Emma Smith-Stevens, author of Anthem, threatened in a field of shitty tattoos makes you a mix-tape of New York.

1. Have you ever had a nickname?

I had a totally dorky, self-inflicted nickname in high school. While the banks and the Internet survived Y2K, thankfully my nickname did not.

2. I grew up in a town where most building heights were survivable to fall from. All these archetypes are known to me, but I doubt I would have written this anthem. What is it about growing up in NY that made you write Anthem?

Probably like 1990s teenagers all over the country, I remember constantly trading mixtapes with my friends. They were about the music, obviously, but they were also about identity and affiliation. I wanted to write a story about New York City teenagers that’s like a mixtape. I tried to sample fragments of my memories of the kids I grew up with, went to school with, saw at the park, on the train, and so on.
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