Danya Kukafka

Literary Agent

Danya Kukafka is the author of the bestselling novels Notes on an Execution and Girl in Snow. She works as a literary agent, and is actively building her client list at Trellis Literary Management.

Danya began her career as a student at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she created a major titled “The Art of the Novel.” After internships at various literary agencies, she followed that passion to Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, where she was privileged to work as an assistant editor for writers like Meg Wolitzer, Paula Hawkins, Lauren Groff, Brit Bennett, Emma Straub, Gabriel Tallent, Helen Oyeyemi, Maile Meloy, Sigrid Nunez, and many more.

Danya’s most recent novel, Notes on an Execution, won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Novel and was chosen as the New York Times Best Overall Crime Novel of the Year.  Her debut, Girl in Snow, was released in 2017—it was alsoa national bestseller, an IndieNext Pick, a B&N Discover pick, and received favorable reviews from The New York Times (Editor’s Choice) and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Her fiction has been translated into over a dozen languages worldwide, and Notes on an Execution is currently in development as a feature film.

Danya is interested in representing literary fiction with particularly propulsive storylines. She is seeking literary suspense, sophisticated thrillers, book club fiction, speculative fiction, and experimental fiction. She also loves true crime that feels attuned to today's cultural conversations, and upmarket fiction you can read in one gulp. Her dream authors include: Megan Abbott, Angie Kim, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Rene Denfeld, Julia Phillips, Celeste Ng, Akwaeke Emezi, Susan Choi, Alex Marzano-Lesnevish, Jia Tolentino, Karen Thompson Walker, and Gabrielle Zevin.

For a more detailed manuscript wish list, please click here.