A cultural week

June is busy! Work events! Birthday! New BOOK is coming soon!

Jun 15, 2026

estelle manor & a brief spell of sunshine x

Tuesday

I was invited to do a book event at Estelle Manor, a gorgeous getaway and private member’s club in Oxfordshire. The grounds were lush and the clientele were extremely well-dressed—it was giving Saltburn. I spotted a famous former magazine editor in the lobby. One of those rare treats that pop up occasionally:

“Dear Emma, would you like to talk about my book to the members, stay in a 5* hotel and have a spa day?” Er… let me just have a think…oh I think the answer is yes.

I’ve said it before, but being a writer really is 97% sitting at your desk in an old hoodie, re-writing the same sentence ten times—and 3% glamour (parties, events, mingling in a nice outfit). Maybe the ratio is becoming more like 99% + 1% as I embrace my hermitude more often.

It felt really special to do a reading from A Creative Compass for the first time, plus meet readers and talk about intuition and creativity. Lucy Pearson was running the book club and she asked fantastic questions. It means so much when an interviewer has genuinely thought about the flow of the conversation—and she was able to thread together so much of my work over the last ten years, and it felt really meaningful.

I had a delicious dinner with Lucy and her lovely mum and we put the world to rights. We were told it was ‘Tuscan night’ and Lucy and I looked at each other. We had been brought together in Tuscany last year on one of my retreats. (I also handed Lucy an award eight years ago at London Book Fair.) I love these moments of synchronicity (which I talk about in my new book.) In the morning we carried on chatting over breakfast and I read their tarot cards over coffee, frittatas and blueberry muffins.

Wednesday

Straight off the train back to London from Oxfordshire I swung by the Whitefox launch party. If you’ve been reading my newsletter you’ll know that I worked with Whitefox on my indie release of A Year of Nothing. Whitefox offer an alternative model to authors: you pay them for their services. They are all former ‘big five’ publishers—and are all excellent at what they do with decades of experience. They help you create your book of dreams, and then it’s mainly up to YOU to sell it (which is usually the way even with traditional book deals) and then YOU keep all your sales revenue and royalties. Every penny. The co-founder of Whitefox, John, mentioned me a few times during the panel discussion when discussing the future of publishing: how Substack and self-publishing can be a choice now, rather than a back-up option. I was very flattered as I’m so proud of my recent collaboration with them.

In the loos afterwards, I heard a woman say: “Who IS Emma Gannon?” I held my breath from inside the cubicle. Then- “I should probably subscribe to her newsletter! She sounds great!” Phew, lol. Women’s toilets are a risky place to overhear things.

celebrating Whitefox Publishing—who I LOVE working with. they EMPOWER authors and want authors to THRIVE.

Thursday

I went to the Women’s Prize summer party and met my friend Abbie for a drink beforehand in Coral Rooms. Half of the publishing industry had the same idea so it was basically the warm up party. Virginia Evans won the fiction prize for The Correspondent, and her speech was so moving and genuine about her identity as a reader and writer from such a young age. I thought she didn’t seem too overwhelmed, I was in awe of her calm and collected manner—and then remembered she’d recently been flown to Maui to have dinner with Oprah for Oprah’s book club, so perhaps by now the overwhelm had left her body. Lyse Doucet won the nonfiction award, again delivering an incredible speech, bringing the audience together in our united love of books.

ps. I’ve been thinking about why I always enjoy writing this newsletter for you. Maybe it’s because it feels like a personal letter. Maybe that’s why people loved The Correspondent so much—the joy of reading letters and what that does to our nervous system. My friend Anna Brones has launched a ‘snail mail’ newsletter project, where you receive a hard copy of her words and art. I love that.

Friday

I went to Penguin HQ to sign hundreds of copies of A Creative Compass. It is Independent Book Shop week (13th-20th June) and Bookshop.org will be running a £250 Gift Card Giveaway during this whole week—so anyone pre-ordering a signed copy will not only be supporting bookshops, but in with a chance to win that! It was very exciting seeing all the beautiful hardbacks piled high. This is the last contractual traditional book deal I currently have, and then I am taking a break to figure out what’s next. The assistant helping me sign the books was lovely and upbeat and telling me about a new romantasy book store opening soon. She told me I was very fast at signing books and I said ‘not my first rodeo!’ and we were done in half the time she had scheduled.

I got an iced coffee on the way back to the tube, and then once I got home I slipped back into my pyjamas as it was Friday and I was tired, and curled up in my office armchair and read Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney — it’s SO up my street.

signing hundreds of copies for Bookshop.org at Penguin HQ.

Saturday

I went to see Les Misérables with my parents and Paul—an early birthday present for me. I think my parents have seen it eight times. This was the second time for me, and first for Paul. There’s a reason it’s been running for 40 years—and we unpicked all the reasons we thought people loved it so much even though it’s so bleak. I guess it’s because it’s also (kind of) hopeful? We ended the night in Joe Allen, one of my favourite restaurants, mainly because it reminds me of New York.

Sunday

I spent the day rearranging my bookshelves in my office. Every now and again, I look around me, and there are just PILES of mini leaning-Tower-of-Pisa stacks everywhere and I have to sort it out. Charity pile, give-to-friend pile, bin pile.

Thanks to everyone who entered this competition, I’m picking a winner this afternoon.

More soon — lots happening next week, and the week after.

It’s my birthday tomorrow! Plus, plans to see a play called 1536; a gig at the O2, spending a few nights in Dorset, going to an Olivia Laing event, doing a talk at Penguin, launching my book.. it’s all happening… In the words of Anne Lamott: Help, Thanks, Wow.

A Creative Compass launches in TEN days!! How are YOU? XOXO