Irene Vázquez
Levine Querido
My Manuscript Wish List®
Howdy! I’m an associate editor at Levine Querido. Our mission is to provide a platform for creators from communities that have been historically marginalized in mainstream publishing including (but not limited to): BIPOC creators, members of the LGBT+ community, creators with disabilities, creators from minority religions, and folks at the intersections of those identities. My heart lies in middle grade, but I work on the full gambit between picture books and new adult!
I’m also acquiring very selectively in picture books and nonfiction. In terms of picture books, I like stories that are narrative with a poetic sensibility.
On the fiction side, I’m particularly interested in voice-driven contemporary realism, genre fiction that draws from a particular cultural heritage/tradition and/or centers protagonists from underrepresented groups, and queer/trans romance/coming of age that doesn’t center coming out.
In general, I love:
- Books with a strong sense of place (whether real or imagined)
- Books with a climate/environmental angle
- Books that defy categorization and push at the boundaries between “realistic” and “speculative” and “magical realism”
- Books that handle sad or difficult subjects with a fantastical twist (think Kyle Lukoff’s Too Bright to See or Mari Lowe’s Aviva vs the Dybbuk)
- Books in the upper middle grade range
- Books that take place in the South
Fun facts about me:
- I love women’s sports of all kinds (especially the WNBA)
- I have a tortoiseshell cat named Gemini
- Outside of publishing, I’m a poet and journalist, focusing on Black cultural traditions, eco-poetics, and environmental justice
Submission Guidelines
Agented submissions can be sent to irene@levinequerido.com.
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#Dis, AAPI Fantasy, AAPI Horror, AAPI Sci-Fi, African Diaspora, Asian American Literature, Asian Diaspora, Asian Fantasy, Asian Horror, Asian Sci-Fi, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Mystery, BIPOC Sci-Fi, Character-Driven Horror, Character-driven SciFi, Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Cli-Fi, Climate Fiction, Contemporary YA, Contemporary Young Adult, Diversity, Environment, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Indigenous Futurism, LGBT YA, LGBTQ Contemporary, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+ rom coms, Literary Middle Grade, Literary Science Fiction, Lyrical picture book, MG Fantasy, MG Horror, MG Sci-Fi, MG contemporary, MG mystery, Magical Realism, Magical Realism YA, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Horror, Middle Grade Humor, Muslim, Near-future SF, Neurodiversity, New Adult, Southern Fiction, Southern Gothic, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Middle Grade, YA Contemporary, YA Fantasy, YA SF/F, YA Sci-fi, YA Science Fiction, YA fantasy/light sci-fi, YA horror, YA rom com, anti-capitalist sci fi, books in translation, campus novel, contemporary MG, contemporary middle grade, mental illness, near-future science fiction, stories that don't fit neatly into a genre
I’d like the next…
My favorites include…
- A Snake Falls to Earth (Darcie Little Badger); Middletown (Sarah Moon); The Last Cuentista (Donna Barba Higuera); Her Body and Other Parties (Carmen Maria Machado); Confessions of the Fox (Jordy Rosenberg)
