6 Literary Agents Who Represent Poets

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Finding a literary agent as a poet is challenging, but it’s not impossible. While the economics of poetry publishing mean most agents don’t represent poetry collections, some do take on poets—particularly those with strong publication records or who work across multiple genres.

The landscape: Poetry advances are typically modest (often $0-$3,000), which makes the traditional 15% commission model difficult. This means agents who represent poets are often looking for writers with exceptional track records, cross-genre work, or significant potential for teaching/speaking income beyond book sales.

What agents look for in poets:

• Literary publication history

• Writing that crosses genres (poetry with memoir, essays, or other prose)

• Previous book publications with good reviews and/or sales (note: this doesn’t just mean straight bestseller status. Good sales at an indie press, for example, or even self-pub’d sales can be excellent determining factors here)

• A strong platform or teaching position

• Award recognition

When poets work with agents: Many poets find representation because they’re writing hybrid work or have multiple projects. The agent might represent a memoir or essay collection, and the poetry becomes part of a broader relationship. Some agents genuinely love poetry and take on a few poets whose work they believe in.

Finding the right agent: If you’re curious about representation or thinking about querying agents, knowing which ones actually work with poets can save you months of research and misdirected queries. We’ve compiled a list of six literary agents who have successfully represented poets and are genuinely open to poetry projects.

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