#49 Your Slow Sunday Scroll ☕️
books/pods/links/inspo
For any newbies: this is my Sunday Scroll email. It is one of my most popular features of The Hyphen and I’ve been compiling these lists for my readers since 2016. I always describe this round-up as ‘the opposite of doom-scrolling’ — a curation of interesting gems that have got me thinking in new ways. Books, podcasts, articles, TV shows, things I’ve bought, things to keep that creative inspiration burning. This is a bigg’n as there have been so many things I’ve loved recently that have added a sense of nourishment during trying times— so I’ve included lots of links below. First a couple of updates:
#1: Hosting my first creativity retreat with Ease Retreats
On Friday, I held a day retreat in Oxfordshire for fifteen women in collaboration with Ease Retreats. It was the most perfect Autumnal day: bright orange trees, thick carpets of leaves, silky horses trotting across the grassy hill tops, friendly dogs, a big table full of pens, journals, candles, big tea pots and steam coming off festive mugs. It was magical. I stayed in a hotel the night before and as I settled down I found that I didn’t feel nervous. I just felt excited. It all felt so right, the right time for me to be hosting something intimate of this nature: a mixture of sharing my writing/Substack experiences, creative unblocking and coaching skills.
After years of lockdowns, burnouts and global sadness, many of us are really needing some quality IRL time. Not just with friends and family but also with other like-minded creative souls who we don’t need to necessarily know that well in order to feel deeply connected. To sit around a table with people who also have hopes and dreams and a pen — a safe space for us to learn, talk, be listened to and come away with some inspiration and ideas. I felt this happen on the day. It was the first one and I’m sure it will evolve each time. I spoke about my creative unblocking toolkit, sabotage and fear, how to get good ideas and how to tap into creativity and joy which depends on cultivating a solid relationship with ourselves. Thank you to everyone who attended and for trusting me— and for travelling into the middle of the countryside. Huge thank you to Tanya, founder of Ease Retreats for working so hard behind-the-scenes to bring it all together (and for the best goody bags ever). We were like a little group of characters from an A.A.Milne novel.
If you are interested in attending the next IRL retreat, please do write in the comments so I can make note of your name. I am open to location suggestions too and am up for travelling ♡ I’m also looking at offering discounts/scholarships to those who cannot currently afford retreat prices.
Some lovely guest feedback:
— “Thank you for dreaming up such a deeply thoughtful and expansive day. It was honestly beyond anything I was expecting, that sense of safety and generosity and inspiration is hard to pull out of the air.”
— “This is a workshop that every single debut author [and anyone] would benefit from.”
— “It was like a dream — a wonderful nourishing day. Already looking forward to the next one.”
— “I haven’t stopped thinking about how brilliant this was - the power of women in community is something very special indeed.”
— “The perfect reset. I can't recommend it enough.”
#2 Upcoming (online) event: The London Writer’s Salon
Heads up —> I’m doing an event with the iconic The London Writer’s Salon on Dec 12th all about crafting a creative life on your own terms. Tickets have just gone live and my Hyphen subscribers can get 15% off the ticket price with the code EMMA15.
#3 The Hyphen donates to Choose Love
The Hyphen has donated (and will donate each month) to Choose Love’s Emergency Appeal raising funds for urgent aid to the 2 million+ people trapped in Gaza and the displaced communities. Thank you for your support of The Hyphen for making this donation possible.
#4 Guest column pitches
Thank you SO much to anyone who sent in a pitch to The Hyphen last week for the guest column slot. In case you missed it: I will be posting a series of guest columns through January while I’m away on my honeymoon! For future reference, I wrote here about how to write a good pitch email. My inbox has been a bit mad, and as it’s only me reading them I simply can’t get round to replying to everyone, so sorry — I’ve only been able to reply to pitches that have been successful. Thank you for your time, creativity and kindness.
#5 Win a weekend in a writer’s hut
There’s still time to enter this wonderful giveaway to win a staycation in a writer’s cabin with Dimpsey Shepherd Huts. I’m picking a winner at random next week!
Phew, right— hope you enjoy today’s links! 💫 Podcast recommendations, books, bits and bobs that are keeping me creative and filled up…