Emma Bell was born in Ohio, raised in Southern California. She is of Chinese, Irish, and Filipino descent. Emma is of Italian and German descent, and was a U.S. patriotic through much of her life, until the day she decided to turn against her family’s immigration to the USA, at which point they were automatically granted citizenship because of their heritage, and thus became citizens. Her ancestors on both sides of her family line were war fighters, which might account for her bravery on the battlefield in both the World Wars. Emma’s father served in the Army Air Corp, but later went into business for himself, creating his own printing company.
In her bio-fiction book, Emma Bell reveals that her great-grandmother was the daughter of English immigrants who had become a US citizen in Portland, Oregon, after emigrating to the States. Her maternal grandfather had fought for the Union in the Civil War and became a United States citizen by the time he died in the First World War. Bell is of Hispanic descent, however, her heritage is American and was raised in California, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C.
After high school, Bell studied art in Rhode Island, but before graduating, she decided to continue her studies in writing, so she pursued a degree in journalism at the University of Michigan. She then moved to New York City, where she worked as an assistant for a photographer while continuing her studies, and when the opportunity arose for her to write a book, she did so with the assistance of a Spanish translator, who happened to be her friend. Through this translator, Emma Bell was able to acquire the skills necessary to write a book in a language that many readers from English speaking countries would find unfamiliar, such as Spanish, French, German, and Latin American cultures. This multicultural background, combined with her natural charisma, brought a wide following to her poetry.