Uncharted: Emily Grandy
No map. No limits. Just the journey—an interview series with artists, writers, and disrupters by Connor Wolfe, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Wayfarer Magazine
Welcome to Uncharted: No map. No limits. Just the journey—a new interview series from Wayfarer Magazine. I’m Connor Wolfe, Founder of Wayfarer Books and Wayfarer Magazine, and I created this series to ask one simple question: What does it really mean to forge your own path? Each interview follows the same set of ten questions, but the answers reveal the raw, unpredictable, and deeply personal nature of creative life.
To kick things off, we’re honored to sit down with award-winning author Emily Grandy, an award-winning author whose debut novel, Michikusa House, has captivated readers and critics alike. With numerous accolades to her name—including the Landmark Prize and a Silver Nautilus Book Award—Emily is making waves in the literary world. Her upcoming novel, Cupido Cupido, is already earning recognition as a finalist for the Sowell Emerging Writer's Prize. Beyond her fiction, she has an impressive background in biomedical research and editing. We’re excited to dive into her journey, her inspirations, and what’s next for her.
Q. What’s lighting you up creatively right now?
Emily: I’m always thinking about how to draw people’s attention to the natural world all around us, but especially in urban settings, like where I live. I’ve had so many people say to me they have no idea that wildlife lives alongside us in cities. They just don’t see it. So, I’m constantly trying to find ways to get people to recognize the presence of our non-human neighbors in a positive way (because sometimes that interaction can be very negative or even harmful). Sometimes that means starting a food garden, considering where our food comes from and how what we eat is connected to the land, its history, its climate. Other times it’s through recognizing what plants in our gardens and landscapes are or are not regionally native. Birding is another great option that gets people outdoors and forces them to use their senses, their memory, their intellect to recognize or ID these fleeting, musical beings. All of these ways of making connection, and more, take up space in my books and other writings.
Q. What’s the last thing that truly captivated you—an idea, a place, a piece of art, a poem, a moment?
Emily: I was at a special exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum recently featuring these enormous photorealistic charcoal drawings by Robert Longo. Most of the images are standalone, but there was this one set of 5 all lined up in a row: a close up of a Native American headdress; a field of fluffy white cotton; a shredded American flag hanging limply; a pile of white pills; the wing of a dead bird. Together, these images represented the greatest wars America has fought against itself: against the Natives of this land, against Black people, North against South, the war on drugs, and finally the war against our own environment. These 5 images together were so striking, and a deeply upsetting reminder of the internal conflict this country continues to suffer. Art has often uplifted me, brought my joy and immense wonder, but rarely has it made me feel so forlorn.
Q. What’s a recent experience that made you feel deeply present?
Emily: I was out birding with a friend at dusk, and in the near distance through a thicket of trees we heard three coyotes howling and whooping to one another. We both just stopped and listened until they quieted. Then we saw them, just over a small ridge ahead of us, and they saw us. Two squatted and marked their territory. We just stood there, looking at one another without fear, only curiosity, until they trotted along on their way.
Q. What’s a piece of art, a book, or a conversation that’s been living in your mind rent-free?
Emily: The Comfort of Crows, by Margret Renkl. Few authors speak so accurately, yet with such compassion, to what I’m feeling and constantly thinking about.
Q. What’s the most rebellious thing you’ve ever done in your creative work?
Emily: Professionally, I’ve always been involved in medical research. Creatively, I challenge the binary ways some scientific disciplines, like medicine, view and interpret the world. I also aim to decentralize the human-focused narratives we tell ourselves, giving voice to other beings who are rarely offered a seat at the table.
Q. If your younger self could see you now, what would surprise them the most? What would disappoint them?
Emily: I used to be a long-distance runner, but I gave that up during the pandemic after I got a femoral stress fracture—over-exercising as a way to de-stress. I needed a better coping mechanism. Gardening, yoga, long walks, birding, these are my mainstays.
Q. What is a truth you’ve had to unlearn in order to grow?
Emily: Human exceptionalism. I firmly believe this false idea of our superiority is the foundation of many of the biggest problems we face as a species.
Q. What question are you currently trying to answer through your work?
Emily: What does reconnecting with nature look like for everyday people?
Q. What is pulling you forward right now?
Emily: A determination to speak up for those without a voice in an increasingly noisy, complicated world.
Q. If your creative work is a map, where does it lead?
Emily: On all my profiles, I describe myself as a wanderer. I take the same approach with my creative writing. I don’t plan, I barely outline, allowing spontaneity guide where the story goes. Because all my writing involves a lot of research, I tend to make surprising discoveries as I go, and I like weaving unexpected findings into my work. So I never know where it leads, but for me that’s half the fun.
AUTHOR BIO
Emily Grandy’s debut novel, Michikusa House (Wayfarer Books, 2023), was awarded the Landmark Prize, the Silver Nautilus Book Award, and was longlisted for the Edna Ferber Book Award. Her second novel, Cupido Cupido (forthcoming), was a PEN/Bellwether Prize finalist, and is currently a finalist for the Sowell Emerging Writer's Prize. Her writing has appeared in both academic and literary journals and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Before she became a biomedical editor for GDIT, she did orthopedic research at the Cleveland Clinic. She lives in Milwaukee, WI.