She’s back! Author Emily Scialom on feminism, NYC and more

Author Emily Scialom is back to talk further about her books, supporting women, and being featured on a billboard in New York City’s Times Square. I first met her for an interview to talk about spirituality as it relates to her popular book The Religion of Self-Enlightenment. We also refer to it as The ROSE, a shortened form of the title. Since then, a lot has happened!

Talking with author Emily Scialom

Welcome back, Emily! Can you please share a bit about what’s new since you last visited us?

Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity to speak with your audience regarding my life’s work. By way of setting the scene, I am an author of seven books based in Cambridge, England. Since we last spoke earlier this year my debut novel, The Religion Of Self-Enlightenment, has gone from “a cult sensation” (Cambridge News, 2018) to “a modern cult classic” (The Table Read Magazine, 2024). 

My childhood friend, Dawn, recently saw an article about me while reading the Somerset Live newspaper in Glastonbury. Thanks sincerely to Nancy Connolly for her glowingly positive piece.

BBC Radio Somerset also saw this newspaper article and invited me to take part in a second interview. A 10-minute conversation with presenter Vicki Clark aired just after midday on Friday, September 6th.

The very next day my Times Square billboard campaign began. An advert aired on rotation all day on Saturday, September 7th and will do so again on November 28th. I am so grateful to all those who contributed to this hugely successful project. It is such a memorable moment in my life!!

Congratulations on the continued praise for your writing! Can you share some feedback since we last spoke?

I recently received a message from a fan who had seen my interview on That’s Cambridge TV in 2018, bought The ROSE and read it FOUR times. It’s so touching to learn of the stories of those who say this novel has changed their lives for the better.

Luxurious Magazine recently called the book “a must-read in these times” and in my fifth appearance in The Table Read magazine it was hailed “a modern cult classic”. This was the praise I chose to highlight on my NYC billboard as I believe The ROSE has earned such a label. 

There is a small but passionate group of people who find the depth, intensity and philosophy of The ROSE has really helped them. This makes me happy, but I’m hoping I can continue to touch people in ever increasing numbers as word of this challenging novel spreads.

With wars across the world, now is the time for a book to heal our divisions, bring people together and promote the power of love. I strongly sense that messages such as these are what the world desperately needs to hear right now.

The NYC billboard is exciting! How did this opportunity come to be?

I worked with EC Publishing during the Los Angeles Times Festival Of Books 2022 when they represented my second novel, The Rivers. They claimed my magnum opus, The ROSE, had made number 9 on their list of the top 15 books they wished to promote. Essentially they approached me with an offer I couldn’t refuse and I’m so grateful they did.

You’re also the author of The Watch On The Beach. In what ways does this book explore gender and feminism?

The main character in my latest novel, The Watch On The Beach, is a troubled young poet named Clara Reynolds. She struggles with the misogyny she is regularly subjected to. 

For example, she lists all the vile sexist statements made by the heroes of the patriarchy: Aristotle, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer were all prone to egregious outbursts about women. In using this character as my mouthpiece, I felt free to vent about such objectionable aspects of life as a woman.

I believe misogyny is currently increasing in prevalence rather than receding into history books, which is cause of great distress for me. If we look at the horror stories emerging from women and girls all across the world we can see nowhere is safe for females. This has to change.

What would you like to inspire women to do or achieve?

I would like women to stop making excuses for bad male behaviour and fight for the future of their daughters in a non-violent way. I would like women to reclaim their position at the table of the divine, even within themselves: we are not the whores and adulterers that misogynists paint us as. I would love to redefine God as genderless because, for me, my maker is neither a man or a woman and to dictate the sex of our creator is a damaging egomaniacal delusion which originates from prophetic men.

I have written a novel in order to promote not the IDEA that we are totally equal, but the REALITY that all is one in essence. To divide is to conquer and what we need is a sense of oneness between the genders that is fostered by forgiveness, compassion and empathy. 

We have drifted far from the utopia of the Sixties, Woodstock and the Summer Of Love. People tend to make war, not love in 2024. Life has become a Pink Floyd music video in which people become moulded by the capitalist machine. I wrote The ROSE so that readers might have a map to a better world. 

Do you think gender equality will ever be possible?

Men are competitive creatures. If we are to heal as individuals and as a world women will need to fight for it. Whether that’s women dying for their freedoms in Iran, speaking up about the prevalence of sexual assaults (such as with the #metoo movement) or even being brave enough to re-write history in order to end female otherness in the current patriarchal version of the human story. 

What were women doing during the Stone Age, for example? Waiting to be hit over the head with a club and dragged back to a cave by a man? Was that our life’s purpose? Is it still the same today, metaphorically speaking?

The female journey to equality will be an eternal one in many ways. As long as there is life there will also be ignorance and prejudice. This is why we must be aware that there is a battle going on and actively participate in fighting the good fight.

What woman inspires you most, and why?

Patti Smith is a total heroine to me. She doesn’t do bras, spits on the floor between readings of her poetry and wouldn’t be seen dead next to a pack of hair dye or straighteners. I haven’t adhered to her aesthetic because I’m too vain and insecure. However, her originality in a world of moulds has always been a source of light and inspiration for me.

As a writer, what inspires you?

God inspires me: I want to understand life and communicate my findings through books. When I was growing up I wanted to be a rock star. However, after those dreams got put on hold until my next life, writing became my true vocation. I was a published poet aged 8 and, for me at least, writing and breathing are of equal importance.

In terms of feminism, I read Scum Manifesto by Valerie Solanas as an adolescent and was blown away by the open misandry. To mirror the misogyny of some men really shone a light on how ugly such attitudes are. “To be male is to be deficient, emotionally limited; maleness is a deficiency disease and males are emotional cripples,” Solanas wrote. I will always find such sentiments outrageous when directed at men or women: without each other there is nothing.

Simone De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex was another great source of wisdom and knowledge for me. It took me a year to read because it was so persistently deep and revelatory. When I speak of women being othered in the patriarchal story of human history I am essentially rephrasing De Beauvoir’s theories.

I also found The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer interesting. Greer once signed a book to me: “To Emily, who may find a way to make a difference.” Coming from such a feminist icon I couldn’t help but try to fulfill her hopes for me!

Thank you for being here, Emily! You inspire us to continue to strive to make the world better. Keep writing and creating positive change in the world through your words.

Connect further with Emily Scialom online to find out more about her books, music, social media links, and scheduling her for an event.