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Nicola Chang

David Higham Associates

Submission status
Open
Submission route
Email
Response time
Aims to reply within 12 weeks
Last checked
10 days ago

About

Nicola joined David Higham Associates in 2020 and represents prize-winning writers of literary and general fiction, non-fiction and poets.

Her authors include Sara Ahmed, Raymond Antrobus, J. M. Coetzee, Jacqueline Crooks, Emma Glass, Gabriel Krauze, Saba Sams and Kae Tempest. Nicola is a recipient of the London Book Fair’s Trailblazer Award and a Bookseller Rising Star. Nicola responds first and foremost to original voices that challenge the idea of what a literary novel, and sentence, can do, as well as propulsive character-driven novels with intricate plots, unforgettable set pieces and dazzling dialogue. Nicola is drawn to experiments in form that defy easy definition, vernacular-inflected realism, the tragicomic, the weird and ethereal, seeking emotional complexity and transformative storytelling. In non-fiction Nicola is interested in narrative-driven, persuasive perspectives, a unique fearless voice and the interplay between the personal and the political, particularly from early-career scholars, critics and writers thinking deeply and universally about society through subjects such as the arts, food, family, language, creativity, sport, the body, work, travel and music, and if these works can be delivered provocatively and humorously, all the better.

What they represent

Contemporary FictionFood & DrinkLiterary FictionMemoirNarrative Non-FictionOther Non-FictionPoetry

Looking for

  • brilliant literary fiction and narrative non-fiction
  • a taut literary thriller
  • a novel that carefully chronicles the domestic and its attendant dynamics
  • stories that take place across time, captivating in their sustained exploration of character and setting
  • a visionary voice
  • novels of ideas that move
  • moody, mysterious books hewn from an innate obsession with form and language
  • writing whose content demands a relationship with or challenge to form
  • a writer who can write mothers and daughters
  • narrative-driven, persuasive non-fiction with a unique, fearless voice and the interplay between the personal and the political
  • early career scholars, researchers, journalists and critics thinking deeply and urgently about what it means to be alive now
  • literary memoir and the uncanny space between fiction and non-fiction
  • a writer who can write both books about food and cookbooks
  • poetry, considered selectively, from poets published in journals or magazines or listed for prizes
  • published or established authors looking for a new approach, strategy or direction
  • short stories
  • an oral history of childhood and childcare, told principally through the voices of children and young people and also their carers

Links

Clients include

  • Ore Agbaje-Williams
  • Sara Ahmed
  • Rosanna Amaka
  • Raymond Antrobus
  • Symeon Brown
  • Stephen Buoro
  • Vanessa Chan
  • J. M. Coetzee
  • Jacqueline Crooks
  • Tsitsi Dangarembga
  • Nikita Gill
  • Will Harris
  • Gabriel Krauze
  • Anna Metcalfe
  • Kae Tempest

Agency submission guidelines

David Higham accepts unsolicited submissions and is always on the lookout for new voices in adult fiction and non-fiction, children's and YA, and scripts. Approach one agent only, chosen from the agents' pages; if unsure, email the general submissions address with the subject 'Adult Submissions Department' and an agent will read it. Adult fiction: the first three chapters, a one to two page synopsis and a covering letter, by email to the agent's own address. Post is also accepted at the London office, double spaced and page numbered with a stamped addressed envelope; manuscripts are not returned. Non-fiction: a proposal covering the book's themes, story and sources, any sample chapters, your credentials for writing it, and a covering letter. Otherwise as for adult fiction. Children's and YA: put your name and the book title in the subject line and the covering letter in the body, with a pitch, a short summary and a little about you. For young fiction and novels attach the first three chapters and a synopsis as Word or PDF; for picture books, one to three full texts. Download links are not opened. Illustrators and paper engineers email a sample first; hard copies only on request. Scripts: a considered approach to one specific agent, in electronic form only, with a cover email explaining why you are seeking representation, your writing CV and details of anyone who referred you. Samples are requested only if the agent wants to see more; synopses and incomplete scripts are not considered. Replies: adult submissions aim for a response within twelve weeks, with a form rejection where the agency cannot help; children's and YA submissions get no individual reply, and silence after twelve weeks means no; for scripts, silence after six weeks means no. Do let the agency know if another agent requests the full manuscript or offers representation.

Agency AI policy

Does not wish to consider submissions written with generative AI tools; any use must be disclosed. Non-fiction proposals must not rely on AI-driven research, and cover letters should be written without AI.

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