Finding, encouraging and cultivating literary talent

Brandt New Agency is an international boutique literary and film agency based in Barcelona, but with close ties to the Scandinavian market. By finding, encouraging and cultivating literary talent, we are committed to creating the best environment for authors to grow and for their works to travel.

We offer a literary smörgåsbord of the best and most innovative new fiction, non-fiction, edgy titles and literature for young people, with a focus on today’s exciting emerging generation of authors. We passionately promote distinctive, personal voices and represent works across geographical and historical boundaries, telling stories about universal themes from a variety of perspectives and languages, especially those from Scandinavia, Spain, Catalonia and the English-speaking countries.

Literary Agent and CEO

Carina (Gothenburg, Sweden, 1972), the firstborn, was followed, in short order, by three brothers. School was a pleasure, and her love of reading, cooking and sport was only matched by her hatred of bullies. Still, she dreamt of adventure, in books and life.

Learning, or rather, living Spanish at the Basque University of San Sebastian was like coming home. Although she graduated in Spanish Philology and Comparative Literature from the University of Lund, her studies also included spells at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Gothenburg University.

Her love of Spain brought her back to Barcelona, where she was lucky to be hired by the old-established publishers, Paidós, at first as a general dogsbody and then, after six months, as the public relations officer for the academic imprints and authors. From there, she was lured away to become an editor and project initiator at Edicions de l’Eixample, a wonderful studio and publishing house for art projects, catalogues and sumptuous coffee-table books. Moving to Edicions 62, the largest Catalan publishing group, she joined the Special Books team as an editor and project initiator until she was again headhunted to join the Barcelona literary agency, Pontas, with the mission of establishing a roster of Scandinavian authors. Her networking skills and love of literature ensured that she soon began to build a reputation that was echoed in the Scandinavian press.

Still adventurous, Carina decided the time had come to strike out on her own. Her unique knowledge of the Scandinavian, Spanish and Catalan publishing markets, gathered over many years, was the spur to set up a literary and film agency, Brandt New Agency, which will specialize in Scandinavian and International literature.

Internationally, Carina played no small part in recognizing the talent of the Swedish author, Jonas Jonasson, and ensuring the best-selling success of his debut novel.

On a personal level, her happiness at living in Barcelona was completed by marriage to Roger in 2000 and the arrival of two wonderful children, Felix and Hannah.

Literary Agent

Ylva (1987) was born and raised outside a small village in the countryside south of Stockholm, Sweden. From an early age, she spent most of her spare time on reading and discussing books and trying to get others to read them. At 18, she left home for the university town of Uppsala where she studied arts and comparative literature while working weekends in a book shop. She also developed a special interest in enchanting, timeless books for young adults: fantasy, science fiction and crossover genres. After graduating, she moved to Stockholm, where she has worked in publishing houses and book retailing and for a literary agency before joining the team at Brandt New Agency.

Literary Agent

Elin (1981) grew up in thousand-year-old Skara, one of Sweden’s oldest villages. As a child she enjoyed every subject in school except mathematics and loved spending time reading and playing in the Swedish outdoors. At 18, she left her sleepy hometown and headed for Latin America, inspired by her father who had worked and lived there. She studied Spanish Philology and Literature, first in Santiago de Chile and then at Lund University in Sweden and Alcalá de Henares University in Spain.
Her curiosity about different peoples and cultures took her on various journeys around the world and led to further studies in Social Anthropology. Elin also holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. After working as a news reporter in Stockholm, she decided to settle in Barcelona where, for two years, she worked as a freelance journalist for Swedish newspapers and magazines before joining Brandt New Agency.

Literary Agent

Cristina, daughter of a Barcelonian and a Swede, was born in Barcelona in 1968 and holds a degree in Literature and Linguistics from Barcelona University. Languages have been both a passion and a key factor in enabling her to work with a wide range of international writers.

Cristina Hernández Johansson has previously worked at the publishing houses Editorial Planeta, Roca Editorial, Ediciones B and Bloomsbury.

She has been the editor of authors such as John Grisham, Noah Gordon, Patricia Cornwell, Jean Christophe Rufin, Anne Rice, Michael Connelly and Barbara Kingsolver. Spanish authors include Jesús Sánchez Adalid, Alfonso Mateo-Sagasta and Antonio Cabanas. She has also published the works of Scandinavian luminaries such as Peter Englund, Jakob Ejersbo, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Kjell Westö and Selma Lagerlöf.

Rights and Office Manager

Elena Sariols was born in Barcelona in 1961 to a Swedish mother and Spanish father. Her family origins resulted in a multicultural, multilingual upbringing and education. In the early years of her career, she worked at the Swedish General Consulate in Barcelona, assisting Swedish citizens and coordinating and supporting events showcasing Swedish culture and promoting Swedish interests. Elena then worked as a project coordinator  for a marketing program at Hewlett Packard for several years.

After this, she entered the publishing industry as coordinating manager for international projects at SOL90 publishing house, an experience that provided insights into multiple aspects of publishing. Elena, who has studies in law, marketing, history of arts and publishing, loves spending her free time with her family.