Literary Agent
Great Dog Literary
Atlanta, Georgia

Meet Ismita Hussain, a literary agent at Atlanta-based Great Dog Literary and an advocate for those living with a disability. A Georgia native, Hussain studied human health and Italian at Emory. She pivoted to the publishing industry from a career in health care, where she worked in various Atlanta area hospitals, from neonatal to geriatric care. Her continued passion for disability representation led her to become a founding member of Disability in Publishing, where she currently serves on the board of directors.

As a literary agent, Hussain represents an eclectic list of clients who write literary fiction, non-fiction, and young adult books. The books she represents often feature gritty realist writing, are set in the South, or explore health and disability. Her writing and literary business advice has been featured in Writers Digest, Authors Guild, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, and more.

When she’s not working, Hussain loves to read for pleasure. As a literary agent who reads hundreds of manuscripts a year, she finds reading a published book a luxury. She’s been catching up on classics she missed during school, with her current pleasure read being Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. 

Hussain finds fulfillment in fostering a writer’s career and seeing them grow. She considers it an honor to bridge the gap between the intimate process of writing a novel and the public process of publishing a book. She credits Emory for a sound interdisciplinary education that allowed her to pivot from health care to publishing.