Emma Hamlett
(she/her)Independent Bookshop Owner
Through Collected, I love to celebrate and highlight the experiences, creativity and voices of women from across the world, as well as help readers to explore, get informed and make discoveries, to enjoy being transported to other times and places, and to make connections through books and the community we have grown around them.
Emma Hamlett is the founder of Collected, an independent bookshop in Durham City specialising in work written by women and non-binary authors. After more than 15 years working in museums, galleries and heritage, Emma decided on a career change in 2020, starting with a year working as project manager for a small start-up social enterprise. Following some more thinking and exploring, Emma decided to follow her lifelong love of books and reading and set up Collected. What began as an online and mobile shop – complete with Cordelia, the bookshop van – soon grew into a vibrant bricks-and-mortar space. The business has now grown into two floors, open almost 70 hours across all seven days of the week with a team of five serving coffee, cakes and brilliant books, as well as a packed programme of author and social events for customers. Collected's specialism in writing by women is a reflection of what most excites and inspires Emma about books – the sheer diversity of stories and experiences, histories and creative expressions they contain and can open up to readers, meaning a diverse selection of books with voices from across the world.