I'm Emily (she/they). I grew up in San Francisco/Yelamu, where I now live with my partner.

I lived in the UK for the better part of a decade and graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester in 2015 (I also have an MA in Library & Information Studies from University College London). I've been awarded a WritingxWriters Fellowship to attend their Tomales Bay Workshop, won third prize in Glossy Planet's "History Repeating" contest, placed on the Long List for the Smokelong Quarterly Prize 2026 ("Gloves"!), been a Finalist for the Smokelong Quarterly Fellowship, and named a scholarship Finalist for the Pagecraft California Rewriting Workshop. Also a stranger awarded one of my short stories four out of five stars on Goodreads, so I'm kind of a big deal.

I'm working on the third draft of a spatial literary novel about memory. It features an escaped zoo tiger, a brain-damaged reconstructionist, and a woman convinced she's two separate people.

I'm also cooking two feature screenplays: a horror/comedy about a giant monster eating people in San Francisco's sewers and three local screw-ups who have to try to stop it, and a 70s-era slasher script about a closeted lesbian radio host trapped in a game of chicken with a serial killer.

My surname is Czech (Dezurick) and Arab (Badran); I'm half-Lebanese (third generation on my dad's side), and 0% Czech (but half white British on my mom's side).

Beyond being an all-around book guy, I like hiking, working out, and games of all sorts. I played roller derby for 12 years, and it remains my favorite sport, not least because it's queer and trans-inclusive. (Also I loved playing a high-speed contact sport on wheels.)

Here are some other writers I admire and recommend:

Sarah Carvill
Moazzam Sheikh
Alex Hanna
M.K. Thekkumkattil
Jennifer Love
Syr Beker
Noah Saunders
Tessa Harris

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