Emma Sidnam is a novelist and poet hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. Her debut novel Backwaters won the Michael Gifkins Award and was longlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards. Her short stories have been published by the Spinoff, Newsroom, and Takahe Magazine. Before coming to Knoxville, she was working as a government lawyer in Wellington. Outside of writing, she loves nature, languages, and exploring the world. She is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.