Yawayi! I’m Emily.

I’m a Birrbay-Dhanggati, Albannach and Éireannach writer, musicologist and flutist living and working on unceded Gadigal land in Sydney.

I spend my time moving between words, music and research. I write fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry; research music, history and decolonial practice; and make music on everything from Renaissance flutes to contemporary experimental sounds.

I’m interested in stories about people, place, identity and belonging, in the histories we inherit and the ones we’re still learning to tell. Whether I’m writing a novel, exploring an old musical score or experimenting with sound, I’m drawn to the possibilities of creative practice to ask questions, challenge assumptions and imagine things differently.

My writing has appeared in Southerly Journal, Splinter Journal, Limelight Arts, National Indigenous Times and I was selected for the 2027 Penguin Random House Varuna Fellowship for my upcoming novel Slow Burn. Alongside my writing, I’m undertaking postgraduate research in musicology at the University of Sydney, exploring the intersections of historical performance, contemporary practice and decolonial approaches to music-making.

This little corner of the internet brings all these parts of my practice together. Have a look around, see what I’m working on, and make yourself at home.