Ivy Leaves Journal of Literature & Art — Vol.88

acknowledges with pride that she and her sister still enjoy playing pirates, wearing capes. “I will always love to do childish things,” she says.

A lot of Emmy’s writing ref lects her childhood. She was born in Naperville, Illinois, and then moved to Indiana when she was ten.

Her parents, she says, are “always crazy fun people.” Her dad sports pajama pants with robots on them, and he walks around the house making robot noises. “Every time I’m home, my dad and I try to out-annoy each other.” Emmy’s face gets serious. “I’m good at being annoying.”

Because her dad flew all over the place to repair the machines that make juice boxes, he was often home only on the weekend, but those weekends were valuable to her. Her poem, “You forgot my name, or maybe just me” recalls with affection the nicknames her father gave her, and the weight that small gifts like bunny slippers can carry in a child’s heart. She folds her hands and leans forward. “My poems are more personal to me, my inner thoughts and emotions coming out.” Emmy takes her time to choose her words. “It sounds cheesy, but poetry has to come from your heart.” Her inspiration and the person who taught her to write poetry is her friend and fellow AU student Rafael Alcantar, Jr. Her poem “I Copied Your Poems” is written in honor of him. “He really taught me about descriptive poetry.”

Emmy’s writing represents not just the lightheartedness of childhood, but also the growing pains of adolescence. “A lot of my stories are coming of age stories because I like to write from the perspective of a child.”

She grins and shrugs. “Because I am still a child.” She struggles to keep a straight face while her fellow Chipotle workers dance behind the counter to distract her. In fifty-five years, Emmy will be Yams.

Before she can say why she writes stories, she takes a moment to ponder. She adjusts the green knit cap on her short hair. “I dream in stories; I think in story form. I think the best way of expressing yourself is through stories.” Although Emmy didn’t like to read much as a kid, she did appreciate the comic adventures of Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes. In college she has branched out to enjoy work from authors such as Denis Johnson and Tea Obreht. Her own writing is a learning experience for her; she tries to figure out how quirky individuals fit into the world, and it can be a learning experience for her readers as well.

Her favorite part about writing is seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. Her least favorite part? Proofreading. The part that means the most, because it’s where the writing really happens? Revising.

“I love characters who are different,” she says, “and I love to evaluate how they fit into society, and sometimes it’s a mess, sometimes it’s a birdcage.” She is not going to stop wearing pirate capes and shooting Nerf guns, and she’s okay with that, because she believes it makes her a better writer. “I like writing about rebels, and I like being a rebel,” she says. Emmy brings a new voice to fiction that is playful and quirky, but laced with a maturity and compassion, fiction that takes adults back to the innocence and vulnerability of childhood to see what they missed.

As the interview draws to a close, Emmy’s friends Rafael and Lucy arrive to wait for her. The three of them seem tight-knit, close, laughing easily and bouncing jokes off one another. Emmy may think she doesn’t fit into some broader society, but she fits where it counts. And tonight, that means throwing her small body against the door of Chipotle to keep Rafael trapped inside. Side note: Emmy Wheatley is a legally certified clown, and she knows how to ride a unicycle.