Emma Jones undertook her secondary education at MLC Burwood in Sydney, New South Wales. After working in England for one year, she returned to Australia and completed an arts degree at the University of Sydney. She graduated with first class honours and the University Medal in English in 2001. The following year she began study towards her PhD at Cambridge University, England. Her PhD thesis examines the ways maternity and motherhood are represented in poetry of the 19th and 20th centuries.