Molly Ker Hawn is a London-based agent at David Higham Associates who champions middle-grade and YA fiction with international commercial reach, representing some of the most award-decorated children's authors working today.
In brief
Molly Ker Hawn's client list reads like an awards-season shortlist — Angie Thomas, Frances Hardinge, and Hilary McKay alone span NYT and Sunday Times bestseller status, the Printz Award, the Carnegie Medal, and multiple Costa and Waterstones recognitions, signaling genuine commercial and critical muscle across both sides of the Atlantic.
Their focus is exclusively children's and YA: middle-grade, young adult, and children's graphic novels (with art in hand). Adults, picture books from new clients, and standalone illustration samples are all hard stops.
Translation rights are a stated priority, not an afterthought — Molly Ker Hawn sells directly into the US, UK, Canada, and Australia and actively pursues global deals, so projects with built-in international appeal have a structural advantage here.
Fantasy is a genuine passion — but the bar is high: Molly Ker Hawn traces their reading DNA to Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper and will not be moved by angels, demons, vampires, or werewolves.
The client roster shows a strong UK presence alongside major US publishing relationships, making this an unusually well-positioned agent for non-US authors seeking simultaneous transatlantic reach.
Lately
Molly Ker Hawn describes themselves as drawn to stories that make them feel changed — as though their world is larger after the final page — and notes a particular appetite for work from writers belonging to historically excluded communities.
What Molly is looking for
Any genre is welcome — contemporary, historical, fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror — as long as the writing is polished and the story is genuinely captivating. Molly Ker Hawn is especially drawn to YA with a strong sense of place, authentic cultural grounding, and writing that demonstrates real command of language. Stories that feel transformative by the final page — that leave the reader's world a little bigger — are the highest priority. Authentic representation of underrepresented cultures is actively sought.
Middle-grade with international appeal and a distinct narrative voice. Molly Ker Hawn believes publishers underestimate how much young readers embrace the strange and unconventional, so books that play with form, structure, or perspective are particularly welcome. Warm emotional bonds between characters — family, friendship, romance where age-appropriate — are a consistent draw. The same genre openness that applies to YA applies here.
Graphic novels for children or young adults are considered, but only when finished or near-finished illustrations are already in place. Molly Ker Hawn does not represent illustrators who do not also write their own text, so this category is strictly for author-illustrators or writer-artist teams submitting completed visual work.
Fantasy was the formative genre for Molly Ker Hawn as a reader, and that history means the standard is high. Solid, internally consistent worldbuilding, intelligent dialogue, and genuine emotional stakes are non-negotiable. Alternative histories and reimagined real places are a particular draw — the kind of layered, place-rooted fantasy that turns a familiar city into something uncanny. Paranormal tropes (angels, demons, vampires, werewolves) are not wanted.
Molly Ker Hawn actively seeks books that offer an immersive window into a culture, religion, or community the reader may not know — provided the author has authentic personal connection to that world. Books built around theatre, performance, or the performing arts are a stated interest, as are stories set within religious communities.
Not the right fit
On Molly's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Molly
Address the email directly to Molly Ker Hawn by name — the submission guidelines specify this explicitly, and failing to do so signals inattention.
Send to the dedicated children's submissions email address at David Higham Associates; do not use a general agency contact.
Include your name and book title in the subject line or opening of the email, as the guidelines indicate.
Lead with what makes the world of your book specific and grounded — Molly Ker Hawn's stated compass points toward strong sense of place and authentic cultural knowledge, so establish that quickly.
If your manuscript plays with form, structure, or narrative convention, say so upfront; Molly Ker Hawn has explicitly flagged unconventional storytelling as a draw.
For graphic novel submissions, confirm that finished or near-finished artwork accompanies the text — sending a script alone will not meet the stated requirement.
If you are an author from a historically excluded community, it is worth noting that in your query; Molly Ker Hawn has publicly stated they are particularly interested in hearing from such writers.
Do not include illustration samples unless you are an author-illustrator submitting a complete graphic novel project.
Frame international appeal where it exists — given the explicit translation-rights focus, a manuscript that resonates across cultures is a selling point worth surfacing.
Avoid pitching as 'the next vampire/werewolf story' or any paranormal-adjacent framing; reframe toward the emotional and cultural dimensions instead.