top of page

Wisconsin Writer Wednesday - Emily Grandy

Writer's picture: stacylhinojosstacylhinojos



Welcome to Wisconsin Writer Wednesday, a blog series highlighting authors within our beautiful state. If you are an author and would like to take part, please fill out this form! https://forms.gle/xWsPvhL6MPGqEAPF6

 

Author: Emily Grandy

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Latest Book: Michikusa House





Book Synopsis: While spending a year on a small farm in rural Japan, a young woman named Winona who is struggling with mental illness finds meaning in connecting with the land, learning to grow her own food and cook with the seasons.

But transformation is often bittersweet, and Winona is forced to choose between the familiarity of old ties and the desire for fulfillment.


Buy: You can purchase Emily’s book online and anywhere books are sold. https://homeboundpublications.square.site/product/Michikusa-House/181?cs=true

 

Question: Your About Me page on your website shares that your "writing is a celebration of and an invitation to reconnect with the more-than-human world." Can you describe what led you to become a writer of literary fiction with an ecological focus?


Emily: For me, entry into ecological awareness began with a health crisis. After years of struggling with eating disorders, I had to relearn—very literally—how to eat. American food culture is not a great model in that respect, so I looked to other food cultures around the world for guidance. How and what do other people, who have not been exposed to Western influence, eat? With that question in mind, I became particularly interested in the indigenous food cultures of North America, which made me realize that a lot of the foods we commonly consume today are not native to the Americas.

That got me curious about what foods are native to where I live. Apart from the obvious answer—the foods we traditionally associate with Thanksgiving—it wasn’t an easy question to answer because that example accounts for only a tiny percentage of the immense variety of foods and medicinal plants originally cultivated and harvested in this country by its Native peoples. The original inhabitants of this land had ingenious ways of encouraging food plants to grow in what are sometimes, today, known as food forests—complex ecosystems of perennials including fruit and nut trees, herbaceous and tuberous plants, etc. From there, that got me interested in native plants and animals more generally.


In short, it was food that connected me to everything.


Question: What else are you working on?


Emily: My forthcoming novel, Cupido Cupido, was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for socially engaged fiction. I’m also looking for a publishing home for a YA eco-dystopian, geographically grounded trilogy, so keep an eye out for those. Keep up to date with new releases by signing up for my newsletter at emiygrandy.com or following me on Instagram and Threads @emilygrandyart.


Bio: Emily Grandy is an award-winning novelist and editor based in the Midwest.


She writes well-researched literary fiction and nonfiction with an ecological focus. Her writing is a celebration of and an invitation to reconnect with the more-than-human world. Her debut novel, Michikusa House (Wayfarer Books), was awarded the Landmark Prize, the Nautilus Book Award, and was longlisted for the Edna Ferber Book Award. Her second novel, Cupido Cupido, was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for socially engaged fiction.


Her other writing has appeared in both academic and literary journals, was a finalist for the ALM Literary Awards, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is also a regular contributor to regional Wisconsin Sierra Club newsletters.


Before she became a biomedical editor, Emily did clinical research for a leading academic medical center in Cleveland, Ohio. As a former scientist, Emily’s writing aims to communicate science-based knowledge through storytelling. As an artist and environmental advocate, she hopes to help heal our relationship with the more-than-human world.


She has lived in many places, both in the U.S. and abroad, but always gravitates back to the Midwest and its Great Lakes. She currently calls Milwaukee, Wisconsin home.


You can find more of Emily’s short fiction, interviews, essays, and beautiful artwork at: https://www.emilygrandy.com/writing

16 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


© 2024 by Stacy Hinojos. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page