Emma Quay grew up near Cambridge, England, graduating with an Honours degree in Graphic Design from Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic, specialising in illustration and printmaking. She has travelled extensively in Morocco, India, Nepal and Bhutan, while working as a freelance illustrator.
After moving to Sydney, she worked with publisher, Mark Macleod. Quay was awarded a residential fellowship by the Eleanor Dark Foundation at Varuna, The Writers' House in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.