Emma Burnett is a researcher and writer. She has had stories in Nature:Futures, Mythaxis, Northern Gravy, Radon, Flash Fiction Online, Apex, Utopia, MetaStellar, Milk Candy Review, Roi Fainéant, JAKE, and more. Her favourite story this month is “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Teleporter” by M.J. Pettit in Flash Fiction Online. You can find Emma on Bluesky or emmaburnett.uk.
Her BNW-winning story “Plastic-eating fungus caused doomsday[2][3]” originally appeared in Nature Journal.
BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.
***
Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.
Information must be disseminated! Log in to help keep the information on this fungal outbreak up to date.
This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?
Hope and scream and hope and rage and hope again.
Is the order of these steps precise, or can I start (and likely end) with screaming?
Do you take naps?
Do I take naps? Does rain make your shoes soggy? Is Tom Holland lip synching “Umbrella” the hottest thing ever? Is today a day that ends in -ay?
Oooh, I get my own Q&A!
…Yes, that’s what I asked?
Yes! Unless you wear booties.
I- what? Oh shit, this is modern pop culture isn’t it, I’m terrible at these things.
Probably! What am I, a calendar maker? (note: Alex, are we making calendars yet?)
On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.
You killed me on this. I legit needed help. The best I've got is: Ex Machina x The Decemberists. I might be wrong. It might be Girl, Interrupted x Led Zeppelin.
The correct answer is Ex Machina x Led Zeppelin.
What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?
People like my writing. NGL it blows my mind every time. I'm the kind of person people ignore in a boardroom, or think is just a Weirdo in social settings. I'm not used to being taken seriously. But here, in the wilds of the written word, I'm a reliable witness to my own stories. Mind blowing.
***
BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.
(Emma cannot though; apparently we killed her. Whoops, our bad.)
