Hana El Niwairi is CookeMcDermid's Rights Manager and a selective literary agent championing authors of colour and marginalized writers in commercial genre fiction, romance, SFF, and accessible non-fiction—with a particular hunger for morally complex characters, lovers-to-enemies tension, and sentient-place horror.
In brief
Hana runs a deliberately small, curated list alongside her full-time rights management role at CookeMcDermid, which means she takes on very few new clients—selectivity here is structural, not just stylistic.
Her rights work has placed agency titles into 50+ territories globally, including Rupi Kaur's bestselling poetry collections, Thomas Olde Heuvelt's HEX and Echo, and Karen Lord's Women's Prize-longlisted The Blue, Beautiful World—evidence of deep international publisher relationships that can benefit her direct clients.
Her sales and wishlist together confirm a clear north star: she is most drawn to commercially minded SFF and romance written by and centred on marginalized communities, with 'morally grey' and 'difficult' characters as a near-constant through-line.
Her query window is unusually specific—the last week of every month (excluding December)—which means timing your submission correctly is as important as the pitch itself.
Her submission form was directly observed as CLOSED on 2026-06-01; writers should verify the live form status before sending anything, and wait for the correct window within the month.
Lately
Her 2025 wishlist update placed historical romance by marginalized writers, genre-blending romance (horror, mystery, thriller crossovers), and romantasy with equal weight on both the fantasy and romance elements at the top of her priorities—while also flagging a continued, unfulfilled desire for a sentient-place manuscript tied to intergenerational trauma or colonial history.
What Hana is looking for
SFF is her self-described soft spot and the category she returns to most. She gravitates toward speculative worlds that feel scarily plausible, stories that interrogate capitalism and systemic harm, and explorations of trauma through a genre lens. For YA specifically, she favours work that plays with horror and fabulist fiction set in the real world. She is actively prioritizing marginalized writers and stories throughout the SFF space. Strong romantic storylines within fantasy are welcome and encouraged, but she distinguishes between full romantasy (where romance and worldbuilding share equal real estate) and fantasy-with-romance (where a HEA/HFN is not guaranteed)—both are of interest, but the balance must be intentional.
In recent years romance has become a genuine priority for her. She is particularly drawn to historical romance by and featuring marginalized characters, and to genre-blending work—horror-romance, mystery-romance, thriller-romance—provided a HEA or HFN is delivered. She tends toward romance with edge and emotional bite; sweeter or wholesome-leaning work is not her best fit. For genre-blends, the non-romance elements should be fully realized, not merely decorative.
Horror appears both as a standalone interest and woven into her genre-blend wishlist (horror-romance, speculative YA with horror elements). A recurring specific desire: a sentient place—house, forest, lake, room—that interacts with its inhabitants and reflects intergenerational trauma, colonial legacies, or dark histories. The sentient place does not have to be malicious, but she enjoys when it has a disruptive, even antagonistic personality. She describes wanting a darker, more unsettling riff on the idea of a magical, responsive home.
Thrillers are listed as an active interest on her current agency page, reinforced by her stated enjoyment of the category in recent reading. Character-driven work with morally complex protagonists aligns with her broader taste across genres.
Commercial literary-adjacent fiction with broad readership appeal sits squarely on her list. She is drawn to work written by and centred on marginalized communities, featuring protagonists with genuine complexity rather than easy likability.
Non-fiction is a serious pillar of her list. She wants work that is rigorously researched yet genuinely accessible to a general reader—not academic in register. Her interests span politics, social justice, social science, pop culture and media criticism, history, and science. The connective thread across these is systemic analysis: how large-scale structures and inequities manifest in everyday life. She is specifically interested in work that deconstructs systems—legal, political, cultural—and shows their real-world human cost.
Not the right fit
On Hana's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Hana
Timing is everything: Hana only accepts queries during the last week of each month, and her form closes outside that window. Check the live form status before preparing your materials—and plan to submit in that final week.
Her submission form was directly observed as closed on June 1, 2026. Do not assume it has reopened; verify the current state on the agency website before sending.
Lead your query letter with what makes your protagonist morally complex or unconventional. She repeatedly emphasises 'morally grey,' 'difficult women,' and anti-heroes—if your lead fits that mould, say so explicitly and early.
If your work is genre-blending (e.g. horror-romance or thriller-romance), name the blend clearly and confirm in your pitch that a HEA or HFN is delivered. She wants to know the romantic payoff is guaranteed before she reads on.
For SFF, make the systemic or political stakes legible in the query—she responds to speculative work that interrogates real-world structures like capitalism, colonialism, or institutional power.
If your non-fiction pitch, frame the systemic argument in your opening and show how it connects to everyday lived experience. Academic framing will not serve you here; accessible, general-audience voice is the goal.
She is explicitly prioritising marginalized writers and writers of colour across all categories. If you identify as such, it is appropriate and worth noting in your query letter.
Her list is intentionally small. A tight, confident query that respects her time and shows genuine familiarity with her stated taste will stand out more than a broad appeal.