Creative Coffee

(Full episode for paid subscribers on Substack.)I have been lucky enough to interview Liz Gilbert multiple times over the years. First almost ten years ago now, when I launched my podcast Ctrl Alt Delete in 2016. We spoke on Skype, the audio was tinny, it was the early days of podcasting, I was in my mid-twenties recording from my spare box-room in my old Hackney flat. I remember how magical it felt to be speaking with a woman I admired so much. I was invited to her book launch luncheon for Big Magic in London members’ club and I sat with journalists ten years older than me. I interviewed Liz again in 2019, when I was writing my first novel Olive, and her brilliant novel City of Girls was published. I went to the Bloomsbury offices on a bright sunny day, walking through Bedford Square Gardens with a t-shirt that said Sigourney Weaver on it.In April last year, I had the honour of introducing Liz on stage in front of thousands of people at the Barbican as part of her UK tour, and I got to attend one of her sold-out creativity workshops. As readers, we get to see all her different eras. During our conversation, we call the writing life ‘living out loud’ and ‘learning in public.’ For many Millennial women like me, Liz has been an unapologetic symbol of living a creative life, leaning into solitude, travel, adventure—and quite frankly: doing whatever you want with your one wild and precious life.Before All the Way to the River came out this year—her new memoir all about her all-consuming relationship with her late partner Rayya Elias—I was lucky enough to read an early copy in proof form. I was absolutely glued to it, pretty much ignoring my husband for two days, totally immersed in Liz’s world. I love Liz’s novels for this reason, they’re big and expansive, an intricately built world to escape into, and I love this about Liz’s non-fiction too—she lets us into the full truth of what’s been going on in her life and shows us around. She did it in Eat Pray Love, Committed, and now this new book. It takes courage to say: Actually, you know what, I’m still a work in progress—and aren’t we all? She says life is full of ‘good guesses’ and it suggests that we should all have compassion for our past selves who were trying to figure out all of this *points around*. We don’t have to tie up our stories in pretty packages. We don’t have to be ‘consumed’ easily. We don’t have to have our personal stories confused with ‘giving advice’ or being a guru. We live in ever-changing lives and worlds. Life is messy—and so are the memoirs that follow. “I’ll see you in ten years with the next memoir. We’ll see what happens after this.” — Elizabeth GilbertI loved interviewing Liz again this week, about our books, writing fiction vs non-fiction, ‘cooking’ our writing before publishing it, and why we do what we do. I also asked her for some friendly advice as my own memoir A Year of Nothing publishes in January. I hope you enjoy the conversation (and how progressively dark my office gets over the recording lol, it was 4pm in the UK i.e. winter hours!) xoxoxoTimestamps during our conversation:00:00 - An introvert on tour06:00 - All The Way To The River and how it was born08:00 - Journalling vs ‘cooked’ writing10:00 - How would Eat Pray Love look in 2025?13:00 - Self-help vs memoir16:00 - Having respect for your readers18:30 - The myth of the ‘guru’20:00 - The fear of publishing a memoir23:00 - Dealing with judgment or criticism25:00 - The reason why we write books27:00 - When a memoir demands to be written30:00 - Writing the book you want to read34:00 - Choosing which form to write in37:00 - Fiction vs non-fiction 40:00 - Creativity and divinity 44:00 - “Success” isn’t enough47:00 - A darkness retreat50:00 - Martha Beck advice54:00 - What’s next for Liz 56:00 - US vs UK audiences1:00 - Where do we write?1:05 - Alone vs lonely1:07 - Women and invisibility 1:13 - The end! More on similiar topics: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thehyphen.substack.comIn 2016, Caroline Donahue and I each started our own podcasts, recording hundreds of episodes with guests. As the industry grew, our shows became our main focus, and eventually, we both decided—separately—to shut them down.In 2023, I decided to end Ctrl Alt Delete after 15 million downloads and superstar guests like Richard E. Grant, Lena Dunham and Greta Gerwig, in or…

I had such fun chatting to Eleanor Wilkinson author of ONE POT ONE PORTION about the joys of solo eating, our love of solo travel, the difference between loneliness & chosen solitude, why I wrote my novel TABLE FOR ONE and what we’re currently reading. We can’t believe that nearly 4,000 people tuned in on a Saturday—thank you so much and hope you enjoyed our conversation! Thank you Lauren Powell, Ana Castro, Matheus de Souza, Shane Lim, Ani Payumo, and many others for tuning into my live video with Eleanor Wilkinson! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

This is Creative Coffee with Emma Gannon, a new series exploring creativity and how to live more creative lives over coffee with someone I admire. Less of an interview, more of a fly on the wall conversation. This is the last episode of this season, but I hope to be back soon — and I am planning to write a piece all about what I’ve learned launching a podcast on Substack. Today my guest is Jonathan Fields. Jonathan is the man behind The Good Life Project (a podcast I’ve enjoyed listening to over the years with guests like Brene Brown, Dan Pink and Glennon Doyle) and author of multiple books: most recently Sparked and Uncertainty. Jonathan is also new to Substack with his newsletter Awake at the Wheel with Jonathan Fields which he decided to launch from scratch even though he’s been building communities for decades. In this episode, we talk about living a creative life, how 9/11 changed Jonathan’s outlook; how success can simply mean to keep going, starting from scratch on Substack and the power of using his writing skills to create something privately, in Jonathan’s case: a book for only his daughter to read.ICYMI links:* Listen to The Good Life Project podcast.* Jonathan’s books.* Jonathan’s Substack: Awake at the Wheel with Jonathan Fields* My episode on the Good Life Project project: “How to reclaim ease, sanity and success.”* Recording your family member’s life story.Other Creative Coffee episodes: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

Leyla Kazim, a renowned blogger and creator of the Substack 'A Day Well Spent,' shares insights from her diverse career journey, transitioning from software engineering to award-winning food presentation. She discusses finding joy through creativity and navigating the pressures of social media. Leyla emphasizes the importance of personal fulfillment over virality, and how daily routines, like face yoga and gardening, can enhance well-being. Their chat reflects on building community and the power of creative expression in everyday life.

Haley Nahman’s newsletter “Maybe Baby” was the first Substack I properly started reading back in 2020. Every week I loved receiving her emails that made me think, laugh and reflect. My intrigue around Substack as a platform grew in tandem. She is also the first person who I followed who turned her newsletter into a full-time writing job after leaving her media job, and the first person I saw who opted for the support of her paid subscribers during her maternity leave. I’ve been following Haley since the Man Repeller days where she wrote and edited the site for four years before 2016-2020 and it was a joy to speak to her for this Creative Coffee hour.In this episode, we discuss how Haley runs her successful newsletter, her previous experience at a small but intense media company, being authentic in your work, managing your newsletter business, the loneliness of freelance work, thinking about the reader, how to come up with ideas, the benefits of working with an editor behind-the-scenes, where she writes, and having boundaries regarding email. Hope you enjoy! Things discussed:* Haley Nahman’s Substack Maybe Baby* Haley’s Instagram @halemur* How Haley is changing up her newsletter schedule* How Haley’s paying subscribers supported paid maternity leave as part of Maybe Baby* Natalie Wynn on Patreon: “Contrapoints” * The Debrief website aims to be more than 'BuzzFeed for girls' * For people who loved Man Repeller: Leandra Medine’s venture cafeleandra.com* Man Repeller's Leandra Medine | British Vogue This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

Is a good story worth something? JP Watson thinks so.A few years ago, I made a new friend in Birmingham-born writer JP Watson. He is probably most well-known for being the founder of The Pound Project which has sold thousands of books to more than 100+ countries worldwide, is known for paying authors an equal share and a former winner of The Bookseller's Futurebook Startup of the Year award. The company started with a frustration with the industry and has grown into a really incredible place that allows writers and creatives to thrive. The Pound Project is a publisher but it’s also a movement. It cares about the environment by only printing what is sold, and cares about authors getting paid. The tagline says it all: “small change, one story at a time”.In 2018, I published a book called Sabotage through The Pound Project. Back then, the money was raised via Kickstarter, and we had over 1,300 backers and raised over £10k+ to bring the book to life. It felt new, exciting and really creatively fulfilling. Following that project, I got a book deal to turn Sabotage into a slightly longer book with publisher Hodder & Stoughton.Publishing with The Pound Project, from my perspective as an author, is such a fun and joyful experience. I wrote about all the surprising joys of indie publishing here including the financial share (50:50 split), the creative control, the transparency and a whole lot more.This year, I published a new book with The Pound Project called A Year of Nothing, a short memoir split across two books chronicling my burnout year underground. We got press in The Guardian, i, ELLE, Australian TV plus tons more and sold 3,000 copies. It proved that there is a market for smaller books and we had a ton of fun doing it. ps. If you missed out on the publication of A Year of Nothing, make sure you’re following The Pound Project and The Hyphen newsletter in case it is ever re-released (which it might be!) Things discussed:* My original interview from 2018 with JP Watson on Ctrl Alt Delete podcast* Sign up to The Pound Project newsletter (and stay tuned for A Year of Nothing re-release)* Find out more about A Year of Nothing here.* My article on The Hyphen: “The surprising joys of indie publishing”. * Dolly Alderton speaking on the Amazing if podcast (celebrating the Pound Project’s Gremlins book)* A piece about “Enshittification” * How ‘F**k You Pay Me’ is empowering creatorsHope you enjoy the episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

I really enjoy Emily McDowell’s honest take on creative grief, career identity, life transitions and quitting. She has a brilliant podcast called Quitted that she hosted with her pal and fellow Substacker Holly Whitaker. One of my favourite episodes is titled ‘Emily McDowell quits being a human brand.' (On that note, Emily and Holly have just launched a new workshop on how to help you navigate “the deep shitty middle” of transitions. These are two women who know the score, who have been there in the thick of it, and I’m excited that they are bringing their wisdom forth in this way.)I love Emily’s views on how we can reframe quitting as a negative thing and instead embrace the bravery it takes to say goodbye to something. Quitting something can be painful but it can allow us to move forward into a new space. She recently wrote an excellent Substack post about the word ‘completion’ when it comes to quitting a job/project/thing: “in conversations about quitting, failure, and walking away, there’s a word and concept I think is underused: completion.”I also like this line she wrote: “What if, instead of a line that goes perpetually up and to the right, with the goal of reaching a future point of “success” — the point of being alive is expansion?”I don’t know about you, but the words ‘completion’ and ‘expansion’ make so much more sense to our human psyches, right? More so than arbitrary ‘success’ and ‘achievement’ and ‘climbing’? Maybe there’s an easier way to look at things. Hope you enjoy this conversation with Emily! This episode is focused on the process of melting down a career and re-building it, slowly. If you like it, please consider leaving a little review on Apple podcasts, it helps more people discover this newsletter and podcast. Thank you! Toodles! ♡It’s Nice That: creative grief and how to deal with itYou can follow Emily’s Substack here. Check out Emily’s new workshop here.Check out A Year of Nothing here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

I read the book Matrescence in two days. It was as though I was reading a thriller, I really couldn’t put it down. I felt a compulsion to keep reading that I hadn’t felt in years. It is a book about motherhood, written by Lucy Jones, but more than that, it’s a book about metamorphosis. You don’t need to be a mother to find it utterly captivating, and yet it is clearly a book that will make those who have given birth feel specifically seen. It’s a book about change, transition and how we become new people with each and every catalytic event we go through in life. I loved this honest book which reads as part-memoir part-science/nature writing — on what actually happens to the human female body and psyche pre-, during and post- birth. The book feels incredibly fresh and radical — many books are written about motherhood but this is the only book I’ve read thus far that zooms intimately into the personal memoir aspect and zooms out to see the bigger animal-kingdom territory and beautifully captures the way in which women break apart and are put back together again anew. It made me see my friends who are mothers in a new brutal and beautiful light, and it made me want to spotlight these honest conversations between women no matter what stage of life we are at.I hope you enjoy this episode with Lucy. We talk about writing, motherhood, creativity, child-like wonder and how to keep a fresh perspective on the world.Articles we mention in the podcast:— Lucy’s book Matrescence (out now in paperback)— My book A Year of Nothing— Elena Ferrante talks to Marina Abramović — Motherhood is no threat to creativity, author Zadie Smith says— Don’t Play With Your Kids - New York Times This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thehyphen.substack.com/subscribe

Jenn Romolini, author of 'Weird in a World That’s Not,' discusses her new memoir 'Ambition Monster' on themes of work addiction and career growth. The conversation touches on personal revelations, writing process, family dynamics, and societal influences. They also explore navigating visibility, self-acceptance, challenges in writing, and embracing ambition in creative pursuits.