Meditations in an emergency
Recommended Reading: 10 Essay Collections When Nothing Else Makes Sense
I’ve been piling books around the living room, flipping through pages, underlining passages and being reminded of sentences I have almost forgotten, as I’m prepping for the new essay classes that are launching in two weeks.
Memories flood my head of being heartbroken or lost or unsure what to do with myself, what to do with this life until I found myself in a bookshop or the library, suddenly feeling drawn to a specific title or cover, and finding my answers in the solace of words.
I truly believe that books find us exactly when we need them.
That the words will find a place to land.
Perhaps some of these might find you today x
Recommended Reading: 10 Essay Collections When Nothing Else Makes Sense
Deborah Levy, Things I Don’t Want To Know
I remember the moment so distinctly how I was standing in the Lighthouse Bookshop in Edinburgh, how I had just made the decision to stay and start a new life in Scotland. How I started reading the first few lines and how I couldn’t stop reading till it was past midnight, taking it all in.
Rebecca Solnit, Recollections of my Non-Existence
Gifted to me on my 32nd birthday, it found me exactly when I needed it. To make a life as a writer is hard and often only possible due to extraordinary luck and privilege, this book taught me how to work harder, to read more and to understand that speaking up for yourself and others is paramount to living a good life.
Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things
This book lives on my nightstand, I love to pull it out every now and then, when I need to be reminded of everyone’s humanity, that we’re all just trying to do our best, trying to love as much as possible.
James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
I don’t think there’s a moment where a Baldwin quote is not applicable. He has thought about life so deeply, because he has lived it so deeply. Like this one: “I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain.”
Ellena Savage, Blueberries
Recommended to me by a friend, this book has transformed my comprehension of what an essay collection can look like. Savage is a brilliant writer who is not afraid to experiment with form and who finds a different way of arranging her thoughts that underline her thinking.
Sheila Heti, Alphabetical Diaries
Last year I was lucky enough to see Sheila Heti at her book launch in Edinburgh and it was such a beautiful event. The way she described the process of this book, how it took her decades to finish it, how it is an attempt to lay open the process of change. Truly marvellous.
Fariha Róisín, Who Is Wellness For?
I’ve been a fan of
’s work for years now, reading her infamous essays on her Substack How To Cure A Ghost, I found that Who Is Wellness For, goes even deeper under your skin. It’s devastating at times and intricately beautiful with sentences that linger like “Sometimes you give so many parts away, however, that you’re no longer accessible to your own self.”Moshtari Hilal, Ugliness
Now, I did read this book in German but now that it is coming out in English (11.02.2025), I couldn’t be more excited. Ugliness is a book that is not just about the hegemony of Western beauty standards, inherent racism and superficial culture but it’s also a personal account of what it means to be othered and asks why everyone is so afraid to be ugly anyway? Mixing poetry, drawings, personal essays and research Hilal has created something rather beautiful.
Amy Key, Arrangements in Blue
Some books, you just know, are meant for you. You buy them on publication day, you read them right away and afterwards you just feel held. Arrangements in Blue is a meditation on loneliness, love, friendship, the big yearnings in life really and to accept that even though we want things passionately most lives do not quite turn out exactly as you thought – and that’s okay.
Joan Didion, The White Album
Of course, Didion. If she’s not on my recommended reading list, it would only be because she’s on everyone else’s. But for a reason you know. Her words live rent-free in my head.
If all of this makes you feel like, “YES, I want to finally get started & write my own essay collection or memoir!”, this is a last call that my essay classes start in two weeks!
You’ll not only discuss your work in a supportive group of aspiring writers for six months but you’ll also get the chance to work on your writing in 1:1 mentoring sessions with me.
Each class is intentionally small, so that we can focus and discuss each writer’s project in depth.
P.s.:
There’s an option to pay in instalments, feel free to send me an email if that applies to you: info@museletterpublishing.com
Write your Essay Collection in 6 Months!
“Sophia's class is a breath of fresh air. The sessions are inspiring, nurturing and informative, and her advice is broad (and highly knowledgable) yet tailored to the individual and their specific writing goals. Her enthusiasm for her craft is infectious, and she genuinely wants to see us succeed with our writing. I highly recommend it!“
Lucy Siddall (enrolled in the autumn/winter essay writing class)
Write your Essay Collection in 6 Months! (Only 1 spot left!)
In this creative writing workshop I will teach how to create beautiful, intricate essays with the aim to produce a collection at the end to submit to publishers.
Schreib deinen Essayband in 6 Monaten! (Only 2 spots left!)
In diesem kreativen Schreibworkshop bringe ich dir bei wie man literarische Essays schreibt, die berühren mit dem Ziel am Ende eine Sammlung in der Hand zu haben, die man an einen Verlag schicken kann.
About your instructor:
Sophia Hembeck is a writer and visual artist based in Edinburgh. She has published two books of essays called: Things I Have Noticed, 2020 & Things I Have Loved, 2023 and currently working on her 3rd to conclude the Things-Trilogy. Her bestselling substack 'The Muse Letter' is published every month, where she wonders about the meanderings of life. She holds a M.A. in Playwriting (Szenisches Schreiben, UdK Berlin) and teaches creative writing classes since 2020. She is represented by Zoe Martin from JE Literary Agency in Berlin.