Thanks, Fake Elena Ferrante

Posted byKendall DunkelbergPosted inWriting LifeTags:, , , , ,

I got a very nice email out of the blue this morning from “Elena Ferrante, an author,” who said complimentary things about my book Tree Fall with Birdsong. Initially, I was pleased, but it didn’t take long before I got my guard up. I could almost handle someone calling themselves “an author” without much more explanation, but the things she said about my book quickly began to sound like an AI mashup of the blurbs on the back cover. Nothing was that specific, but several phrases echoed things I’d written.

I decided not to reply, but instead did a search. Elena Ferrante appears to have a website and to have written a book or two, maybe more — I didn’t spend too much time on this. Her wikipedia page is unbelievably detailed for someone known to write behind an elusive pseudonym (according to Wikipedia). That did make me wonder whether she really exists, but she may (or someone may legitimately write under that name). But when I searched on “AI email from Elanea Ferrante,” I found other references to a Fake Elena Ferrante, who sends writers messages, has short conversations, and then disappears. She (he or it?) apparently has multiple gmail addresses with her name, a number, and @gmail.com.

It’s a little unclear what the scam is, but maybe Fake Elena Ferrante just wants to see who will reply so they can put that address in their spam email list and send more garbage. Or maybe someone just amuses themselves tormenting writers with fake emails. It’s a little hard to tell what the game is, but maybe some writers really take the bait and get scammed for nonexistent services. Or maybe Elena Ferrante is just really starved for attention or thinks this is a way to get some. I didn’t reply, but I am writing about it.

I’ll never know. Now that I’ve written about it, that message will go in my trash, and I’ll chalk it up as another lesson in all the fake writers, agents, publicists, etc. who seem to be contacting writers in flattering emails, trying to sell you something or just trying to get you to take the bait.

Be careful out there, folks!

And Elena Ferrante, if you really exist, I doubt you’ve ever read my book, but if you ever do, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the kind words your duppleganger sent in advance, even if they sounded a lot like me.

Published by Kendall Dunkelberg

I am a poet, translator, and professor of literature and creative writing at Mississippi University for Women, where I direct the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, the undergraduate concentration in creative writing, and the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium. I am Chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy, and I have published four collections of poetry, Tree Fall with Birdsong, Barrier Island Suite, Time Capsules, and Landscapes and Architectures, as well as a collection of translations of the Belgian poet Paul Snoek, Hercules, Richelieu, and Nostradamus, and the textbook A Writer's Craft: Multi-Genre Creative Writing. I was born and raised in Osage, Iowa, and have lived for over thirty years in Columbus, Mississippi, where my wife Kim and I let wildflowers grow in our yard to the delight of spring polinators and only some of our neighbors.

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