Veronica Goldstein is a DCL agent with a decade-plus of experience who champions underrepresented American voices and international writers across literary fiction, grounded speculative fiction, and urgently political nonfiction.
In brief
Her sales record skews heavily toward nonfiction — particularly narrative nonfiction and memoir with a political or feminist edge — but her fiction wish is genuine and supported by named clients like Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.
She has a clear track record with awards: clients have been nominated for or won the PEN/EO Wilson, PEN/Open Book, Jhalak Prize, Minnesota Book Award, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and Irish Writers Centre Novel Prize — real commercial and critical muscle.
Her touchstone nonfiction authors (Naomi Klein, Rachel Aviv, Emmeline Clein, Cathy Park Hong, Chloé Cooper Jones, Sarah Smarsh) all share one trait: rigorous reportage fused with personal essay energy, and a left-leaning sociopolitical lens.
International writers and work in translation are explicitly welcomed — an unusual and specific open door that many agents do not offer, making her a strong target for translators and non-Anglophone authors.
She came up through UTA and Fletcher & Company before joining Dunow Carlson & Lerner, and has a background in Spanish translation and interpretation — writers with Latin American or Latine diaspora stories may find a particularly receptive reader.
Lately
Her current agency profile emphasizes a particular appetite for international writers and work in translation alongside underrepresented American voices — a dual focus that is more specific than most agents' standard 'diverse voices' language and signals genuine editorial commitment in both directions.
What Veronica is looking for
Her strongest demonstrated category. She wants deeply reported, issue-driven narratives that take an original critical angle on cultural, sociological, or historical subjects — especially overlooked or misread histories. Think long-form journalism expanded into book form, with both intellectual rigor and propulsive storytelling.
She is specifically drawn to memoir that makes the personal political and vice versa — writing that uses the individual life as a lens onto larger structural forces. Feminist perspective is a plus. Collections of essays that build into a cohesive argument are also welcome.
Smart, accessible critical takes on contemporary culture, pop psychology, pop science, politics, and current affairs. She's interested across a wide range — ecology and nature writing, health, technology, economics — as long as there's a strong authorial voice and a clear argument. Feminist, LGBTQ+, and racial-justice angles are consistently of interest.
She wants novels with a genuinely original contemporary voice that hold cultural and political complexity without sacrificing page-turning readability and emotional depth. Diaspora narratives, immigrant experiences, and multicultural stories are a particular draw. Family sagas and literary crossover fiction (accessible but substantive) fit the bill.
She welcomes speculative fiction when it is rooted in the real — character- and idea-driven rather than world-building-driven. Formally inventive or unconventional structures catch her eye. Work originally written in another language, or with a strong translation sensibility, is explicitly encouraged.
Not the right fit
On Veronica's list
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How to query Veronica
Paste the first ten pages of your manuscript directly in the body of the email — no attachments of any kind; emails with attachments are not opened.
Address your query to Veronica by name; the agency permits simultaneous submissions to multiple agents, but you must name every agent you're querying in the letter.
Lead your query with the political or cultural stakes of the work, not just the plot or personal story — she responds to writing that makes the personal political.
If your work is in translation or you are an international writer, say so explicitly and early; this is a genuine differentiator for her versus most agents.
For nonfiction, identify your authorial angle and argument in the first paragraph — she gravitates toward a strong, distinctive critical voice, not just a compelling topic.
For fiction, the closest you can get to one of her named touchstones (Batuman, Rooney, Heti, Gainza, Nutting, Yu, Phillips) without being derivative, the better — lead with voice and the cultural stakes of the story.
Mention relevant fellowships (Bread Loaf, Tin House, Grub Street), awards, or PEN-adjacent recognitions; these carry real weight with her.
Verify the live submission form status before sending — last observed status was unconfirmed as of April 2026.