A Creative Compass: The Empowering Guide to Finding Creative Joy from the Bestselling Author

by Emma Gannon

An empowering guide for artists, makers, writers and anyone seeking to live more creatively, with confidence, calm and joy.

We all possess creativity, whether it's in the clothes we wear, the way we arrange flowers, or the patterns we choose for our bedroom walls. However, in today's fast-paced, AI-driven world, many of us have lost touch with our innate creative abilities. By chasing trends, productivity hacks and protocols, we forget to trust ourselves, instead relying on algorithms to dictate what we like, what we make, and crucially, how we feel.

Award-winning author Emma Gannon understands just how essential creativity is for survival. Through necessity, she has forged her own creative compass to rekindle her spark when it’s running low.

Now, she invites us to set our own inner compass, with mindsets, rituals and actions that help us overcome burnout and mental blocks, reignite our creative inspiration and flow, and reconnect with intuition and self-trust.

Break free from the need for outside approval and create a vibrant, fulfilling life from the inside-out.

Emma Gannon 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

Audible Audio

Published June 25, 2026

About the author

Emma Gannon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eight books, including ‘A Year of Nothing‘ and ‘Olive’, her debut novel, which was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, ‘Table for One’, published in 2025 with HarperCollins. Emma also runs the popular Substack newsletter, ‘The Hyphen’, which has thousands of paid subscribers. She also hosts creativity retreats all over the world and was a judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Reviews

[Freya Bromley]

I love reading about creativity because it’s something both so unique and universal to all of us. When I started reading this it reminded me of The Artists Way and I was reflecting that actually one of the things I love most about that book is that it’s a physical object to represent a conversation starter with a friend, as I often buy it for friends and we have good chats about the process. Now, I have a new hook to be that beginning. This book is inspiring, practical, relevant and maybe even *necessary* for modern creatives. Like all Emma’s books, I found this so cosy! It's amazing how Emma writes like she's your close friend which, given how many readers she has, must make her the most beloved person on the internet.

[Celia Delaney]

This is such a lovely encouraging book, it was like a lullaby for my soul! Lots of people write about writing, or about creativity in general, but Emma’s take feels very fresh as it is speaking into today’s reality and not the twentieth century. There were several gems in there that make me want to re-read it regularly as I progress on my writing journey myself.