2019-10-01_Writer_s_Digest

THE TERM “LITERARY NOVEL” IS NOT WITHOUT
CONTROVERSY. WHAT MAKES A STORY WORTHY
OF BEING CALLED A “LITERARY NOVEL”?
CAPRON: It’s easy to fall into the argument around one
genre being more “well written” than another. I don’t buy
into that. It goes back to the previous question: Is your
story driven by the protagonist’s emotional arc, with that
character’s voice being a key part of the style of the writ-
ing, or does it move along by more concrete plot points,
and/or by the rules of that particular genre? Again, there
are lots of potential overlaps between these areas, and I
don’t see one genre as better than another. Literary fi c-
tion just happens to be the area I read most frequently,
myself, and I know best from the sales perspective.

HYDE: When I’m considering a manuscript, I’m not ask-

ing myself “Is this a literary novel?” I’m reading to see

if I love it, if it keeps me eagerly turning the pages, if it

surprises me, if immediately aft er I’ve fi nished I want to

tellsomeoneaboutit,andif I thinkthereareeditorsout

therewhowouldalsobeengagedbyit.

JOHNSON:I don’tliketothinkof“literary”asa status

thata storyneedstobe“worthy”ofonanysortoffiction

hierarchy.Mypersonalpreferenceis forvoice-drivenfic-

tion,butallreadingis validreading.

WARNOCK:You’regoingdownthewrongpathwaywhen

askingaboutworthiness.Yes,a certainlevelofqualityis

expected,butyoucouldsaythesameofanygenre.It’s

morea matterofhowthestorybehavesonthepage.

LITERARYFICTIONISA FREESPIRITCOMPARED

TOGENREFICTION,WHICHOFTENEMPLOYS

RULESANDFORMULASEXPECTEDBYREADERS.

WHATTYPESOF“RULEBREAKING”DOYOU

ENJOYINLITERARYFICTION?

CAPRON:I loveseeingwritersfullyembracea unique

charactervoiceorworldview.Havefunwithit!Immerse

usintheprotagonist’sworld.

THEAGENTROUNDTABLE

ANNIEHWANGis anagentatFolioLiterary

Management,wheresherepresents

literaryfictionandselectnonfiction.Asa

formerjournalist,shepossessesa keen

editorialeye,whichshebringstoheragenting

approach,takinganactiverolein thecareersofher

clients.SincejoiningFolio,shehashadthepleasureof

workingwithbothdebutandseasonedauthors.

ELISECAPRONhasbeenanagentatthe

SandraDijkstraLiteraryAgencyformore

than 15 years.Sheis mostinterestedin

character-drivenliteraryfiction,aswellas

narrative-drivenhistories,culturestudies,andscience.

KATE JOHNSON is an agent at MacKenzie

Wolf. She was previously an agent and vice

president at Georges Borchardt Inc. and

has edited and reported at StoryQuarterly,

Bookslut, New York magazine, and elsewhere. Her

authors have won numerous awards, including the PEN

Faulkner Award, Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and

the Whiting Award. She is chair of the 2018–2019 judging

panelfortheBristolShortStoryPrize.

GORDON WARNOCK, partner at Fuse

Literary, is a literary agent and the

editorial director of Short Fuse Publishing.

Prior to forming Fuse, he was a senior

literary agent, marketing director for an independent

press, freelance editor of award-winning novels,

publishing consultant, and author coach. He frequently

teaches workshops and gives keynote speeches at

conferencesandMFAprogramsnationwide.

DARA HYDE is a senior agent at the Hill

Nadell Literary Agency in Los Angeles

and represents a wide range of fi ction and

nonfi ction, including literary, historical,

and genre fi ction, graphic novels, narrative nonfi ction,

memoir, and YA. Before joining Hill Nadell, Dara spent

over a decade as an editor and foreign rights and

permissions manager at the independent publisher

Grove Atlantic in New York.

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