Bridgette Kam

Westwood Creative Artists

My Manuscript Wish List®

I’m a literary agent at the Toronto-based agency Westwood Creative Artists. As a broad reader, I represent writers and illustrators of kidlit (picture books, middle grade, YA) and adult fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction: I’m looking for book club and upmarket novels that explore timely and urgent themes like Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers and Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s A Great Country; feature irresistibly lovable characters like those in Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry; powerfully bring history to life like Jabari Asim’s Yonder; and are brilliantly multi-layered like R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface.

Middle Grade & YA: Voice-driven historical and contemporary stories; I’m also open to a speculative element mixed in. I want to see a protagonist who I can instantly root for, focused on a cause and grappling with real life events and issues. I prefer stories where friendships and family relationships, rather than romantic ones, are central. Some writers I admire are June Hur (A Forest of Stolen Girls), Stacey Lee (The Downstairs Girl), Karina Yan Glaser (The Vanderbeekers series), Daniel Nayeri (Everything Sad is Untrue), and Susin Nielsen (No Fixed Address). I’m also a fan of graphic novelists like John Hendrix (The Mythmakers), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet series), Tim Probert (Lightfall series), and Rosena Fung (Age 16).

Picture Books: Stories from writers and illustrators that center around a child’s point of view and that evoke and inspire wonder, empathy, and celebration. Must have guaranteed re-read quality!

Non-fiction: I welcome non-fiction proposals from journalists, academics, experts, and writers who can speak to a mainstream, general audience in the categories of culture, sociology, psychology, history, and Christian faith and living. Some books from recent years that have stood out to me are Kyo Maclear’s Unearthing, Jessica J. Lee’s Two Trees Make a Forest, Cheuk Kwan’s Have You Eaten Yet?, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, Tamara Cherry’s The Trauma Beat, Andy Crouch’s The Life We’re Looking For, Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved), and Lore Ferguson Wilbert’s Handle With Care and A Curious Faith.

Books that keep me reading have: a strong and compelling hook, skillful balance of pacing and character immersion, emotional impact and resonance, very polished writing on the line-level, and inspire and move me. I’m not the right agent for suspense (thriller/horror), crime, sci-fi, romance, chapbooks, scholarly works, and politics.

Fun facts about me:

When not reading manuscripts, I’m learning how to cut poodle hair, playing in drop D guitar tuning, hunting for vintage gems, admiring the poetry of the songwriter who said, “How can a person know everything at eighteen but nothing at twenty-two?” and maintaining fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin.