The Rise of the Italian Literary Agent: Helicon and the Agenzia Letteraria Internazionale

The names of Helicon and ALI have already made several appearances. Looking at the development of the profession in modern Italy, this chapter investigates the network-building function of interwar literary agents and their contribution to the negotiation of copyright across Europe and the Atlantic. While comparing the different demands leading to the professionalisation of the category in the British, US, and continental contexts, it explores the diverse goals characterising Helicon and the ALI, identifying the key stakeholders these companies responded to. Furthermore, by analysing publication contracts, it verifies the extent to which censorial and economic constraints shaped the working and negotiating practices of literary agents in Fascist Italy. While unveiling the context-specific nature of the rise of the Italian literary agent, this chapter argues that the specific configurations of the interwar book trade prompted the agencies to follow working practices that were drastically revised after the end of the Second World War.