phillips is a literary agent representing a range of fiction and non-fiction writers, including a National Book Award nominee, PEN America finalist, Pulitzer winning journalist, and more.
She’s excited to work with writers who push boundaries to address social justice issues. A dual Mexican American citizen with interests in narrative non-fiction, hybrid memoir, commercial and literary fiction, and select poetry and self-help, she looks for diverse writing with an impactful story to tell.
For non-fiction, Aemilia is looking for obsessed writers who challenge the way we think about the world. She loves character driven projects that at first glance appear to be commercial, but that are also smart cultural critiques. She’s fascinated by complex fictional characters who upend preconceptions, and stories with just a touch of magic.
In addition to her work as an agent, Aemilia is a board member of La Unidad Latina Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of Latinx education. She graduated from Harvard College with honors, and completed the Columbia University Publishing Course. She lives in Manhattan.
Aemilia’s Featured Titles
Hannah Schwartz
Hannah Schwartz joined SKLA as the business manager in 2016 after spending four years at InkWell Management. She manages the day-to-day business operations for the agency, which allows her to work closely with each agent at SKLA and all of our exceptional clients. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
Laura Usselman
Laura Usselman represents narrative and idea-driven nonfiction and select literary fiction. Her clients include national bestsellers, Pulitzer finalists, and winners of the Gerald Loeb and National Magazine Awards.
Laura’s favorite novels are written in distinctive prose and have memorable characters at their heart. In nonfiction, she is interested in thoughtful narrative nonfiction, restlessly curious idea books, and reported memoir. Special areas of interest include cultural criticism, business journalism, and contemporary parenthood.
Before joining SKLA, Laura earned her MFA in Fiction at Virginia Tech and worked at Cambridge University Press. A native of Atlanta and an alum of the University of Georgia, she lives with her spouse and her three daughters in Decatur, Georgia.
Laura’s Featured Titles
Chandler Wickers
Chandler Wickers joined Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency in 2021 after completing the Columbia Publishing Course and working in tech.
She is drawn to voice-driven literary fiction with a strong sense of place, novels featuring darkly funny narrators, family sagas, and characters grappling with timeless philosophical questions about faith and desire. In non-fiction, she looks for novelistic journalism, comprehensive histories, war reporting, wilderness adventures, and journeys to the edges of the Earth. She's interested in stories that converge scholarly with personal narratives, and those that demystify a subculture or reveal an underbelly.
Chandler is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, where she played Division III soccer and studied English and Film. A Bay Area native and Brooklyn transplant, Chandler recently moved back to the West Coast. She spends her free time enjoying the bounty that California offers, getting creative with seasonal produce, playing tennis, and hiking the coast.