#EmilyXaver

A fiction born from a real image

Behind the hashtag #EmilyXaver lies a love story that captivated half the world in the first days of December 2018. Conceived and written as a multimedia fiction novel published in instalments through a Twitter thread, the story achieved more than 50,000 retweets, half a million likes and over 40 million impressions worldwide in two weeks, becoming a trending topic in countries including Chile, Mexico and Brazil.

In November 2018 Guillem Clua was invited to the Transylvanian city of Târgu-Mures to teach a playwriting workshop and attend the premiere of the Romanian version of La golondrina. During that trip, he visited nearby Sighisoara, a popular tourist destination. There he discovered a memorial containing the graves of soldiers who fell in the First World War, sparking a story that would enchant half the world.

One of the graves holds the soldiers Emil Müler and Xaver Sumer. It is the only one containing two bodies; all the others are individual. This fact, together with their different dates of death—1916 and 1917—aroused Clua’s curiosity. When the cemetery staff could offer no explanation, he decided to construct a fictional story.

Written in the first person, with the playwright himself as narrator, the fiction takes the form of an investigation that gradually uncovers the characters’ pasts, from childhood to tragic death, and a beautiful love story. The action unfolds over the 24 hours Clua spends in Sighisoara, visiting the places where Emil and Xaver lived, meeting their descendants and finding their former homes and belongings. The resulting thread consists of more than 200 tweets written over ten days.

The story’s global impact was such that the author had to publish a statement explaining that it was entirely fictional and outlining why he had written it. You can read the statement here.

Two weeks after publication, the thread had been translated into several languages, reaching more than 40 million impressions in its original version and inspiring fan fiction, alternative versions, illustrations and amateur comics. It has also been translated into Portuguese, English, Greek, Turkish and Thai, among other languages, multiplying its global reach.

Following its success, the author has received offers to adapt #EmilyXaver for the stage, screen and a novel. You can read the story in its original Twitter format from the first tweet or on this Threader page.