Queer Publishing Day: Meet The Agents

Step behind the submissions inbox and into the real conversations shaping queer publishing. Join agents Callen Martin (Madeleine Milburn), Caro Clarke (Portabello) and Liv Bignold (Curtis Brown) for an unfiltered look at what they’re searching for right now, and how to get their attention.

From standout pitches to common pitfalls, this is your chance to hear directly from the people championing new queer voices and building the lists of the future. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and maybe even your next big idea.

Whether you’re polishing a manuscript or just starting out, this lively session hosted by Finn Brown from Writers & Artists will demystify the agent relationship, and might just change how you think about your writing career.

Every ticket holder to this event is entitled to apply for a 10-minute 1-1 with one of our guest literary agents. Information of how to apply will be sent to ticket holders after purchase

3-Day Festival and Friday Pass holders: This event is free to attend with your pass, but advance registration is required as places are limited. Please book a Pass Holder Free Registration ticket to reserve your place. Without a reservation, we cannot guarantee entry.

Callen Martin is a Children’s, YA and New Adult Literary Agent at Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film agency, having joined MMA in January 2026 from Bell Lomax Moreton where he worked previously, first as an assistant and then as maternity cover for a senior agent’s list, before building a list of his own. As someone who grew up in foster care, Callen graduated Bath Spa University’s MA in Writing for Young People in 2019, becoming the first care experienced person in the history of East Sussex to study at Postgraduate Level. He began his publishing career with internships and work experience placements at Chicken House, Walker Books, and Penguin Michael Joseph and then worked freelance across the industry as a publisher’s submission reader, writing competition judge, sensitivity reader and manuscript assessor, before starting his agenting career at The Good Literary Agency. In 2026, Callen was confirmed as the agent judge for the Times / Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition’s titular prize.

Caro Clarke is the founder and literary agent at Portobello Literary. They founded the agency in 2022 after twelve years working in publishing houses — Transworld (PRH) and Canongate Books as a Senior Rights Manager. They were named Rights Professional of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021 and a Bookseller Rising Star in 2024. In 2019, they co-founded the Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented nature writers. They now run a Substack where they discuss industry topics, share agency news and give craft advice.

Liv Bignold joined Conville & Walsh in May 2024 as assistant to Sarah Ballard, having previously spent two years at Curtis Brown supporting Alice Lutyens and, prior to that, Karolina Sutton. Although Liv’s heartland is literary fiction, her list spans upmarket fiction, crime and thriller, and a range of non-fiction projects. Liv is a regular judge of writing competitions — including Scratch A4 and the Bath Short Story Award 2025 — and in 2023 she kickstarted the Project North initiative, which aims to expand relationships with writers and publishers based in the north of England. Before deciding to pursue a career in agenting, she worked in the Contracts Department at HarperCollins and in Foreign Rights at an educational publisher.

Finn Brown (chair) is a queer writer, maker and curator. Their short stories, poetry and non-fiction have been published in Queer Life, Queer Love 2 (an anthology by Muswell Press), Annie Journal, Booth Journal, Snowflake Magazine, Meniscus Literary Journal, Tension Literary, The Bombay Review, The Bittersweet Review, Penumbra Literary, Obscene Pomegranate, Unbound Zine, Transforming Being (an anthology by Bridgehouse Publishing), All Existing and Texlandia Magazine. Their writing has also been shortlisted for the Creative Future 2024 Writers’ Award, and commended in the Moth Short Story Prize 2025, and they recently won one of Spread the Word’s 30th Anniversary LGBTQIA+ Emerging Writer Commissions. They have performed at Hay Festival, Last Word Festival and Brainchild Festival as part of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective, and run a queer curated arts and literary magazine and platform called t’ART. They are currently editing their debut manuscript which they developed on the Creative Writing MFA at Birkbeck University.