Member Spotlight: Emma Marl

by Eve Lopez

With her kicky blond bob and sprinkle of freckles, Emma Marl looks like the girl next door. She has an easy smile and gentle way of talking. And it's her voice that opens the door to who she is and what she's all about. Her melodic British accent brings listeners in. Emma moved to Seattle from Great Britain three short years ago, and in those three years, she's played an integral role in helping Seattle Writergrrls become what it is today.

Moving across the world to Seattle wasn't what Emma had in mind when she graduated from college. In England, Emma knew she wanted to be a journalist. "I was an avid reader of newspapers," Emma says. After completing a degree in journalism, she went to work for a local evening daily. "I really got used to working fast and hitting deadlines," she says.

She moved on to cover the criminal courts beat for a news agency. Though she found the work fulfilling and says it was the most fun she ever had at a job, it just didn't pay well. "But I learned a lot from working there," she says.

After leaving the news agency, Emma found herself working in the public relations department of the Port of Liverpool. There, she wrote press releases and the annual report. While she eventually discovered that public relations wasn't really what she wanted to do, it opened the door to a job offer from a weekly newspaper that needed an editor.

Emma wrote articles, worked with freelancers, and learned desktop publishing. "It was a good challenge and a lot of fun," she says. "There was more pressure involved and a lot of stress. But it was good stress." Emma worked there for five years before moving on to an editorial position at a publishing company. And then she met Craig.

"He's the one," she laughs when talking about her husband. They met through mutual friends in England, and had been together for a couple of years when Craig was recruited by Microsoft. Craig had been itching to move to the U.S., and while Emma had always known she wanted to live in a different country, she wasn't entirely sure about moving so far away from her family and friends.

Craig moved here, and Emma visited to see what Seattle was all about. She found herself liking the city and people, and looked into getting a work visa. She found out it takes years of filling forms, paying lawyers' fees, and negotiating red tape. She found a couple of employers in Seattle interested in hiring her, but they just couldn't wait for everything to go through. And so Emma moved to Seattle on a tourist visa that doesn't allow her to work, and tried to find a niche in the city.

She found it at the end of 1999. Emma was experiencing not only culture shock, but homesickness and loneliness, too. "I was trying to find something I could connect to," Emma remembers. She stumbled across Seattle Writergrrls, and subscribed to the list, but it took her until February 2000 to gather the courage to become involved. "I was very scared," she says. "But everyone was so nice and welcoming."

Emma began attending the steering committee meetings and volunteering for events. In February 2001, she volunteered to lead a team with the mission of revamping the Seattle Writergrrls Zine, which hadn't been updated in months. Emma became the first facilitating editor, and the first issue of the new Zine was published in May 2001. By the end of that year, however, Emma decided to give the reins to someone else. "I didn't want to retain overall control," she says. "That was never my goal."

Today, Emma is a part of the Seattle Writergrrls initiative to become a full-fledged non-profit organization. She has helped the group open a new bank account and apply for a business license.

"It's such a vibrant community that connects not just women, but people who have a common interest," Emma raves about Writergrrls. "I get to meet a great diversity of people who are all enthusiastic and talented. That's very inspiring."

And now, Emma is looking toward the future. She is hoping her husband's green card comes through so they can stay permanently and Emma can resume a paid career. "I'm hoping this will happen in the next year."

She has a life of art, watercolor classes, and snowboarding. While she still misses her family and friends in England, Emma says, "I feel like I belong here." And she envisions great things happening for Seattle Writergrrls. "I always say Writergrrls saved my life. It might be a small exaggeration, but it made the difference between my life not working out, and my life working. I'm thankful for its existence. "She knows how tough it can be for lurkers to come out and meet people. "It can be so intimidating to come to an event by yourself when you don't know anybody." But she's determined to help newbies feel welcome. "We want you to come," she says. "We want to meet you."

Eve Lopez is a freelance writer living in Seattle.