Nicole Cunningham is a literary agent with The Book Group. She represents a range of fiction, nonfiction, and illustrators. She works with writers and artists who share a sense of wonder, curiosity, and tenderness about the world.

Nicole is looking to acquire literary, upmarket, and commercial fiction. SheÕs drawn to fiction thatÕs gorgeously written, immersive, smart, and voice-driven. She always falls in love at the level of the line first Ñ and keeps turning pages for a transporting plot and a one-of-a-kind voice. She also enjoys novels with a magical or softly speculative bent, and book club novels that speak to our current cultural moment with acuity. She wants to read stories that explore how messy and complicated being a human can be: from messy relationship/family dynamics to a messy internal conflict to a messy I-must-get-out-of-this-bind choice. Even better if it has a little heart (even a broken one!) and a sense of humor.

In the nonfiction space, Nicole wants to read fresh, surprising essay collections, cultural criticism, and well-researched, entertaining narrative nonfiction that has the bingeable quality of her favorite podcasts. She particularly enjoys work that explores topics like motherhood, internet culture, gender and sexuality, linguistics, and the natural world.

Nicole joined The Book Group in 2016. Prior to joining the agency, she worked as the Manager of Author Relations at a book discovery website and as an assistant in the publishing department of ICM Partners. She studied English and American Literature at New York University, with a minor in Gender and Sexuality studies. When sheÕs not reading, Nicole can be found social dancing, hiking with her husband and dog, and renovating her old home in the Finger Lakes. She splits her time between Brooklyn and Upstate NY.

A few books I loved reading in my free timeÉ The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter, Outlawed by Anna North, The Rachel Incident by Caroline OÕDonoghue, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin, MD, Cultish by Amanda Montell, and Monfluenced by Sara Petersen.