emily m. danforth

emily m. danforth

PhD, 2011

Creative Writing

emdanforth.com

emily m. danforth's debut (Young Adult) novel, The Miseducation Of Cameron Post (2012), has been translated into seven languages. It was a finalist for the American Library Association’s Morris Debut Award and won the 2012 Montana Book Award. The Miseducation of Cameron Post was adapted into a Sundance award winning feature film directed by Desiree Akhavan.

emily’s second novel, and first for adults, Plain Bad Heroines (2020), was named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, O Magazine, Vulture.com, Book Riot.com, and Buzzfeed.com. It was also named one of the Top Ten LGBTQIA books of the year by the American Library Association.

emily has an MFA in Fiction from the University of Montana and a Ph.D in English-Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. (A  draft of The Miseducation of Cameron Post served as her creative dissertation.) She lives in Rhode Island with her wife Erica, her mother Sylvia, and two very spoiled dogs, Kevin and Sally O’Malley.

emily was born and raised in Miles City, Montana, a town best known for its Bucking Horse Sale - which was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the most intoxicated people, per capita, of any US event. Her favorite 1980’s slasher movie is April Fool’s Day and no, she doesn’t want to hear why you think she’s wrong about that choice.

Photo credit: Chris Mongeau

More Alumni Stories