Current Staff

Becka Oliver

Becka Oliver

Executive Director

Becka Oliver (she/her/hers) joined the WLT in September 2013 as Executive Director after more than two decades of experience working in newspaper and book publishing. She spent much of her publishing career inside two of the “big five” publishing leaders – Macmillan and Hachette Book Group — licensing domestic and foreign rights on behalf of countless notable authors, including Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, Nicholas Sparks, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, and more. In 2007, she made the leap from Associate Director of Subsidiary Rights at Grand Central Publishing to Literary Agent, first at Endeavor and then at William Morris Endeavor (WME) after the two powerhouse talent agencies merged. As a literary agent, Becka represented clients working in both fiction and nonfiction, including Brunonia Barry, Sheryl Crow, Kamran Pasha, Joanna Philbin, Susan Rebecca White, and the popular blog Awkward Family Photos.

Sarah Renee Beach

Program Director

Sarah Renee Beach is an Austin-based poet and writer originally from Southeast Texas. She received a BA in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. She is the author of the chapbook Impact, which won Sundress Publications’ 2022 Chapbook Contest. Sometimes you’ll find her writing on-the-spot poems on a 1957 Smith Corona with Typewriter Rodeo. Read more of her writing at sarahreneebeach.com.
J Evan Parks headshot

J Evan Parks

Member Services Manager / Digital Media Manager

J Evan Parks (he/him/his) is a writer and creative currently living in Austin, TX. He is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied both English and Japanese, and was inducted into the Japanese National Honor Society in 2020. While at UT, he was the Head Writer and Executive Producer of the show Down to Film on the University’s student-run television channel, TSTV. In his spare time, you can find him re-watching old sitcoms or dreaming up critical analyses of the Rocky franchise.

Lore Arnold

Office Coordinator

Lore Arnold (they/them/theirs) is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with an Honors B.S. Geology and a B.S.A. Chemistry degree. They minored in English and have a Certificate with Honors in Creative Writing. As a writer, they are currently adapting their undergraduate thesis in creative writing – Yours is the Earth – into a novella. In their free time, they run a fifth edition D&D campaign, play board games with friends, and excitedly expound about media analysis. Their favorite genre is hopepunk, an emerging speculative fiction style that focuses on humanity’s capacity for kindness.

Emma Conatser

Social Media & Marketing Intern

Emma graduated from Abilene Christian University with degrees in English and Music and is currently working on an MA in Media Studies at the University of Texas. She has worked with writers in many capacities and enjoys writing short fiction. In her free time, you can find her solving the Wordle, reading Cormac McCarthy, or watching a Noah Baumbach movie.