Julia Kardon was born and raised in New York City. Her first job in publishing, while in high school, was shelving fiction at the fabled Strand Bookstore. She received degrees in Comparative Literature, as well as in Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Chicago.
Julia joined HG Literary in 2018 after building a list at Mary Evans Inc and handling foreign rights. Prior to that she assisted at Sterling Lord Literistic, a job she attained after an unpaid internship both there and at the Wylie Agency.
She is interested primarily in literary and upmarket fiction and memoir, and especially stories grappling with racial, religious, sexual or national identity, narrative nonfiction, journalism, and history. She does not represent thrillers, any children’s literature or books about spirituality or Christianity. Her clients include New York Times Best Sellers Brit Bennett and Etaf Rum, Barnes & Noble Discover picks John Freeman Gill, K-Ming Chang and Leah Franqui, Center For Fiction Emerging Writer Fellow Melissa Rivero, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, and others.