Stein steps down as managing director of the Bright Agency

Arabella Stein has announced she is stepping down as managing director of the Bright Agency. 

Stein set up the agency’s literary division alongside agent Katie Blagden in 2022, and founded the Alligator’s Mouth Award with the Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop. She previously worked at the Abner Stein Literary Agency, where she was a director and agent.

As an agent, Stein managed and grew Bright’s founding agent Vicki Willden-Lebrecht’s client list including internationally bestselling and award-winning Benji Davies, Yasmeen Ismail and Chris Chatterton.

Willden-Lebrecht said: “I’m enormously grateful to Arabella for everything she has done for the company and our artists and authors since she joined back in 2016. It has been on an incredible journey since then and Arabella’s wealth of expertise and clever, commercial agenting have been instrumental in establishing us as a fully-fledged publishing agency.

“Personally, I have enjoyed working with her immensely and greatly admire her humour, dedication and professionalism. We will all miss her enormously, as she leaves behind a fantastic, talented team primed for growth. I wish her all the very best for the future.”

Stein said: “I am very grateful to Vicki and my colleagues at Bright for a terrific seven years, with all the opportunity and creative wonder that the authors and illustrators share with us. It has been an incredible time in my career, and I am enormously proud of the work we have done together. I know Vicki will continue to lead Bright forward as the visionary leader she is and will take Bright to ever greater heights, and I will watch with awe and amazement as a Bright Ambassador.” 

The Bookseller has enquired as to Stein’s future plans, and who will succeed her as managing director of the agency.