emma gannon

Emma Gannon is a Sunday Times bestselling author 9 books and writes one of the UK’s most popular newsletters, The Hyphen on Substack to 84K+ readers.

She was a judge for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction in 2025 and is currently working on her 10th book.

Her debut novel, Olive (2020) was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and has been optioned for TV. It was called “a smart debut novel” by the Irish Times; “an accessible, highly engaging novel” by Marian Keyes and “thoughtful, searching, honest” by Elizabeth Gilbert and the novel was discussed on NPR’s It’s Been A Minute.

Her second novel, Table for One (2025), was selected as Fiction of the Week by People magazine, Apple Books’ Best Books of 2025, and ‘Dawn (O’Porter) Loves’ WhSmith Book Club in 2026.

She is proud to be an ambassador for The King’s Trust and World Literacy Foundation. As an author and literary obsessive, she has spoken on programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4’s A Good Read in the UK; and NPR and PBS News Hour in the U.S. Plus spoken at places like the iconic Southbank Centre, TEDx, Arvon, the Oxford Union, SXSW and many literary festivals over the years, including Hay Festival, Edinburgh and Cheltenham as a guest curator.

Her non-fiction book The Multi-Hyphen Method (2018) was an instant Sunday Times business bestseller, offering guidance for those forging portfolio careers; followed by Sabotage (2020); Disconnected (2022); and The Success Myth (2023), endorsed by Martha Beck, Alain de Botton, and Seth Godin.

Her reflective bestselling memoir A Year of Nothing (2024) sold thousands of copies within weeks with The Pound Project and garnered attention from BBC, Woman’s Hour, The Guardian, ELLE and international media. It was re-released in 2026 with Whitefox Publishing and was selected for The Observer Book Club and Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place Book Club.

Her latest nonfiction release is A Creative Compass: Finding Your Way to a Creative Life, which was published by Penguin in the UK and Whitefox Publishing in the U.S.

Her books have been translated into multiple languages including French, Dutch and Taiwanese.

She writes The Hyphen newsletter, a top #15 UK Substack newsletter exploring creativity, ideas, and modern life. She was one of the first in the UK to build a six-figure paid subscription business with 84K+ readers. Named one of the best literary Substacks by The Guardian and by The Times as “something of a pioneer” for her early podcasting and newsletter.

Emma began her career in journalism, contributing to The Sunday Times, Condé Nast, and The Debrief. In 2016, she secured her first book deal and was featured in Microsoft’s TV campaign showcasing the modern multi-hyphenate. She was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, the Telegraph’s 35 under 35.

She also launched the WEBBY-nominated no.1 creative careers podcast fronted by a female host called Ctrl Alt Delete (2016–2023), in which she interviewed creatives and innovators about the internet, work, and culture, reaching over 15 million listeners worldwide. Past guests included Greta Gerwig, Ava DuVernay and Richard E. Grant. She has guested on major podcasts like The Happiness Lab, BBC Woman’s Hour, and Changes with Annie Mac.

She hopes to inspire her readers to embrace curiosity, explore more books, and live a more joy-filled creative life.

“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

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