Emily Kossak

What was your favorite book as a child?

Apart from the usual stuff kids read in the 2000s — Harry Potter, Eragon and so on — I devoured every book of the Fear Street series by R.L. Stine I could get my hands on. I think I still remember the plot to every book cover of Fear Street I come across.

What was the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I wrote a lot as a kid but lost this habit as a teen. I think I restarted writing out of curiosity during a year abroad in Shanghai 2019, when I came across a poetry writing group on weChat.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

Probably hitchhiking by myself down a Kyrgyz highway? (sorry mum) Moving abroad to China was a pretty adventurous undertaking too from which I still benefit to this day.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

Almost never. Sometimes I put on a lofi radio, but most of the time I need silence to write.