Irene Kaster is a rising agent at Heather Jackson Literary Agency with deep editorial roots and a sharp appetite for fiction with feminist edge, class-conscious literary punch, and nonfiction that reads like a story rather than a textbook.
In brief
Kaster's wishlist skews decidedly literary and feminist — she repeatedly gravitates toward female rage, sisterhood, hunger, and ambition as thematic anchors, suggesting the strongest pitches will foreground complex women and social critique.
Her background spans bookselling, ghostwriting, freelance editing, and social media — she brings a rare 360-degree view of the market, and her editorial instincts are likely hands-on.
She is closed to a striking number of common romance premises (event planners, florists, singers, publishing insiders) — writers in those lanes should not query her regardless of her general romance openness.
Her nonfiction wishlist is tightly scoped: practical books on women's health, psychology, medicine, and science with a strong voice, plus narrative nonfiction that has the propulsive energy of a novel — standard prescriptive or issue-driven NF is not her territory.
As of late May 2026, her submission form is confirmed closed — verify her live form before querying, as no reopening date has been announced.
Lately
Kaster's stated wishlist strongly emphasizes fiction centered on female interiority — rage, ambition, hunger, violence, and sisterhood recur as named themes, suggesting she is actively curating a list around a distinct feminist-literary sensibility rather than simply acquiring broadly in genre.
What Irene is looking for
Kaster wants fiction with something to say — particularly novels with incisive commentary on class, institutional corruption, and the generational weight of systemic oppression on working-class and minority communities. She's drawn to politically charged settings outside the US and to stories rooted in rural Midwest landscapes, agriculture, and small mountain towns. 'Weird girl fiction' is a named priority: commercial or literary novels (sometimes with historical, horror, or fantastical elements) built around flawed female characters and themes of rage, sisterhood, hunger, ambition, violence, and longing. Complex sister relationships across any sub-genre are a recurring want.
Contemporary and historical fiction both welcome, with a strong preference for settings and themes outside the WWII-era European/American mainstream. She wants historical fiction that interrogates class and power rather than simply reconstructing period atmosphere. WWII historical fiction is explicitly off the table.
Kaster isn't chasing genre reinvention — she wants fantasy that plays within recognizable conventions while genuinely surprising her: fresh narrative angles, characters whose relationships feel lived-in, political intrigue, and immersive worldbuilding that either transports or productively subverts expectations. Romantasy is specifically welcomed under her romance umbrella. Hard pass on magical-school or military-academy settings as the primary backdrop.
Broad sub-genre openness — fluffy romcoms, steamy sports romance, emotionally demanding relationship arcs, dark romance, and romantasy all land on her radar. The gatekeeping factors are craft-based: she needs a strong, distinctive narrative voice and main characters who feel genuinely believable. She is explicitly not looking for romances whose protagonist is an event planner, florist, singer, or someone who works in publishing. Military romance and college romance are also off the table.
Suspenseful and dystopian horror are her lane — not splatterpunk. The 'weird girl fiction' framing suggests she responds best to horror with psychological or sociological texture rather than purely visceral shock.
She wants nonfiction that feels more like being told a gripping story than receiving a structured briefing. Deep dives into specific historical events, individuals or communities, places, or cultural and social phenomena are her sweet spot — provided the prose is propulsive. Travel writing and outdoor adventure/exploration narratives also qualify here, especially tales of discovery, triumph, and loss in wilderness or extreme-sport contexts. General memoir is not wanted, but immersive narrative nonfiction with memoir-adjacent texture about the outdoors is welcome.
Focused on women's health, psychology, medicine, science, and relationships. The key differentiator is voice — she wants practical books that feel genuinely engaging rather than clinical, that can make a reader laugh or feel something while delivering substantive information. Worldview-shifting depth is the bar.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Irene
Her form is confirmed closed as of late May 2026 — check it directly before you do anything else; submitting to a closed form wastes your query.
She opens with craft signals before content: lead your query letter with a sentence or two that demonstrates your voice, not just your plot. She explicitly names 'strong, distinct voice' as the top romance criterion — and that standard appears to extend across her fiction categories.
The 'weird girl fiction' framing is a strong signal: if your novel features flawed women navigating rage, ambition, hunger, or violence, name that tension plainly in your pitch. Don't bury the feminist edge in plot summary.
If you're writing rural Midwest, agricultural, or mountain-town fiction, say so in the first paragraph — she has flagged this as a gap she actively wants to fill, which means competition for that slot may be lower.
For narrative nonfiction, frame your pitch around the story you're telling, not the information you're delivering. Her stated bar is whether she feels drawn into a narrative; lead with the hook, not the thesis.
Avoid pitching anything that resembles her explicit exclusions even tangentially — she lists them with unusual specificity (event-planner romance, WWII fiction, space sci-fi), which suggests she receives a high volume of those and is fatigued by them. Don't assume your version is the exception.
She has a strong editorial background across multiple roles — a polished, clean manuscript will matter. Mention if you've had professional editorial input, but don't oversell it.
Her Colorado base and outdoor interests are reflected in her nonfiction wishlist (adventure, extreme sports, wilderness). If your narrative nonfiction touches those themes, that's a genuine alignment worth noting briefly.