emma gannon

longer bio:

• Bestselling author: Emma Gannon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eight books, including her latest non-fiction, A Year of Nothing and The Success Myth which was a Linkedin and Apple Books pick of the month and endorsed by the likes of Martha Beck and Alain De Botton. She is currently a judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

• Novelist: Olive, her debut novel, was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award in 2022. Her second novel, Table For One, was published in April 2025 by HarperCollins. Her novels are published by Andrews McMeel in the US.

• Newsletter writer: She runs the popular Substack newsletter, The Hyphen, which was one of the first newsletters in the UK to create a six-figure business from paid subscriptions.

• Podcaster: Emma was also one of the first in the UK to recognise the power of podcasting in 2016. Her WEBBY-nominated top 10 business-charting podcast Ctrl, Alt, Delete, a non-traditional careers podcast, has had over 13 million downloads to date, with guests including Elizabeth Gilbert, Ava DuVernay and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas. She was a presenter at the British Podcast Awards in 2020 and has recorded many live episodes and even recorded a podcast from inside Buckingham Palace. The podcast published the last ever episode in January 2023 after six years.

• Columnist: Between 2012-2019 she wrote columns for The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Courier magazine on the topics of work, wellbeing and creativity. Before that, she was the social media editor at Condé Nast (Glamour UK) and Bauer Media’s The Debrief magazine. In 2016, she got her first book deal and was selected by Microsoft to appear in their TV campaign showcasing her multi-hyphenate working life.

• Teacher: Emma is a trained coach (having completed Martha Beck’s Wayfinder course in 2022), hosts creativity retreats all over the world—and is popular teacher on the learning platform Skillshare, where her online classes have attracted over 80k+ students to date.

• Accolades: In 2018, she was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in Media & The Telegraph’s 35 Under 35. She has been called 'one of the most influential thinkers on how we can work smarter' by Penguin Books and 'a terrific interviewer' by the Financial Times.’

• Independent publishing: In 2024, she published A Year of Nothing with independent publisher The Pound Project — which sold thousands of copies within weeks of its release and was reviewed in the press widely, from the BBC, Woman’s Hour, Guardian, ELLE and Australian TV. In 2024, two personal highlights were: writing the foreword for Julia Cameron’s memoir Floor Sample and introducing Elizabeth Gilbert live on stage at The Barbican as part of her tour.

• Speaking: Emma is an experienced speaker/panelist and has spoken at Arvon, SXSW London, TEDx, SoundsTrue, The Oxford Union, Founders Forum, Instagram HQ, Amazon UK and Google — plus many literary festivals over the years: Sharjah Book Festival, Hay Festival, Henley Literary Festival, Bath Festival, Wimbledon BookFest, Jersey Festival of Words, Guernsey Literary Fest, Folkestone Book Festival, Stoke Newington Literary Festival, Greenwich Book Festival, Alnwick Story Fest, Edinburgh Wellbeing Festival and Cheltenham Literature Festival (including being a guest curator).

• Radio: She has also appeared regularly on national TV and radio programmes: BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4 (Woman's Hour), BBC Radio 2 (Simon Mayo), BBC Radio 5 Live (Naga Munchetty), BBC Radio 1 (Life Hacks) and Virgin Radio (Chris Evans Breakfast Show.) She is also an ambassador for The Princes Trust & The World Literacy Foundation.

• Partnerships: Emma has worked with global brands over the years, including Google, Dropbox, American Express and Royal Bank of Scotland.

“One of the most prominent Substack writers in the UK” — The Times

“The most popular UK novelist on Substack” — The Bookseller

“A bright light and a shining star, and in many ways the voice of a generation.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love/Big Magic

“Read her, listen to her, explore her world and the world at large through her eyes. Hers is a journey well worth taking.”
— Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

“I love Emma Gannon's wise and refreshing perspective on work and building a meaningful life.”
— Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks

Press

Here are a few examples of press I have received from magazines and newspapers over the years.