Lucy Cleland is a literary agent at Kneerim & Williams, representing idea-driven and narrative nonfiction of all stripes (history, social science, psychology, philosophy, reportage, etc.) as well as upmarket fiction, historical fiction, and select children’s projects. A southern transplant to Boston from Atlanta, Lucy joined the agency in 2013 after graduating magna cum laude from Wellesley College with honors in English and studio art. While building her own list, she served for six years as the Dramatic Rights Manager, coordinating relationships with co-agents and negotiating deals with major studios and streamers, and as Jill Kneerim’s editorial associate, supporting and shaping the work of some of the agency’s prize-winning and bestselling authors.
Lucy works with a range of writers, from scholars to debut novelists, and has sold books to trade and academic publishing houses including Farrar, Straus & Giroux, W.W. Norton, Random House, Chronicle, Grand Central Publishing, HarperCollins, Sourcebooks, Melville House, and University of North Carolina Press. Her taste is eclectic—little “c” catholic. Whatever the category, she is looking for authors with sharp opinions who embrace bold concepts and write lucid, textured prose. She’s drawn to unconventional and untold stories, the lives of creatives and rebels, and questions about identity and inheritance. She is actively seeking diverse voices.
