Larissa Melo Pienkowski

Larissa grew up outside of Boston and attended Simmons College, where she earned her degree in Social Work and Sociology, performed poetry competitively and recreationally, and edited a number of literary magazines. Larissa later went on to receive her MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College, where she worked with Beacon Press and Barefoot Books before becoming the associate publisher of Dottir Press. She joined Jill Grinberg Literary Management as an agent in 2020 and later went on to join Azantian in 2025, where she now represents a wide range of adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction. As the queer, mixed-race daughter of Brazilian and Polish immigrants, she is passionate about championing BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, international, and other historically underrepresented authors across fiction and nonfiction in most age groups. She believes books are a critical tool in the ongoing fight for justice and liberation, and she's especially excited to bring books into the world that challenge the status quo and make people feel seen. Larissa speaks Portuguese and Spanish, and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she can usually be found cooking, baking, playing volleyball, doing Pilates, or making pottery.