BREAKING THE BOUNDARIES Dijkstra boldly created her career as an agent from her office in Del Mar , Calif ., far from the publishing hub of New York City .
Photo : Dhanraj Emanuel
appropriate , but I told her how publishers already think California is ‘ woo-woo ,’ and if we send them something with that title , we ’ d be laughed at . I looked down at those three magical words — Joy Luck Club — and asked if that could be its name . The rest is history .”
Critical advice like this is just one aspect of the work Dijkstra does every day for the many writers she currently represents . Dijkstra ’ s is a “ full-service ” agency , working with authors on a manuscript or proposal , selling the book to a publisher , negotiating the contract and keeping watch over presentation and promotion , and also representing film , audio and foreign rights . “ We place value on a book ,” says Dijkstra , “ and then help it realize its full potential by finding the best editor , best house and best deal .”
Dijkstra ’ s team includes a number of other UC San Diego alumnae , including Thao Le , Marshall ’ 11 , who interned at SDLA while working toward a management science degree . After beginning on the business side helping with the agency ’ s financials and rights management , Le has begun agenting herself , building a list around her interests in young adult sci-fi / fantasy . “ I ’ ve always loved books ,” says Le , “ but never thought of it as a possible career . It was serendipity ; I found my niche and I was here at the right time .”
From her days a UC San Diego student , and later as an employer , Dijkstra has led a long and productive literary life , with a Nobel , two Pulitzer Prizes , and a number of bestsellers on her list , all of which have given countless readers pleasure . Had she chosen any number of alternative careers — if she ’ d stayed in academia , for instance — or if any setbacks in her life had deterred her , she , and our entire literary arena , would be all the poorer .
“ My story is one in which rejection and loss can become engines of success ,” she says . “ I ’ ve been lucky , but I also fought to make my luck .”
Given the canon she has helped produce , the success of her authors and the millions of readers inspired by their work , that Dijkstra found her calling is something for which we can all consider ourselves lucky .
REPPING TRITON WRITERS
Alongside literary luminaries like Amy Tan and Lisa See , Dijsktra also represents many UC San Diego faculty , past and present :
Don Norman “ Considered the guru of design thinking , the director of UC San Diego ’ s Design Lab continues to influence the shape of our world .”
Chalmers Johnson “ He brought the consequences of America ’ s international policy into our national conversation .”
Dan Hallin “ His work on media coverage of the Vietnam War remains the definitive book on the subject .”
Herbert Schiller & Herbert Marcuse “ I am honored to represent the estates of these amazing thinkers and dear friends . Schiller is the father of communication studies , and I watched Marcuse become a famous philosopher right before my eyes as a graduate student .”
Peter Irons “ His books have taken us into the Supreme Court and beyond , as our Bill of Rights is continually under siege .”
Sherley Anne Williams “ Though a poet , hers was actually the first novel I placed , by a writer who passed on far too early .”
Andrew Feenberg , M . A .’ 67 , Ph . D .’ 73 “ A student of Marcuse ’ s who went on to make his own mark as an important author .”
Susan Shirk “ A leading authority on China and far ahead of her time in writing on this important subject .”
Bram Dijkstra Her husband and only “ in-house author ” is well known for his incisive cultural and art histories .
TRITONMAG . COM 53