Lee Melillo
Lee Melillo (they/she) joined Dunham Literary, Inc. in May 2024 as Jennie Dunham’s assistant, following an internship with Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret LLC. She was made an Associate Literary Agent in June 2025. Lee additionally manages the agency’s social media and website, is a second-reader for queries, handles royalty statements and permissions, and assists on preparing submissions.
Lee graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University in 2022, with departmental honors in English and Theatre Directing. Through her majors, Lee discovered her passion for advocating for writers. She believes literature is one of the most effective ways to gain empathy for and understanding of life experiences outside our own.
Originally from New Haven, Lee now resides in Queens with her cats/office assistants, Meatloaf and Muffin Man. Lee maintains her love of theatre as the Executive Artistic Director of Personal Pizza Party, an indie production company, and by performing full renditions of musical theatre classics on the glorious stage also known as her shower.
You can find Lee on Instagram and Bluesky at @leemelillobooks, and at leemelillo.com.
What Lee’s Seeking:
Lee represents Young Adult and Adult Fiction written by, for, and about traditionally underrepresented communities, especially authors of color, disabled authors, queer authors, and neurodivergent authors. She acquires books with commercial hooks that can reel in a wide range of readers and subsequently deliver well-executed, literary prose. Lee looks for a strong sense of voice, cinematic settings, and witty dialogue; she also appreciates a sharp, weird sense of humor appealing to readers raised online, and narratives centered around relationships – platonic, familial, romantic, or otherwise. Lee represents a wide range of genres, from commercial to literary markets, including (but not limited to): Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Thriller, Horror, and select SFF.
Lee does NOT currently represent picture books, middle grade, graphic novels, or non-fiction/memoirs of any kind. Lee is also not generally a fan of: Erotica; high fantasy or space operas; very experimental stories or stories lacking high-concept hooks, anything military/police/politics; European/American WW1 or WW2 stories; Greek/Roman/Norse mythology; British historicals (especially Regency Era); most sports; AI-centric sci-fi; stories about gang life or the mafia; explicit depictions of sexual assault, self-harm/suicide attempts, eating disorders, or violent cruelty towards people or animals; or anything where a pet dies.
For a more detailed description of Lee’s interests and examples, CLICK HERE to see her MSWL.