DANA MURPHY

Dana Murphy is a literary agent at The Book Group.  After studying critical film theory and sociology at New York University, Dana began her literary career assisting Brettne Bloom and Elisabeth Weed.  In 2015, The Book Group was founded, and Dana began building her own list alongside that team.

Dana is hungry for writing that is immersive and surprising, with a voice so distinct it makes her cancel plans and read through meals. She is attracted to upmarket and literary fiction for both adults and young adults, and smart narrative nonfiction/essay collections about pop culture, social issues, science, feminism, race, gender, film and television, music, comedy, religion, and place. Across genre, she is interested in finding marginalized voices that speak to the radical change our world is searching for.

Dana’s client list includes literary fiction authors such as bestseller Danya Kukafka and Center For Fiction Fellow Alexandra Tanner, as well as celebrated culture writers like Blythe Roberson, Margaret Eby, and Claire Comstock-Gay (who writes as Madame Clairevoyant at The Cut).

Born and raised in Long Island, Dana lived in New York City for a decade before moving to Philadelphia last year.  She has since fully adapted to a cheesesteak-based diet and has accepted Gritty as highest deity into her heart.