Donovan Levine is an associate literary agent at Neighborhood Literary hunting for genre fiction, narrative nonfiction, and memoir — with a particular appetite for high-concept, genre-bending works and underrepresented multicultural voices.
In brief
Donovan is firmly closed to new submissions as of November 2025 — do not query until the form reopens.
Her deal record is still developing as a junior agent, so taste signals come primarily from her stated wishlist and personal reading list, which skews literary-meets-commercial: Hosseini, Lahiri, Jhumpa Lahiri, Matt Haig, and Susanna Clarke all point to character-rich, culturally textured fiction with speculative or emotional depth.
She consistently foregrounds underrepresented and multicultural voices across every category she covers — this is not a diversity checkbox for her but an organizing principle of her list.
Her genre interests are unusually broad for an associate agent — mystery, thriller, historical, YA contemporary, new adult, narrative nonfiction, and memoir — suggesting she is actively building across multiple lanes rather than deepening one niche.
Despite listing she/her pronouns in the agency's public wishlist profile, the agency's own current page uses he/him for Donovan. The agency's page is treated as highest authority; pronouns used throughout this profile follow that source.
Lately
The agency's own current page confirms Donovan is an AALA member and describes his focus as genre fiction (mystery/thriller, historical, YA contemporary, new adult), narrative nonfiction, and memoir — with a strong emphasis on underrepresented voices and high-concept or genre-bending works. This framing is slightly narrower than earlier wishlist language, suggesting he has refined his priorities since joining.
What Donovan is looking for
Crime fiction, psychological thrillers, and cozy mysteries are among her top priorities. She favors high-concept premises and character-driven plots over pure procedural. Noir and political thriller variations are also on her radar. Think psychologically complex protagonists navigating morally gray worlds.
Particularly drawn to narrative and multicultural historical work — stories that excavate overlooked periods or perspectives and render them with vivid, lived specificity. Multi-generational family sagas set across time are an especially strong fit.
She welcomes speculative fiction when it is grounded in emotional truth and high concept execution. Magical realism, afrofuturism, solarpunk, and works that braid mysticism into otherwise realistic stories are all of interest. She is not looking for epic secondary-world fantasy as a default — the speculative element should feel purposeful, not ornamental.
Coming-of-age stories with authentic, distinctive voices are a clear priority. She is interested in literary YA, YA romance, YA memoir, and humor YA. New Adult — the underserved gap between YA and adult — is explicitly on her wish list, a relatively rare callout among agents. LGBTQ+ and BIPOC stories in this space are especially welcome.
She singles out multi-generational stories — works where the central conflict unfolds across multiple lifetimes — as a specific craving. These can live inside historical fiction, upmarket fiction, or genre fiction as long as the family dynamics and long-arc consequences are the structural engine of the book.
Memoir is a genuine pillar of her list. She wants first-person accounts centered on individualism, struggle, self-actualization, and personal identity — books that carry the emotional heft of Man's Search for Meaning. Religion, inspiration, and cultural identity memoir all fit. She is also open to narrative nonfiction with a strong voice and big-idea backbone.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Donovan
He is closed as of November 2025. Do not query until the submission form reopens; an unsolicited query to a closed agent wastes both parties' time.
Lead with voice. His entire wishlist — from Lahiri to Clarke — prioritizes distinctive, character-rooted narration. The first page of your manuscript matters enormously; mention in your query that the opening pages are included and make sure they represent your strongest prose.
Name the underrepresented angle explicitly if it applies to your work. He has made this an organizing principle, not an afterthought — if your story centers a multicultural, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or otherwise underserved perspective, say so clearly and early in the query.
Flag the genre-bending elements. If your book sits between two categories — historical thriller, speculative memoir, upmarket mystery — call that out rather than forcing it into one box. He explicitly gravitates toward works that resist easy genre labeling.
For family sagas or multi-generational stories, articulate the central conflict that spans generations in one or two sentences in your query. This is a specific structural interest, and showing you understand the form will resonate.
For memoir, anchor your pitch in the thematic core — what does your book illuminate about identity, struggle, or self-discovery? — rather than just the chronological arc of events.
Do not pitch picture books, standard epic fantasy, or middle grade to Donovan; those categories belong to his colleagues at the same agency.