Emily Mackay
B orn in the Scottish Highlands, I grew up in Orkney and Aberdeenshire before moving to Yorkshire at the age of 15. I attended state secondary schools in Scotland and England, studied English language and literature at Merton College Oxford, and completed an MA with Distinction in print journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Since 2004, I have worked in both writing and production, subediting and writing for national magazines and papers. My experience includes time working as a production editor and also as reviews editor of NME.
I am now working full-time as a subeditor for Guardian News. I have written about music and culture for the Guardian, Observer, Uncut, NME, the Quietus and others.
I have written one book and one chapter in the Bloomsbury 33 1/3 series, as well as editing several more titles in the series. I previously sat on the editorial board of 33 1/3, and have now joined the board of a forthcoming series of short music books by a respected British publisher.
I have basic HTML and CSS skills (I built this website) and learning JavaScript. I am also finally learning Scottish Gaelic properly after several failed attempts (in my defence, it's a tough one). In my spare time, I also volunteer, take part in climate activism, run slowly and endeavour to half-tame my unruly garden.
I am on indefinite hiatus from music writing in order to write fiction. I have had a short story, Tin Can Alley, published in the music journal Riffs.