Over the years, Susan has authored 54 books, including English textbooks, study guides, and books on theatre, while contributing to a wide array of publications. With warmth, wit, and humility, This Writing Business recounts her inspiring transformation and reveals the joys and challenges of a life dedicated to the written word.

Susan Elkin is a successful and versatile journalist and author who was formerly an English teacher. She has written on a wide range of topics, from hedge trimming to education, and from theatre to vegetarian cuisine. The Alzheimer’s Diaries, which details her late husband’s illness (2022), and All Booked Up (2024), were both published by The Book Guild. This Writing Business is her 55th book. Susan now lives in South London, where she grew up.

Susan explains: “This is a story I’ve been wanting to tell for years. Teachers should do what they teach others to do. I taught English and my students knew I was a writer which was important but the transition I made to full time always felt like an unlikely, pretty heady journey. Who ever thought I’d write a biography of an arts & crafts practitioner? Or be invited to Downing Street? The sheer range of what I’ve done is probably unique. I hope my book could inspire teachers, journalists and other writers as well as being entertaining – it’s fairly light-hearted – to the general reader.”