Autistic Reader Interview: Emmalia Harrington
Everything Is True
Ada Hoffmann's author newsletter
I have mixed Black, NDN and white ancestry as well as a deep love for speculative works. My short stories have been published in FIYAH, Anathema, Abyss and Apex, and other venues. I’m a member of Codex and SFWA as well as a first reader for FIYAH and Podcastle.
Along with reading and writing, I enjoy dolls, sewing, cooking, gemology, etc. My special interests are many.
Tell me a little bit about yourself. Is there anything you've written or made recently that you'd like other readers to know about? Other than what's in your bio, is there anything about your connection to autism, books, and reading that you'd like to share?
I dislike the term “hyperlexia.” It implies something pathological, not something to be celebrated. According to my mom, I first taught myself to read at 18 months. By the time I started kindergarten I was literate, and I always read well above my age level.
What are you reading right now? What are you looking forward to reading soon?
I’m currently reading Gendai Sousaku Wafuku, a Japanese language fashion design book, Native Fashion Now, another fashion book about modern NDN designers, and A Jewish Bestiary, about animals featured in sacred Jewish texts.
I’m looking forward to the next English language installment of Ascendence of a Bookworm series, coming out as an e-book in early April.
What are some of your favorite works of fiction? What makes them your favorites?
As a kid, I adored The Babysitters’ Club series as the characters had a ridiculous amount of independence for their age, and I enjoyed their entrepreneurship. I was also drawn into historical fiction like the American Girl books, and straight up adventures like the Redwall series.
At the moment, my favorites include the Ascendence of a Bookworm series. It’s a high fantasy story starring a chronically ill ambulatory wheelchair user who’s determined to introduce movable print and affordable books to her new world. I also enjoy the heartwarming food porn and queer representation in the What Did You Eat Yesterday manga, and the fantasy series Restaurant to Another World, also centered around delicious food.
Have you ever had a special interest in a fiction series or genre of fiction? What makes a work of fiction special-interest-worthy for you - or do the interests seem to descend at random?
I loved historical fiction as a kid. Fantasy has been a special interest of mine since middle school. Though I’ve read horror on and off, it didn’t become a special interest on mine until I got into the Silent Hill video games. Of all the horror genres, I still love psychological horror best.
Historical fiction is an offshoot of history being one of my major special interests since I was little. I even have an MA in the discipline. Fantasy is a side effect of a friend getting me into Tamora Pierce, and of my brother turning me into a superhero enthusiast. I like the challenge of psychological horror, to make scares intangible but powerful.
Is there anything (a type of character, a type of plot, a type of setting, a type of author, an idea, a style, etc...) that you have difficulty finding in the books you read right now? What do you wish that there was more of?
I want more representation in my books and authors! More queer people, more PoC, more neurodiversity, disabled representation, more stories that don’t revolve around a white, Western world or mindset.
This month at Everything Is True, we’re interviewing a wide variety of autistic readers with questions like these! You can find a schedule with the rest of the interviews here.