Emerson Whitney is the author of the critically acclaimed titles, HEAVEN (McSweeney’s, 2020) and DADDY BOY (McSweeney’s 2023) and the poetry title, Ghost Box (Timeless Infinite Light, 2014). Emerson’s work has appeared in The Paris Review, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. Kirkus, in a starred review, called Heaven “An incisive, nuanced inquiry into gender and body.” The Paris Review called Emerson “…a deft executor of their own unique style… a writer who guides with an intuitive vulnerability and honesty.” In a second review, Kirkus compared Emerson to Gertrude Stein, and said that they “energetically and incisively captures all of that complexity and more, demonstrating a kindred spirit to Stein’s but emerging with a voice all their own.” Emerson recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in gender studies at the University of Southern California and teaches in the BFA creative writing program at Goddard College

Both Heaven and Daddy Boy were acquired by Cipher Press in the UK in 2023, check out those editions here!

Emerson is represented by Tim Wojick at Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency