Clare Wallace

Literary Agent

As M.D., Clare heads up the Darley Anderson Illustration Agency and has been part of the DA team since 2011.

She represents illustrators and author-illustrators who specialise in both fiction and non-fiction, from children’s through to adults, including Sally Agar, Anneli Bray, Jo Brown, Vicki Gausden, Nadine Kaadan, Claire Powell, Lorna Scobie, Alberta Torres, Helene Weston and Ken Wilson-Max.

Clare often doesn’t know exactly what she’s looking for until she sees it – that’s part of the fun. But when considering portfolios, Clare loves to see vivid characters showcasing a range of expression and movement as well as big-hearted and distinctive story-telling. She is always keen to see developing talent from new voices as well as artwork from more experienced illustrators.

Lydia Silver

Literary Agent

After a childhood buried in library books and Beanos, Lydia started her career in the editorial team at Egmont, where she commissioned books such as the Carnegie Medal-winning The Poet X. She joined the Darley Anderson team in 2018, and is building an engaging and diverse list of authors and illustrators. With experience on both sides of the commissioning desk, Lydia loves working editorially with her clients and developing ideas from an initial spark into a full manuscript.

Lydia represents illustrators including Soofiya, Mark Bradley, Shaw Davidson, Zanna Goldhawk, Abigail Hookham, Su Jung Jang, Sojung Kim McCarthy and Aleesha Nandhra. If you could sum up her illustration tastes in three words, they would be characterful, clever and joyful, and in three books, they would be Dogman, Look Up and The Fox and the Star.

Lydia is open to projects across all age groups, in both fiction and non-fiction, and she’s particularly keen to work with under-represented creators. On her wishlist you’ll find: an utterly off-the-wall comic book, a beautiful graphic novel for teenagers, a picture book illustrator who draws wonderful relationships, an artist whose work would be perfect for non-fiction, a commercial, funny, black-and-white illustrator and anyone whose work makes her heart sing.

Chloe Davis

Associate Agent

Chloe joined the Darley Anderson team in 2019 as the agency assistant. She works very closely alongside agent Clare Wallace. Chloe has also recently started to build her own list at the agency.

Chloe previously worked in the Rights department at Pan Macmillan and as a Bookseller at Waterstones. She also has a degree in English Literature and French from the University of Edinburgh and spent a year studying in Paris.

Please note that Chloe is currently on sabbatical and is closed to submissions.

Becca Langton

Literary Agent

Becca joined Darley Anderson as a literary agent after trying on every publishing hat, from magazine and licensing publishing to making digital content for Harry Potter to super sleuthing as a literary scout. She is now building a list with a particular focus on the US market.

Becca is looking for creators whose work carries an emotional depth that makes you look twice.

On her walls at home Becca has art by Shaun Tan, she is a fan of Jon Klassen and Chris Haughton and would love to find a graphic novelist with the scope of Heart Stopper! Humour and heart are top of her wish list and she’s especially keen to represent authors who are approaching the industry from an original or under-represented perspective. She is keen to see creators working across age ranges and formats from board-books to graphic novels.