Laetitia Rutherford

Literary Agent

I represent a broad and diverse list of authors in Fiction and contemporary Non-Fiction, ranging from multi-media artists, poets and academics writing for the mainstream, to bestselling and award-winning Crime authors, several with series in TV development. Unique voices with the power to bridge and communicate with wide audiences inspire me.

My current focus is on literary and upmarket fiction. For the moment, I am not looking from Crime fiction.

I am open to queries from writers with timely subject matter, propulsive narratives, and irresistible style whether accessible or more playful and ambitious of form. I am looking for fresh, bold, and beautiful voices, preferably contemporary settings, and with the international appeal that comes from a brilliant central idea or little heard cultural standpoint.

At the moment, I am particularly open to novels with surreal or fantastical or fabulist aspects, that throw universal storylines into the challenges of today (and tomorrow)’s complex world. I’d love to experience your characters’ stories unfold in new and underexplored worlds or work or play.

If historical, let your novel speak for today.

The strength of your concept might jump out at me first, but I want to be hooked and excited by the vividness, originality and flair of your prose, its emotional power and capacity to move, provoke and entertain.

Tones of charm and humour also work well for me. I love cats, food and cooking, and nature, and I love how-to-live concepts from experts, activists or exciting new voices. A deft and delightful eternity-in-a-grain-of-sand concept (seen in books I’ve sold across many languages like A Friend Like Ben or The Power of Chowa) would be a delight to take to readers around the world.

Among the most compelling novels I’ve read in recent years are Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff, No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, An American Marriage by Tayeri Jones, Lullaby by Leila Slimani, Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, Lanny by Max Porter. In Non-Fiction, recent favourites include In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun, and George Saunders’ A Swim in the Pond in the Rain. The lockdown was also a chance to read some modern classics, like F Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, Toni Morrison’s Sula and Sam Selvon’s lyrical The Lonely Londoners, and I love the work of the exciting contemporary poetry scene including Mary-Jean Chan, Nina Mingya Powles and Ella Frears.

Laetitia grew up in London and took a BA in English from Oxford and MA in 20th Literature from Goldsmiths. Her career in books started as a Marketing Executive for Fiction at HarperCollins. After 3 years, she decided to take a year out to do a Masters degree. She then joined the pioneering small independent agency Toby Eady Associates in 2003, going on to become a literary agent and then director of the agency. In 2013, she joined Watson, Little, attracted by its long-standing reputation, its ability to work with authors across many genres, and its close in-house work in Translation markets, Film, TV, stage and radio.