This event is virtual-only (via Zoom) and is open to Helen Zell Writers' Program MFA students and Zell Fellows, as well as U-M graduate and undergraduate students. It is not open to the general public. Please email Julie Cadman-Kim (kimjulie@umich.edu) for login instructions.

Janet's talk, "The Publishing Landscape and How to Navigate It," will be "a roadmap to publishing drawn from my experience as an agent, publisher, and editor."

Janet Silver represents a roster of bestselling and award-winning authors of literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Her list of acclaimed clients includes Cheryl Strayed, author of the international bestsellers Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things; Anthony Marra, author of the New York Times bestsellers A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, The Tsar of Love and Techno and Mercury Pictures Presents; Monique Truong, winner of the Asian American Literary Award for her novel The Book of Salt; Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, winner of a Lambda Award for her debut novel Big Girl; and Safiya Sinclair, prize-winning poet and author of the memoir How to Say Babylon. Janet also proudly represents Linda Gregerson and Zell Program alums Hanna Pylväinen, author of the novels We Sinners and The End of Drum-Time, and Menachem Kaiser, author of Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure.

Janet brings in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and extensive editorial experience to her work as an agent. Before joining Aevitas, she was Publisher at the former Houghton Mifflin Company, where she worked with many renowned authors, including Philip Roth, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tim O’Brien, and Jonathan Safran Foer.

At Aevitas, Janet represents authors whose fiction and nonfiction are notable for compelling storylines, singular voices, and unique perspectives. She has been a trustee of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and is on the advisory board of Ploughshares magazine. She was featured in the Poets and Writers article “Agents as Editors.”