Events - Event View

Why should readers and creatives of all stripes care to understand how the publishing industry works? MIDDLEMEN, a new book from author and Temple Professor Laura McGrath rewrites literary history from the perspective of one of its most important but least visible figures: the literary agent. Chronicling the story of agents in the United States from the 1950s to today’s landscape of publishing conglomerates MIDDLEMEN takes readers behind the scenes to show how agents influence what we read, answering questions like why many debut novelists never publish another book, why agents champion short story collections even though they sell poorly, how agents advocate for writers of color in a system that values whiteness, and why there are so many New York novels. She also shows how central agents have been to the creation of entire literary categories like the debut novel, the story collection, postmodernism, multiethnic fiction, and world literature.

McGrath will be joined in conversation by nationally bestselling local novelist Emma Copley Eisenberg for a far ranging conversation relevant to aspiring authors, established artists of all fields, and all who care about the future of books.