Emmy Nordstrom Higdon
Literary Agent
#SpineSquad
I am incredibly lucky to support artists creating thought-provoking upmarket fiction and non-fiction across age categories and genres in building their careers in traditional publishing. They can be found on social media using the hashtag #SpineSquad.
“…this ENTIRE LIST is fantastic!! Unique, fresh, compelling premises, and all with clear markets—I’m so energized by everything you have here. Incredible work.”
Michelle Kaatz, (former) Director of Original Content, Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Bio
emmy (they/them) holds a PhD in justice-oriented social work with a focus on critical animal studies from McMaster University, with peer-reviewed publications in public health and psychology. In 2019, they made a lateral career move into publishing after four years as a bookseller at a local independent bookstore.
They are a literary agent at Westwood Creative Artists, a faculty member for the Manuscript Academy, and an advisor for the Festival of Literary Diversity and Sheridan College Creative Writing and Publishing programs. In their agenting work, they use a hands-on, conscious editing approach.
emmy is a queer, trans, and non-binary colonizer originally from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland), the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq, now based on the Haldimand Tract, which is the territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Attawandaran peoples. emmy is autistic, has psychiatric disabilities, and a hormone-related chronic illness.
emmy lives with their partner, a Deaf Dalmatian named Pavot, two formerly feral Maine coon cats, Whisper and Willow, and their collection of plants, informally nicknamed The Leafy Bois. They keep busy with vegan cooking, thread painting embroidery, crochet, wholesome games, snail mail, their sticker collection, jigsaw puzzles, and… obviously, reading.
