The Hyphen by Emma Gannon

I talk about Bill Cunningham in my new book—an artist who continued to delight in the creative visual wonders of each day, well into his 80s. (by georgiamaiaillustrations for The Hyphen). The Hyphen by Emma Gannon is a reader-supported publication.

Heads up, this is a packed newsletter full of many juicy things, so you may need to read it on your web browser (why does saying ‘web browser’ make me feel 105 years old? Or you can read it more easily on the Substack app.) This is my #100th instalment of my Sunday Scroll newsletter! PS. Isn’t it quite fun that Substack allows us to highlight some text now? I will use it sparingly, I promise.

Thank you for tuning into my live video with Debbie Weil!

It’s my birthday VERY SOON! I’ll be thirty-seven! I love getting older! Last year, I wrote a list ‘36 things I know about myself’— and I wanted to write an updated list for this year. For any newbies here, (thank you for subscribing), just a note to say I paywall most of my posts. This is because The Hyphen is a reader-supported newsletter.

Playback speed × Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / Transcript An exclusive extract from A Creative Compass in which I read a section out loud for the first time to my friend Freya Bromley. I went on Freya Bromley’s new podcast called Character Study and she asked me to read a favourite passage from my new book A Creative Compass which launches officially into the world on June 25th 2026. She is kindly letting me share this passage with you here too.

Can I promote my next book with no hustle, no stress, no build up? Presqu'île Claude Monet, Honfleur, France I just spent a week in sunny France at a friend’s wedding —one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever been to— at a warm and welcoming château in Normandy. We stayed in a beautiful petit logis nearby with a handful of other wedding guests, and dinner was simply a plate of cheese and grapes and olives and bread, and so much laughter under the moonlight.

a day out at magical Londolozi. With anxiety, it can feel like being chased by a lion, even though there is no real danger in the environment. Fear, on the other hand, is our natural bodily response when we face real-life danger. If you were actually being chased by a lion—if you were truly in danger—your brain would trigger a survival stress response. On a safari, you are in an interesting middle ground. There is a lion in front of you. There is some degree of danger.

One of the joys of my creative life is knowing other creative women, and growing alongside them. I’d followed Lydia Pang’s work for years before we finally met in person in 2019—back when she was creative director at Refinery29, about to move to Portland to become creative director at Nike. Our first friend-date was at a restaurant in New York, in the middle of our younger hustle years—bold, ambitious, HUNGRY and painting on our lipstick every morning with a smile.

Question for the group! Can I ask what brought you here? In other words: how did you first discover this newsletter — or any of my work? I’d genuinely love to hear in the comments. Partly out of curiosity, but also because it’s incredibly helpful as I continue growing this newsletter. Was it the podcast, this Substack, one of my books, an interview, a magazine article, an old blog post?