I’m Nobody. Who Are You? – On Emily Dickinson, Quiet Creativity, and Writing from the Hush

Who is E. E. Lawson? I’m Nobody. Who Are You?

“I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there’s a pair of us—don’t tell!

They’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody.

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

to an admiring bog.”

— Emily Dickinson

Every once in a while, the internet does a quiet, kind thing.

Recently, a fellow writer shared my page in a post that said something like: If you follow E. E. Lawson, she might tell you what the E. E. stands for.

And suddenly—gently—a hundred new faces wandered in.

Some of you may be bots.

Some of you may be very real.

But either way, you’re here now, and I found myself smiling at the small mystery of it all.

But the answer is simple, and a little personal:

E. E. stands for Emily Elizabeth.

It’s not a pen name, or something I borrowed for effect.

It’s the name I was given at birth in honor of Emily Elizabeth Dickinson—a poet who lived quietly. Who wrote bravely. Who believed in private words and interior worlds and the fierce magic of a single human voice.

She wrote from the margins.

From the edges.

From the hush.

And I’ve always loved that about her.

There’s a tenderness in being “nobody.” A freedom in not needing to be loud to be heard. A kind of courage in choosing a small life and a deep one.

In many ways, that’s the spirit I try to bring to my stories.

They aren’t written to shout.

They’re written to sit beside you.

To make a cup of tea.

To leave a light on.

So if you’ve found your way here—quietly, curiously, maybe by accident—welcome.

You’re already part of the pair.

And don’t worry…

I won’t tell. 🤍