2025 Guest Literary Agent

Danya Kukafka is a Literary Agent at Trellis Literary Management and the author of the bestselling novels Notes on an Execution and Girl in Snow. She grew up in Colorado, and moved to New York City for school, where her love for reading and writing have taken her through nearly every facet of the publishing industry. She began as a student at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she created a major titled “The Art of the Novel.” After internships at various literary agencies, she followed that passion to Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where she was privileged to work as an assistant editor for writers like Meg Wolitzer, Paula Hawkins, Lauren Groff, Brit Bennett, Emma Straub, Gabriel Tallent, Helen Oyeyemi, Maile Meloy, Sigrid Nunez, and many more. 

Danya is interested in representing literary fiction with particularly propulsive storylines. She is seeking literary suspense, sophisticated thrillers, book club fiction, speculative fiction, and experimental fiction. She also loves true crime that feels attuned to today’s cultural conversations, and upmarket fiction you can read in one gulp.