Emma John is an award winning journalist and author. Her most recent book, Self-Contained, is a memoir which chronicles what it’s like to enter your 40s without having been in a serious long-term relationship. It’s a book that celebrates the fullness of single life – the highs and lows.

Our conversation is an unapologetic, unflinching look at the single experience, with a particular emphasis on how hobbies, interests and platonic relationships, as long as shorter-term romantic ones, can become centre stage – filling the space a relationship might otherwise.

We also discuss:

What it means to be ‘self-contained’
The difficulty of trying to write a narrative as a single woman (Who hasn’t met someone at the end/without a happy ending) - What is my narrative arc- without the happy ending?
The one constant in your life is you
The myth that it’s only OK to be single if you’re living a hedonistic, free lifestyle
Why solo travel isn’t really solitary – especially if you’re in South Carolina
Why following your passion can be a brilliant reason for doing things alone
Why your life starts right now – not when you meet your ‘Other Half’