If you are new around here — welcome to The Hyphen! I send out a 'Sunday Scroll’ email every other weekend and it’s full of things I’m reading, loving, inspired by. For just £1.30 a week (if you subscribe annually, you can read everything behind the paywall!) All the best bits. :)
Hello! How are we all? I’ve had a busy ol’ week which was great but now means I’m in bed watching Selling Sunset with a headache. I went out every night this week, which is rather unlike me. I interviewed Michael Rosen at Henley Literary Festival, attended a beautiful dinner with some amazing Faber authors, and went to the Southbank to see Sarah Koenig (host of Serial) win an award for her contribution to podcasting. A big injection of cultural inspiration.
Long-time readers of The Hyphen will know that every now and again in order to keep my ideas and creativity (and sanity) alive, I take a few weeks off, which is what I’m doing as of today.
I’m not going on ~holiday~ per se, but I am going away to have a creative break from screens, and come up with new ideas (which will of course feed into this newsletter and future books and lovely things for you to read!) As I’ve written about extensively in the past, we can’t keep giving and producing and be ‘always on’ without filling up the metaphorical well.
Next week I will be away on a retreat (as a guest) with none other than Wintering legend
in a gorgeous manor house with ‘medieval roots’ no less — and in the weeks following, I’ll be away on a different retreat (also as a guest) with writer , writing, learning and surrounded by greenery. I’ll be ideating, conversing with other writers, going on walks, working with a pen and notepad, I won’t be at a laptop.This was a New Year’s resolution of mine (I host my own retreats but I also feel it’s important to attend new things and keeping learning too; the circle of life etc) and I feel incredibly lucky to be finally making it happen — to gift myself some time outside my usual programming to spend time with fellow writers I admire and give myself space to learn, dream and stretch myself. I feel very lucky indeed.
A bit of housekeeping: during these three weeks off, I’ve decided to keep paid subscriptions running — this is so that people can still discover and join The Hyphen while I’m offline and so that new people can access all the writing behind the paywall. There are 200+ posts on the ~hub~ and I want everything to be accessible while I’m away. (I contributed to this Substack Reads post a while back about ‘paid time off’ for creators.) I don’t love the idea of ‘closing down’ my newsletter every time I want to take a break. Substack for me isn’t about direct monetary transactions per word count but about supporting the work of your fave writers and that includes breaks. That’s how I like to support my favourite writers on here, so I’m doing the same for my own Substack. (You can of course choose to ‘pause’ your subscription in the back-end if you’d rather and then switch it back on when I’m back!)
Without your support this newsletter community wouldn’t exist, and I’m so grateful that you’re here. Thank you. I’ll be back officially on October 27th. And trust me I’ll have lots to share!
I hope this also gives you a permission slip to take your own creative break, if that’s something you’ve been thinking about.
In the mean-time, you can catch up on all the previous Sunday Scrolls here, all my threads here (I loved the recent ‘open mic’!), and all my archived posts here.
THANK YOU & love you all <3
(Oh! I may pop back in on Oct 17th v quickly as I have a fun announcement to share 🙂).
Now for your reads and recommendations of the week: Your Slow Sunday Scroll ✨
I love pulling these round-ups together for you. Below are lots of juicy links, including: rage friends, some leopard print winter accessories set and a memoir I’m enjoying.
— Julia Child’s Kitchens
— The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age
— Two Years Ago I Quit My Life
— I Don’t Drink
— Childless: Mind your own damn business
— Untangling visibility, value, and race on Substack
— Ever heard of a ‘rage friend’?
— 12 Literary Library Bars In London
— 14 Classic Works of Literature Disliked By Famous Authors
— The World's Most Iconic Train Journeys
In case you missed it, my latest posts:
— I’m reading Jordan Stephens’ Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs, a really stunning memoir about all the things the title hints to. I really enjoy his writing style and how truly honest he is. No holding back. It feels generous and authentic.
— I am enjoying
— Self-Care for Winter by Suzy Reading looks very cosy.
— I’ve been sent a copy of May You Have Delicious Meals, a short Japanese novel about food culture. I love a slim book!!
— Our Oceans on Netflix, narrated by Barack Obama, is coming soon. I’m unsure if it will work or not? Anytime it’s not David Attenborough, I just miss David Attenborough..
— I’m enjoying ‘hot Rabbi’ Seth Cohen Adam Brody in Nobody Wants This.
— Liz Gilbert on Marie Forleo’s podcast is *chef’s kiss* good.
— On the F*cking Cancelled podcast, poet Andrea Gibson speaks about having a difficult life vs a gentle one.
— Elizabeth Strout on the Writers on Writing podcast.
—
— Enjoyed guesting on this podcast, on why your thirties are rubbish and your forties are great.
— I’ve extended my dopamine dressing vibe to bath robes.
— This festive jumper from M&S and this denim trench from Aligne.
— Can’t believe I’m debating buying these, which are basically ‘school shoes.’
— Obsessed with my new ‘Do Not Disturb’ jumper (and I also bought this leopard print hat/scarf/mittens set.)
— Selling some remaining bits on Vinted here. 20% going to Choose Love.
In case you missed it:
My 2024 creativity retreat in beautiful Wales this November with Ease Retreats is SOLD OUT! If you wanted to attend, drop Tanya at hello@easeretreats.com a line and we’ll put you on the waitlist (in case of any cancellations.)
My 2025 creativity retreat in Tuscany is selling fast! If you’re interested in spending a week in Italy together learning all about how to make life more creative and joyful with like-minded people, then you can book directly here.
Happy weekend! Do hit the ❤️ if you enjoy these round-ups :) See you in a few weeks! I will miss you!
*This email may contain affiliate links to Bookshop.org and RewardStyle whereby a small commission is earned for any purchases made.
I also wanted to say here: I am, of course, aware of the atrocities happening at the moment in the world. I personally like to make ongoing donations to Choose Love and MSF. This newsletter has been purposefully designed as a place away from the news, politics and heaviness, which you can read in many, many other [and more informed] places on the Internet. This is an Internet corner designed to hold space for conversation around wellbeing, culture, joy and curiosity — for us to read, engage, share ideas, connect with each other and even possibly just escape for five minutes by reading something else. Thank you for being here. ♡︎
So glad to hear you're enjoying the book, love! Enjoy the time away... I'm stepping away from the screens around the same time. So essential to give the brain a break, isn't it?
Thank you, Emma, and enjoy your writerly adventure and discovery 💡of what emerges in the company of wonderful artists! Savor it all. :)