Subtext Literary Agency has been founded on the grounds that sharing and adapting content is key to bridging gaps between cultures and societies, increasing understanding and awareness, while fighting prejudice and ignorance. This philosophy also informs the relationship of the two co-founders, Ben and Ishita, who met during their studies and bonded over their differences and mutual curiosity, sharing their passion for books (obviously), languages, psychology, feminism, masculinity, popular culture, gender studies, sexuality, history, and inequalities, to name a few, and how these aspects of humanity interact with and affect our current world. It’s been said ‘words are powerful’, but we’d like to add ‘in every form’. Subtext Literary Agency has been created to allow as many people as possible to access that power and use it to help them constantly rethink the world we live in and to enjoy the beauty and opportunities words have to offer, in whatever shape they take.
Team Subtext
Benjamin Ehalt
RIGHTS PUNDIT
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French, English​
After studying a diverse range of subjects such as Anthropology, Psychology and Printing Processes, Ben graduated with a M.A in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University and a MSc in Gender Studies from Birkbeck University and has been working in publishing since. With ten years of experience in Foreign Rights and International Sales in France (Editions Denoël, Anna Jarota Agency) and in the UK (Watkins, Quarto), he has accumulated a good network internationally and various cultural experiences. Ben is a fashionable multi-tasker who is rarely seen without a scarf around his neck, a hat on his head and several books in his bags! He still signs off emails as IOF (Ishita’s Only Friend—a nickname given by his peers at Oxford Brookes due to the fact that one was rarely seen without the other). You can often find him in a London coffeeshop eating a bagel while enjoying Kapuscinski’s chronicles.
Ishita Gupta
WORD MAESTRO
Hindi, English​
Ishita’s career in publishing began after she completed her Masters in Psychology, when she joined Dorling Kindersley India as an Assistant Editor. She went on to get a M.A. in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University (where she was quickly given the nickname BOF, or Ben’s Only Friend, after they became instant, inseparable friends), during which she also worked at OUP. After returning to Delhi, she joined award-winning independent publisher Yoda Press and worked her way up to Commissioning Editor. She was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at Publishing Next, but her favourite compliment was given to her by her mentor, who called her ‘the most efficient person I have ever worked with.’ If you run into her at a café, you might think she is scrolling through Instagram (something she enjoys occasionally), but really, she is reading books on her phone.