Interview with 2024 Q3 Creative Nonfiction Essay Runner Up, Emily Gates Prucha

Emily Gates Prucha teaches English and writes about education, active travel, and multicultural family life in the Czech Republic—the land of beer, castles, and Krtek (The Little Mole). Her “Half 'n Half” column ran for more than a decade at The Prague Daily Monitor. Her personal essays have been published on Motherwell, Entropy, The Keepthings, and other international outlets. When she's not teaching or drafting a story, she loves baking chocolate chip cookies and mountain biking with her Czech husband and three teens. Find her online at www.halfnhalf-life.com or @halfnhalfprague on Instagram.

Check out her winning essay "Finding Room to Breathe" here and then return to learn more about her.

---Interview by Jodi M. Webb

WOW: Congratulations on receiving two awards: runner-up award for “Finding Room to Breathe” and an honorable mention for “What birthing a dead calf taught me about life”. Can you explain how two entries so different came from the same writer?

Emily: Most of my Creative Nonfiction writing has been in the form of vignettes about my Czech American family and my experience as an American raising multilingual children in a village outside Prague, Czech Republic, my husband's native country and my adopted homeland. Both of the pieces I submitted to the WOW contest were drafted in the same online flash fiction course during Covid. While I am more comfortable writing vignettes in the vein of "What birthing a dead calf taught me about life," during Covid I found myself with more personal, reflective time, and I tried to stretch my creative writing beyond my comfort zones. I am currently in my mid-forties living in a house full of older teens, and there is no better time to be honest with myself on the page. 

WOW:  So tell us how these pieces made it from online course assignments to the WOW Creative Nonfiction Essay contest?

Emily: I entered the WOW Creative Nonfiction Essay contest because I wanted to see if a story I had written about a significant life moment with my father could resonate with a larger audience. I had worked hard on the story, "What birthing a dead calf taught me about life," and incorporated feedback from my writing group, so I thought it was time to be bold and submit. When I realized the contest permitted multiple entries, I entered "Finding Room to Breathe," on a whim at the last minute.

WOW: Just goes to show that we should follow our whims more often! You have been writing since your children were babies and they are now teenagers (eek!). How have you seen your writing evolve over the years?

Emily: When my children were younger, I wrote a weekly online column called "Half 'n Half" that related our family's (mis)adventures adapting to life in the Czech Republic from my perspective as an American married to a Czech. I mainly wrote about how I experienced life in the Czech Republic by observing my children as I raised them in Czech culture - what was similar to my own upbringing / what was different. 

Now that my children are older teens, I feel more compelled to write about my own inner life and the changes I have experienced after living so long outside my birth country. Hot themes for me at the moment are identity and belonging - as a mother, as a woman, as a wife, as an American in the Czech Republic, as a new Czech citizen (after 20 years I finally applied for an earned dual citizenship), as a human in our ever-changing global world. 

WOW: In “Finding Room to Breathe” you describe how your family supports you as you struggle with personal challenges. How do they support you professionally? 

Emily: Well, right now, I am visiting my parents in the US. Tonight, we are hosting a grilling party, and while my children and husband are prepping for my brother's family to arrive, I'm holed up in my mom's office. No one has bothered me. No one has come to ask where the silverware is or which placemats to use. They appreciate that I have a limited time to use for my writing, and my daughter literally pushed me into the study after I lamented that I really needed to respond to your interview questions before our early morning road trip departure tomorrow morning. 

For many years, I kept my writing very private - it was a hobby that I didn't allow to interfere with my duties as a mother, teacher, or wife. I wrote during nap time or late at night. Now, I am bringing my writing more into focus. And my family has responded positively.

I am also fortunate to have two writer friends in Prague who have read my work for years. Without them, I would not have had the courage to submit to contests or literary magazines. I am still working on developing my literary citizenship, but I have also had wonderful (albeit shorter term) connections with editors, writing coaches, and writers from online courses. And yes, family/friend support definitely makes us better writers!

WOW: I love the idea of each of us developing a literary citizenship. So tell us, in between grilling, family visits and making literary connections, what are you working on now?

Emily: I am currently working on a memoir about finding a home without a zip code . Visiting the US and listening to family stories is the best form of research. :) 

WOW: I agree! And I imagine it's delicious too. Enjoy your grilling party and we're looking forward to reading more of your work.