Jennifer KimJennifer Kim joined the Dijkstra Agency in 2015. In addition to building her own list, she is the Royalties Manager for the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Jennifer is a first generation Korean-American, and graduated from University of California Irvine, where she received degrees in English Literature and Spanish Literature and studied Spanish literature and culture at the University of Barcelona. She also spent five years working as a bookseller learning how to get the right book into the right hands, what merchandising and jacket art strategies work, and what it is about certain stories that will bring a customer into a physical store.
Jennifer is most interested in literary fiction and translated fiction for the adult market, narrative non-fiction, general history, journalism, politics, select memoir, and pop-culture and music history. Some of her recent favorite reads were: Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in my Country by Patricia Evangelista, The Prisoner: A Memoir By Hwang Sok Yong, The End of August by Yu Miri, Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, and Stay True by Hua Hsu. She’s particularly fond of oral histories in any genre (think Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk By Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain.)
She is particularly drawn to eccentric and unusual stories and values a distinct narrative voice and memorable characters and settings. International and travel narratives are a favorite, in addition to anything described as gothic or alternative, coming-of-age stories, family sagas (both blood and chosen), and anything that strives to dismantle what’s widely accepted (think Decolonising the Mind by Ngugi wa Thiong'o). As a third culture kid, she’s interested in stories that reflect that experience.
In general, Jennifer loves literary writing, with challenging themes and characters. She is excited to add writers of diversity (including, but not limited to, all ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental and physical health, and socioeconomic status) to her client list.
Please note that Jennifer is currently not taking on YA or Childrens books. She is not a great fit for romance, business books, religious or spiritual books, screenplays, high fantasy, science fiction, or self-help.