Larissa Melo Pienkowski is a Philadelphia-based literary agent at Azantian Literary Agency who champions BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and other historically marginalized voices across literary and commercial adult fiction and nonfiction, with a particular hunger for heists, feminist revenge, genre-blending literary fiction, and microhistories of the delightfully niche.
In brief
Larissa joined Azantian Literary Agency in 2025 after five years at Jill Grinberg Literary Management — her wishlist has been fully updated for her new home, so older Jill Grinberg-era profiles may be stale.
Her client roster has produced USA Today bestsellers, Nebula Award and GLAAD Award winners, Indie Next picks, and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections — she has demonstrated commercial and awards muscle across multiple categories.
Her heaviest stated enthusiasm clusters around three poles: twisty heist/con/spy fiction, feminist literary fiction about marginalized protagonists navigating white/cishet institutions, and deeply researched nonfiction microhistories on taboo or niche subjects.
She is a queer, mixed-race Latina and daughter of Brazilian and Polish immigrants who speaks Portuguese and Spanish — South American-inspired SFF and diaspora narratives are an explicit and personal priority, not just a box she checks.
Her exclusions are unusually specific and firm: no Tolkien-esque high fantasy, no WWII or Civil War historical fiction (unless from a genuinely underheard marginalized perspective), no true crime, no professional detectives, no Nazi or Zionist content, no word counts over 110K — writers should read this list carefully before querying.
Lately
After joining Azantian Literary Agency in early 2025, she posted publicly to let querying authors know she had fully refreshed her submission profile and preferences under her new agency — a direct invitation to writers who had previously tracked her work at her former agency to re-engage with updated expectations.
What Larissa is looking for
Multi-generational stories where family relationships evolve across decades, but the hook is commercial enough to travel beyond literary fiction readers. She wants sophisticated prose and real emotional stakes — not just sprawling chronicles. Touchstones include The Ensemble by Aja Gabel and Cantoras by Caro de Robertis.
High-stakes, twisty plots built around theft, deception, and grift — but with a critical eye on the power structures these schemes expose or dismantle. She wants the caper to carry intellectual weight, not just entertainment. Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li is her explicit benchmark.
She describes the vibe as Knives Out-esque: warm, witty, and full of humor, centered on spies, assassins, and amateur operators rather than professional law enforcement or detectives. The tone should feel playful even when the stakes are lethal. She has named Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto as touchstones.
Stories where BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ protagonists enter and reckon with glamorized, predominantly white or cishet institutions — the art world, academia, the beauty industry, and similar spaces where identity and belonging are constantly in negotiation. She wants the writing to be incisive and the interior life rich. She cites Your Love Is Not Good by Johanna Hedva and Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou as models.
Stories propelled by women or marginalized characters pursuing revenge, justice, or reclamations of power in direct response to patriarchy, racism, capitalism, and systemic oppression. The critique should be embedded in the plot, not merely thematic decoration.
She leans whimsical rather than cozy, and explicitly not Tolkien-esque. Characters and relationships must feel grounded and profoundly human. Thematic sweet spots include language, books and writing, archival and cultural memory, diaspora and displacement, and resistance to colonialism and oppression. She especially wants to see more South American-inspired SFF — a personal and stated gap she is actively trying to fill. Babel by R.F. Kuang is her named touchstone.
Hybrid works that cross historical fiction with speculative elements, or romance with horror, or other combinations — as long as the prose is literary enough that she'd want to copy down individual sentences. The genre fusion must feel purposeful, not gimmicky.
She welcomes historical fiction inflected with speculative, romantic, or mystery elements, or straight historical fiction set in unexpected periods, places, or through the eyes of protagonists history has overlooked. Hard exclusions apply: no WWII or Civil War settings unless the perspective is one that has been genuinely absent from existing literature.
She wants punchy banter, undeniable chemistry, and sophisticated prose — but the plot must be as load-bearing as the romantic arc. Kink is welcome. Closed-door romance is explicitly not what she wants. The writing quality bar is literary even if the heat is high. She cites Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola and Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers as tonal benchmarks.
Deeply researched, voice-driven deep dives into narrow, niche, or taboo subjects that connect to broader human truths. She has a specific appetite for microhistories about beauty, fragrance, poison, psychedelics and plant medicine, sex and the erotic, and heists or thefts. Her framing test: could it be described as 'a love letter to X,' or comped to an episode of the Ologies podcast? Platform matters — she wants authors with established authority in their subject area.
Voicey essay collections and cultural criticism that examine contemporary life through lenses of justice, decolonization, pop culture, and liberation. She gravitates toward narrative nonfiction that weaves investigative journalism with personal experience and broader social analysis. Authors must have an established platform in their field.
She has a specific stated interest in multicultural cookbooks — a more focused niche within her broader nonfiction list.
Not the right fit
On Larissa's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Larissa
She moved to Azantian in 2025 and explicitly updated her submission profile — use only her current Azantian page for guidelines; anything tied to her former agency is outdated.
Her identity-centered list has a firm gate: stories about marginalized communities should be written by authors who share that identity. If your book centers an identity you do not hold, do not query it to her.
The word-count ceiling is 110,000 words — manuscripts over this threshold are an explicit pass regardless of quality or category.
For adult fiction, lead with voice and specificity. She has stated that a well-developed voice is paramount, and her wishlist is built around titles with strong, singular perspectives — a flat, generic pitch will not stand out.
If you are writing heist fiction, spy thrillers, or feminist revenge stories, lean into the systemic critique angle in your query letter. She is not just looking for a fun plot; she wants the social architecture the story dismantles.
For nonfiction, a platform is non-negotiable. Establish your expertise and audience early in your query — she has stated she wants authors with an established presence in their field.
South American-inspired SFF is a named gap she is actively trying to fill — writers working in this space should query her with confidence and mention the inspiration explicitly.
Avoid pitching anything that could be described as Tolkien-esque, even if it has some of her preferred thematic elements. She has drawn a clear line between the whimsical, humanistic fantasy she wants and epic high fantasy.
If your historical fiction touches on WWII or the Civil War, do not query unless your perspective is one she can honestly say has been absent from existing literature — and make that case explicitly in your letter.
Kink is welcome in romance, but closed-door is a hard no — if your romance does not have explicit heat, it is not a match.