Photo by James Emmerman

Emily Nemens is a writer, illustrator, and editor. Her debut novel, The Cactus League, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in February 2020.
In 2018, Nemens became the seventh editor of The Paris Review, the nation’s preeminent literary quarterly. Since her arrival, the magazine has seen record-high circulation, published two anthologies, produced a second season of its acclaimed podcast, and won the 2020 National Magazine Award for Fiction. Previously, she coedited The Southern Review, a storied literary quarterly published at Louisiana State University. Stories published during her tenure at The Southern Review were selected for the Pushcart Prize anthology, Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize anthology, and the inaugural edition of PEN America Best Debut Fiction.
Nemens grew up in Seattle and received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where she studied art history and studio art. She completed an MFA degree in fiction at Louisiana State University. As an illustrator, she’s collaborated with Harvey Pekar, published her work in The New Yorker, and her watercolor portraits of every woman in congress were featured across the web and on national TV. Her short stories have appeared in Blackbird (Tarumoto Prize winner), Esquire, n+1, The Iowa Review, Hobart, and The Gettysburg Review. She lives in New York and remains a Mariners fan.
The Cactus League in the news:
New York Times, “Without Places to Gather, Debut Novelists Reimagine Book Promotion”
Arizona Republic, “Author of The Cactus League reflects on the suspension of The Cactus League”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Goldschmidt finds connections through books”
Inside Hook, “The Cactus League Is the Perfect Baseball Novel for 2020″
Idaho Statesman, “Missing Baseball? Read The Cactus League”
Interviews:
Seattle Times with Moira Macdonald
Electric Literatures with Erin Bartnett
Farther Off the Wall with Tom Hoffarth
Southwest Review with Robert Rea
NPR with Scott Simon (radio)
Book Lust with Nancy Pearl (video)
Open Book with Scott Simon (video)
Belletrist Virtual Book Tour (video)
Pandemic Baseball Book Club with Anika Orrock (video)
Effectively Wild (podcast)
First Draft with Mitzi Ripkin (podcast)
Infinite Inning (podcast)
Otherppl with Brad Listi (podcast)
So Many Damn Books (podcast)
Lookout Landing (podcast)
Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books (podcast)
The Amy Beecher Show (podcast)