Elise Dillsworth Agency

14/10/2025

Delighted to welcome Stephen Embleton to the agency!

https://elisedillsworthagency.com/authors/stephen-embleton/

13/10/2025

Delighted to be returning to this wonderful festival.

📚🌍🖋️ is honoured to welcome back Elise Dillsworth — powerhouse literary agent, publishing trailblazer, and tireless champion for global voices.

From shaping stories behind the scenes to spotlighting some of the most vital writers of our time, Elise Dillsworth has built a career on amplifying voices that matter — and making sure they’re heard in every corner of the literary world.

A former commissioning editor at the iconic Virago Press (Little, Brown Book Group), Elise made her boldest mark by stepping into agenting in 2012, where she continues to represent literary and general fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and autobiography — all with an international lens and a fierce commitment to diversity, depth, and brilliance.

🎯 Her authors have garnered critical acclaim and nominations across the literary map — from the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and Caine Prize, to the Forward Prize, T.S. Eliot Prize, and Women’s Prize for Fiction. She doesn’t just represent writers — she builds legacies.

In 2004, Elise co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network, a vital industry initiative that earned the New Venture Award from Women in Publishing — long before equity became a buzzword, she was doing the work.

Now, as she returns to for her third year, Elise brings not just industry wisdom, but a mission: to expand the table, uplift diasporic stories, and reimagine what publishing can look like when it makes room for everyone.

🌱 With an eye for excellence and a heart for change, she continues to guide, shape, and fiercely advocate for writing that challenges, heals, and connects.

🗓️ BVI Lit Fest | 6–9 November 2025
📍 British Virgin Islands
🎟️ Tickets are live — don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the literary world’s most discerning and dynamic minds.

Long story short? Elise Dillsworth doesn’t just open doors — she holds them open for others.

13/10/2025

Nigel Campbell explores the work of Anthony Joseph — the award-winning Trinidadian-British writer and musician who’s recently released a new album

10/10/2025

Wonderful evening celebrating Leila Aboulela, winner of the PEN Pinter Prize 2025 and Stella Gaitano as this year’s Writer of Courage on what would have been Harold Pinter’s 95th birthday.

09/10/2025

Delighted to welcome Richard Georges to the agency.

https://elisedillsworthagency.com/authors/richard-georges/

07/10/2025

Looking forward to seeing Foday Mannah at the Black British Book Festival.
One of the “fresh voices redefining what crime fiction looks and sounds like today”.

Love a good twist? This one’s for you. 🕵🏽‍♀️

Join the phenomenal authors , , and ; three fresh voices redefining what crime fiction looks and sounds like today.
Chaired by bestselling author , this gripping session dives into suspense, character, and the thrill of the unexpected.

📍 Conservatory Terrace, Level 4 | 🕖 7–8PM
🎟️ DON’T MISS OUT! Get your ticket via the link in bio!

26/09/2025

Great and well-deserved review from The Observer for Maria Bradford’s restaurant Shwen Shwen. Do visit this special part of Sierra Leone in Sevenoaks.

“Shwen Shwen is a bold, unique celebration of culture that announces itself with each deftly weighted sauce and rambunctious hit of seasoning ... To launch a gastronomically ambitious Afro-fusion restaurant in this Gail’s-coded market town feels, on the face of it, a deliberate act of financial recklessness. And yet, through openness, adaptability, dazzling skill and sheer force of personality, Bradford turns unfavourable odds into something extraordinary."

19/09/2025

The recent alarm over the National Gas Company’s (NGC) defunding of thriving steel orchestras located in their “fenceline” communities, as well as the national embarrassment of Barbados—a country with a

18/09/2025

Yewande Omotoso is taking part in the 2025 Macondo Literary Festival in Kenya. Author of The Woman Next Door and An Unusual Grief, Yewande brings her sharp, intimate storytelling to this year’s conversations on memory, identity, and belonging.

From Johannesburg to Nairobi, her words carry quiet power.

https://www.macondolitfest.org/

05/09/2025

✨ Calling All Aspiring Writers in the Virgin Islands! ✨

BVI Lit Fest, in proud partnership with VP Bank, has launched the BVI Emerging Writers’ Fellowship!

This groundbreaking initiative will give three emerging writers the chance to:

🌟 Receive one-on-one mentorship with established authors and publishing professionals
🌟 Develop their craft in poetry, fiction, or non-fiction
🌟 Gain the tools and confidence to bring their work closer to publication

Applications are now open until September 30, 2025.

To register, visit https://bvilitfest.com/bvi-emerging-writers-fellowship-application-form/ and complete the form in its entirety.

Submissions must include a writing sample and fellowship statement. Read the poster below to learn more.

Don’t miss this chance to share your voice and help shape the future of Virgin Islands literature!

28/08/2025