Sallyanne Sweeney becomes director at Mulcahy Associates.
Sallyanne Sweeney has appointed as a director of literary agency Mulcahy Associates which will now be known as Mulcahy Sweeney Associates.
After graduating Sweeney joined Watson, Little, becoming a director of the company in 2011. She joined Mulcahy Associates as an agent in 2013 and has since been growing her list of authors and illustrators for children and adults.
Now Sweeney has been promoted to director, the company will be renamed Mulcahy Sweeney Associates. Its role as the book division of the MMB Creative agency group remains unchanged.
In 2020 Sweeney’s clients won a number of prizes. The YA Book Prize went to Meat Market (Hachette Children’s Group) by Juno Dawson while Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Recent deals include Dawson’s adult debut HMRC, sold at auction to HarperVoyager (UK) and Viking (US); former Quercus editor and writer Niamh Mulvey’s short story collection Hearts & Bones partial novel to Picador (UK); and Sarah Gilmartin’s debut novel Dinner Party: A Tragedy to Pushkin Press.
Sweeney said: “It’s been a privilege to build my list at Mulcahy Associates over the past seven years. I’m enormously proud to have my name above the door and looking forward to working with Ivan as we grow the agency.”
Ivan Mulcahy, agent and co-founder of the company, said: “I can instantly recall the day, seven years ago, when Sallyanne and I first discussed her joining the agency, because she was so sharp and funny. I suspect our both being from Dublin added something to the mix. I believe it still does. Working with her has been a consistent pleasure since. She’s found and developed an impressive roster of talent, from both the UK and Ireland, notably children’s writers and illustrators as well as authors of adult fiction and memoir.”
He added: “It’s right that she has her name on the business that we will continue to build together. We had an excellent year in 2020 with notable deals internationally for economist Ha-Joon Chang, actor Brian Cox and novelist and TV writer Juno Dawson. This year seems set to match it. Sallyanne’s contribution, as book and TV agent as well as agency director, will be central to whatever we achieve.”
