The word ‘community’ gets bandied around a lot, doesn’t it? Every brand or corporation wants to tell you they care about ‘community’. They really believe in community.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the word recently and what it means to me. A friend recently told me how much she loathes the phrase ‘holding space’. Why is everyone suddenly ‘holding space’? She types to me with the eye-roll emoji.
I understand the oversaturation of community spirit—and yet—I’ve had some first-hand experience with this idea of building little communities lately. A few weeks ago, I hosted a retreat in Italy with ten women who arrived as strangers and left as friends. We wrote together, swam together, napped in the sun together, drank Limoncello together—and it felt like our own little creativity community.
Then, back in London, I hosted a dinner party to celebrate my new book (with the help of two women, Emily and Ella, who founded Her Table, their brilliant side business that aims to bring people together around a table with great food). Those 40 people all came from this Substack newsletter, as did those on the retreat. I believe this newsletter The Hyphen connects people online and IRL—and it does feel like some kind of community. At the dinner, someone said to me: “this has been amazing. Because: zero small talk.” Because that’s what happens when you bring like-minded people together, you feel comfortable and you can start to get into the juicy stuff.
I have also found a sense of private community through Substack. Via this platform, I have connected with other writers who do a similar job to me. We set up an online group, and we discuss the ups and downs of creative life, the role of boundaries, the stuff of our personal lives, the difficulty of first drafts, how much we despise admin—it is a judgement-free zone. We welcome celebratory moments, big or small. We also welcome little rants.
I wrote about leaving Instagram a while ago. To be clear, I still post (and have help with posting so I don’t need to go on the app). But I do not scroll or use it to follow anyone, and no one can DM me. It is an empty shell of a space for me to just share my work—and does not bring me any sense of community.
All this to say, I hope you might stick around here. I believe in writers getting paid for their work, and I also believe in the safety of a paywall (when I share my most personal writing) so a lot of my words exist for members only. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading, today’s a good day—I’m offering a discount code. I’d love to say hello!
—I’m interviewing the Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie at SXSW London next month, our talk is called ‘creator-led, community-driven’. It should be a lot of fun. (Details here).
—I’m also hosting a Substack workshop with the brilliant
on June 11th as part of Women’s Prize live. (Details here).A bit about me:
I’m Emma Gannon, a writer based in London. I enjoy finding different ways to look into my crystal ball. I started blogging in the noughties, joined Twitter early, launched a podcast in 2016, and was among the first to adopt paid Substack subscriptions. I was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in media in my twenties due to the success of the Ctrl Alt Delete (both the book and podcast) after leaving a job at Condé Nast.
I’ve written eight books so far — two novels and six nonfiction — on topics like being a multi-hyphenate, self-sabotage, being more human online, the art of doing nothing, and tons more. My novel OLIVE is about a woman navigating a time when all her friends are having children and she feels alone in not wanting to be a mother. My next novel Table For One (out now) is about three women across generations learning to be alone in a world that wants them coupled up.
So, why join The Hyphen? I think the world is going through a huge shift right now collectively, spiritually, culturally—and I think it’s important to find like-minded people with whom you can truly connect and find inspiration to move forward. Lots of people are lonely, anxious and confused right now, and this is a place where all those feelings are welcome; and it’s always nice to chat to a bunch of welcoming people who want to share book recommendations and encouragement. If you’re interested in change, creativity and culture, this is the place for you.
If you’d like to join the community and read everything behind the paywall, sign up today via the button above. And if you’d like to: come and introduce yourself here! xo