David Higham Associates has announced the acquisition of The Bent Agency UK Ltd.

TBA UK’s managing director, Molly Ker Hawn, joins DHA as a director; rights manager Emma Lagarde, associate agent Martha Perotto-Wills, and agency assistant Aminah Amjad are also joining.

Ker Hawn launched the UK arm of the Bent Agency in 2012, and has since built a list of well-known UK- and US-based children’s and YA authors. Her clients include Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner and no. 1 New York Times bestseller Angie Thomas, Sunday Times bestseller and Books Are My Bag Award winner Louie Stowell, New York Times bestseller Alwyn Hamilton, and Costa Book Award winners Frances Hardinge and Hilary McKay.

DHA Managing Director Lizzy Kremer says: “Molly’s brilliant agenting and expertise in writing for younger readers is legendary, making her one of the most respected figures in London and New York, beloved and admired by authors and publishers alike.”

Perotto-Wills’ list includes the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize-shortlisted Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly.

Ker Hawn says: “DHA’s industry-leading approach to managing authors’ careers has inspired me for years. Their rigorous attention to detail, their commitment to being truly exceptional advocates, their genuine joy and pride in their work – I could go on and on about why DHA is the right match for us. It’s an honor and a thrill to be joining them.”

Isobel Boston has also been appointed as children’s book agent to help shape the next chapter of DHA’s children’s list. She has a decade of experience in children’s publishing, having worked at Walker Books, Templar Publishing and Big Picture Press. Most recently, she was commissioning editor at Walker Books, where she acquired projects by award-winning creators including Neil Packer, Britta Teckentrup, Nicola Davies and Dr Jess Wade.

Boston will build a list focused on highly illustrated children’s books, identifying new talent and shaping innovative, market-leading concepts across pre-school, picture books, non-fiction, chapter books, classics and graphic novels in both the commercial and gift markets. As part of her role, she will also take on responsibility for some of David Higham’s key children’s literary estates.

As agents of children’s literature, Ker Hawn and Boston join DHA literary agent Christabel McKinley, a Bookseller Rising Star 2024 whose list includes internationally bestselling children’s authors Jennifer Bell and Alex Milway, alongside a select list of adult fantasy authors including Olivia Atwater.  Other major children’s authors are represented by DHA colleague and director Veronique Baxter whose list includes Michael Morpurgo, Cressida Cowell, Jonathan Stroud and the Estate of Diana Wynne Jones. Arguably the best known brand in children’s books, The Roald Dahl Story Company, is represented by agency MD Lizzy Kremer.

The purchase of Bent UK and the appointment of Isobel Boston coincide with the retirement of children’s agent and director Caroline Walsh after nearly thirty years at the agency representing authors including Jacqueline Wilson, Liz Pichon and Alexander McCall Smith. At a recent party to celebrate Walsh’s career Kremer paid tribute to Walsh’s brilliant stewardship of DHA’s storied children’s list and the way she had sought out the highest quality writing for children.

Kremer: “Witnessing Caroline’s passion for her work has been a fire underneath us all. I’m delighted that at the moment of her well-earned retirement DHA has made exciting appointments to ensure a smooth transition for all of her treasured clients. The purchase of Bent UK too marks an exciting new chapter in our history of representing the best of writing for children.  Molly, Christabel, Veronique and Isobel are all agents with amazing taste, representing books that reflect the market today.  My client Dame Penelope Lively, the only writer to have ever won both the Booker Prize and Carnegie Medal for children’s books, recently delivered the keynote speech at the 2025 Booker Prize ceremony in the context of the announcement of the new Booker Children’s Prize. Her speech explored the importance of literature for children, and the power of writing for children and how it establishes: ‘the climate of the mind…of social possibilities. Above all, of other worlds.’  We are so proud to represent the very best of writing for children.”

David Higham Associates: DHA is one of the world’s leading literary agencies, and this year celebrated ninety years at the forefront of the international literary and publishing landscape. In an interview with The Bookseller marking DHA’s ninetieth birthday, Kremer asserted that what lies at the absolute core at DHA is “a diligence about the business of agenting… unseen advocacy…and a fearlessness about asking difficult questions…[DHA] authors are incredible creators and they are also running businesses.”  Clients include bestselling and award-winning novelists, celebrated historians, commentators, screenwriters and playwrights, some of the world’s most enduring estates, and many Booker Prize winners.