Emmily Magtalas-Rhodes

Emmily Magtalas Rhodes is a freelance writer. She was born during Marcos-era martial law, and grew up sheltered in the suburbs of Manila, where she only caught glimpses of the political climate from newspapers, TV, and the radio. A shy child, she took refuge in books and comics, and kept a journal from a young age. A graduate of the University of the Philippines, she was also a fellow in the Silliman University National Writers Workshop, and went on to be a staff writer for Filipinas magazine, which was based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years she’s had a number of jobs, including English tutor, assistant editor in a textbook publishing house, barmaid/waitress in an English pub, fully clothed life drawing model, and various office gigs around Edinburgh, including one where she sorted files in a deep underground vault that was reputedly haunted by seventeenth-century ghosts. She currently lives in a spa town in England with her husband and two sons. When faced with a social situation, she summons courage by drinking wine. What It Means to Be Malaya is her debut novel.