Stephen Barbara

Stephen Barbara was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, and he graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in English language and literature. He began his publishing career in 2005 as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins, and then worked for three years as the Contracts Director of the Donald Maass Agency. Following six years as a literary agent at Foundry Media, he joined InkWell Management at the start of 2015.

Stephen works with a variety of writers, storytellers, thinkers, and entertainers. Some of his clients include New York Times and international bestseller Lauren Oliver, USA Today bestseller and British Fantasy Award winner Paul Tremblay, Newbery Medal winner and New York Times bestseller Laura Amy Schlitz, National Book Award nominee Lisa Graff, and Minnesota Book Award winner Lynne Jonell, also a speaker at this year’s Wordsmith conference, among others.

While selective in taking on new clients, Stephen is always drawn to compelling stories that marry quality writing to bold, imaginative concepts.