Julie Gourinchas

Julie Gourinchas (she/they) is developing a selective list focused on upmarket and literary adult and new adult fiction across a wide variety of genres. Writers she represents have been nominated for the British Book Awards, the Hugo Awards, the BSFA Awards, and the Saltire National Book Awards, among others.

Please note: Julie is not looking for young adult, middle grade, and children’s books. Strictly no AI-generated content.

In fiction, she’s drawn to a uncommon voices, and striking, intelligent writing – whether it be vibrant and floral or tense, quick, and sparse – as well as texture in both tone and setting (particularly anything with a strong sense of aesthetic). Above all, she is looking for hooky, high-concept work, but her taste can perhaps be best summarised as “the weird, dark, and gruesome.”

While the literary-speculative is her sweet spot, she considers herself genre agnostic within upmarket/literary fiction, and remains open to compelling and well-executed genre overlap. These include:

• upmarket and literary horror:
  • especially featuring feminist or cultural themes, body horror, mangled nature, or cosmic, Lovecraftian vibes.
  • especially looking for: cottagegore, horror-romance, and a fresh, literary take on vampires.
  • think Mona Awad, Julia Armfield, Jade Song, Stephen Graham Jones, etc.
• “weird girl lit fic”:
  • it’s exactly what you think it is!
  • think Lucy Rose, Ling Ling Huang, Eliza Clark, Ottessa Moshfegh, etc.
• razor-sharp dark academia:
  • especially any with something to say about the complex and exploitative systems within academia.
  • more The Secret History, less The Atlas Six.
• gothic fiction:
  • specifically regional gothic anchored in an evocative sense of place.
  • think Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, etc.
• grounded fantasy or otherwise speculative fiction:
  • with coherent, sharp worldbuilding that feels recognisable and familiar, or directly set in our world.
  • especially anything that plays with any intersection of magic, faith, and technology.
  • think Babel, a more literary version Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Blood Over Bright Haven, Metal From Heaven, etc.
• romantasy:
  • anything that approaches this exciting new genre from a fresh, bold perspective.
  • think Lisa Kleypas’s romance, heat, and intrigue + speculative elements – this is the dream.
  • no SJM-esque fae romance or shadow daddies, please!
• searing contemporary fiction centred on themes of identity and belonging:
  • think Sally Rooney (I know!), Torrey Peters, or what Saltburn should have been.
• dark westerns:
  • especially any that play with the truth and false hopes of the American Dream.
• magical realism:
  • both whimsy with a touch of darkness and darkness with a touch of whimsy.
• unhappy romances.
• anything -punk:
  • steampunk, solarpunk, silkpunk, clockpunk, dieselpunk, cyberpunk, etc – see more definitions here.
  • suffice to say: if you can successfully and smartly comp to Arcane, she wants to see it!
• character-focused historical fiction with a literary edge:
  • think Lauren Groff, Anthony Doerr, Eleanor Catton, etc.
  • particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries; including and indeed encouraging alternate history.

Stylistically, she loves uncommon, thought-provoking experimentation with both prose and form, and loves anything spiky, toothy, and dark. Happy endings, to her, should feel earned. In all things, compelling character development should come first. First person narration is a hard sell for her, but not impossible. A smart genre blend is always welcome, as is any fresh-eyed approach to a well-trodden trope.

(Please do bear in mind that, despite a deep and abiding love for all things Tolkien and Star Wars, she is not typically the right fit for epic or high fantasy, nor space-faring science fiction. She would also prefer to avoid pulpy crime and straightforward romance/romcoms.)

Submissions should be emailed to submission@bell-lomax.co.uk

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