:Laurie Penny

{{Short description|English journalist, columnist and author (born 1986)}}

{{Infobox writer

| image = Laurie Penny speaking at republica 2016 (cropped).jpg

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| name = Laurie Penny

| caption = Penny in 2016

| pseudonym =

| birth_name = Laura Barnett

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1986|09|28}}

| birth_place = Westminster, London, England

| occupation = Journalist, author, screenwriter

| education = Brighton College

| alma_mater = Wadham College, Oxford

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Laurie Penny (born Laura Barnett, 28 September 1986) is a British journalist and writer. Penny has written articles for publications including The Guardian, The New York Times and Salon. Penny is a contributing editor at the New Statesman and the author of several books on feminism, and they have also written for American television shows including The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Nevers.{{cite web |title=Laurie Penny |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4401764/ |publisher=IMDb |access-date=8 November 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/07/12/talking-to-laurie-penny-about-the-switch-from-british-politics-to-hollywood/ |title=Talking to Laurie Penny About the Switch From British Politics to Hollywood |website=Bleeding Cool |first=Rich |last=Johnston |date=12 July 2019 |access-date=12 August 2019}}

Early life and education

Penny was born in London, England, to two lawyers of Irish, Jewish and Maltese descent,{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/13169534.laurie-penny-politics-personal/ |title=Laurie Penny on the politics of the personal (From Herald Scotland) |work=The Herald|date=12 July 2014 |location=Glasgow |access-date=2021-04-12}} and grew up in Lewes{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/11/so-they-burned-alex-salmond-my-hometown|title=So they burned Alex Salmond in my hometown|work=New Statesman|date=6 November 2014|first=Laurie |last=Penny|access-date=5 January 2015|location=London}} and Brighton.{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/laurie-penny|title=Laurie Penny|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412083950/https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/laurie-penny|url-status=dead}} Penny suffered from anorexia as a teenager and was hospitalised with the condition aged 17. They recovered from the illness and wrote about the experience from a feminist perspective in their book Unspeakable Things.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/30/unspeakable-things-laurie-penny-book-extract|title=Being a perfect girl can kill you|location=London|work=The Guardian|author=Laurie Penny|date=30 June 2014}}

Penny attended the independent school Brighton College before studying English at Wadham College, Oxford.{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/laurie-penny|title=Laurie Penny|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412083950/https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/laurie-penny|url-status=dead}}

Career

Penny's blog "Penny Red" was launched in 2007{{cite web|url=http://pennyred.blogspot.com/2007/11/we-have-acheived-preambulation-bring-me.html|title=We have achieved preambulation. Bring me a sweetie-bag of amphetamines and the head of Margaret Thatcher.|publisher=Laurie Penny – via Penny Red blogspot|date=23 September 2007|access-date=13 April 2011}} and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for blogging in 2010.{{cite news|url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/news-events/news-events/news/orwell-prize-2010-longlists-announced/|title=Orwell Prize 2010 Longlists Announced|publisher=The Orwell Foundation|access-date=12 April 2021|date=24 March 2010}} Penny went on to become a columnist at The Independent in 2012{{cite news|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/laurie-penny-leaves-the-independent-after-nine-months-to-rejoin-new-statesman/|title=Laurie Penny leaves The Independent after nine months to rejoin New Statesman}} and then a columnist and contributing editor for the New Statesman.{{Cite web |title=Laurie Penny, Author at New Statesman |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/author |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}} They are a regular contributor to The Guardian.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/laurie-penny|title=Laurie Penny profile at The Guardian online|work=The Guardian |access-date=13 April 2011|location=London|date=7 August 2009}}

In April 2011, they presented the Channel 4 Dispatches programme "Cashing in on Degrees".{{cite web |url=http://www.amicus.stir.ac.uk/2011/04/05/cashing-in-on-degrees-channel-4-dispatches/|title=Cashing in on Degrees- Channel 4 Dispatches|date=5 April 2011 }} and also appeared on Channel 4's satirical current affairs programme 10 O'Clock Live{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1880421/characters/nm4401764|access-date=12 April 2021|title=10 O'Clock Live|website=IMDb}} and on BBC Two's Newsnight.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1976839/characters/nm4401764|access-date=12 April 2021|title=Newsnight|website=IMDb}}

In 2012, Tatler magazine described Penny as one of the top 100 "people who matter".{{cite web|url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/LiteraryFestival/2017/Saturday-25-February/Events/05-The-Future-of-Humanity|title=The Future of Humanity|website=LSE| access-date=2021-04-12}} In October 2012, The Daily Telegraph ranked Penny as the 55th most influential left-winger in Britain, describing them as "without doubt the loudest and most controversial female voice on the radical left",{{cite news|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/9584228/Top-100-most-influential-figures-from-the-Left-2012-51-100.html|title= Top 100 most influential figures from the Left 2012|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph|date = 3 October 2012|access-date=9 October 2012}} and the knowledge networking company Editorial Intelligence awarded Penny its "Twitter Public Personality" award.{{cite news|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/late-marie-colvin-among-seven-times-and-sunday-times-winners-comment-awards/|title=The late Marie Colvin among seven Times and Sunday Times winners at Comment Awards|first=William |last=Turvill|date=18 October 2012|website=Press Gazette|access-date=2021-04-12}} In 2015, Penny was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.[https://nieman.harvard.edu/alumni/class-of-2015/ Nieman Fellowship Class of 2015], Harvard University, 30 April 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.

Several of Penny's articles have provoked criticism, including a 2014 article for the New Statesman that argued short hair on women was a "political statement"{{cite web|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2014/01/sorry-laurie-penny-but-the-patriarchy-likes-short-hair/ |title=Sorry Laurie Penny, but the patriarchy likes short hair | Coffee House |work=The Spectator |access-date=2020-01-12}} and a 2015 article defending vandalism of the Monument to the Women of World War II.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/05/laurie-penny-defends-war-memorial-vandalism-at-anti-tory-march/ |title=Laurie Penny defends war memorial vandalism at anti-Tory march | Coffee House |work=The Spectator |date=2015-05-09 |access-date=2020-01-12}}

= Publications =

Penny is the author of seven books, including Bitch Doctrine, Unspeakable Things and Everything Belongs to the Future.{{Cite web |title=Laurie Penny {{!}} Authors |url=https://us.macmillan.com/author/lauriepenny |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Macmillan |language=en-US}} Penny's book Penny Red: Notes from the New Age of Dissent was shortlisted for the first Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing in 2012.{{cite news |title=New prize for radical writing announces shortlist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/06/bread-and-roses-shortlist-announced}} Their seventh book, Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults, was longlisted for the 2018 Orwell Prize.{{cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/eddo-lodge-makes-orwell-prize-longlist-764586|title=The Bookseller|last=Onwuemezi|first=Natasha|date=10 April 2018|website=The Bookseller}}

= Screenwriting =

Penny has also written for streaming TV, contributing to episodes of the Netflix show The Haunting of Bly Manor and HBO's The Nevers, and acted as a story editor on Carnival Row.{{Cite web|url=https://bleedingcool.com/tv/talking-to-laurie-penny-about-the-switch-from-british-politics-to-hollywood/|title = Talking to Laurie Penny About the Switch from British Politics to Hollywood|date = 12 July 2019}}

Personal life

Penny came out as genderqueer, pansexual and polyamorous in 2015.{{Cite web|last=Penny|first=Laurie|date=2015-10-31|title=How To Be A Genderqueer Feminist|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lauriepenny/how-to-be-a-genderqueer-feminist|access-date=2020-08-09|website=BuzzFeed News|language=en}}{{Cite tweet|number=653282201518346240|user=PennyRed|title=Hi. I'm pansexual, polyamorous and a genderqueer woman. I prefer the pronouns 'she' or 'they' and sometimes 'oi, you!' #NationalComingOutDay|author=Laurie Penny|date=2015-10-11}} In 2020, Penny stated a preference for the pronouns they/them; they also use she/her pronouns, although they consider them to be "less accurate".{{Cite tweet|number=1292288867144409088|user=PennyRed|title=TLDR my preferred pronouns are they/them. She/her is also fine, just less accurate. I'm not out to threaten anyone else's identity here, I've got no time for bullies, and if you're going to be a wanker about it I'd prefer you not address me at all.|author=Laurie Penny|date=2020-08-09}}

In December 2020, Penny was married while living in the United States{{cite news |last=Penny |first=Laurie |title=My Highly Unexpected Heterosexual Pandemic Zoom Wedding |url=https://www.wired.com/story/my-highly-unexpected-heterosexual-pandemic-zoom-wedding/ |publisher=Wired |date=2020-12-13}} (since divorced). Penny disclosed in May 2022 that they are autistic.{{cite web |last1=Penny |first1=Laurie |title=Thread: I'm autistic. |url=https://lauriepenny.substack.com/p/thread-im-autistic |website=Substack |access-date=28 February 2023 |date=8 May 2022}}

Awards

2010: Orwell Prize for blogging, shortlist{{cite web|url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/blogger/laurie-penny/|title=Laurie Penny|website=The Orwell Prize|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-30}}
2012: Bread and Roses Award, shortlist, Penny Red: Notes from the New Age of Dissent{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/06/bread-and-roses-shortlist-announced | title=New prize for radical writing announces shortlist |date=6 March 2012 |access-date=2 May 2012 |last=Flood|first=Alison| website=TheGuardian.com }}
2014: Red Women of the Year Award, blogger category, shortlist{{cite web|url=http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/news/laurie-penny-shortlisted-for-red-woman-of-the-year|title=Laurie Penny shortlisted for the Red Women of the Year awards 2014|website=Blake Friedmann|date=7 July 2014 |language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-30}}
2015: William Montalbano Nieman Fellow{{cite web|url=https://niemanreports.org/news/2014/08/nieman-announces-named-fellowships-for-the-class-of-2015/|title=Nieman announces named fellowships for the class of 2015|website=Nieman Reports|date=August 2014 |access-date=2019-06-13}}
2015: Fellow at the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University{{cite web|url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/newsroom/2015_2016_community|title=Berkman Center Announces 2015-2016 Community|date=2015-10-19|website=Berkman Klein Center|language=en|access-date=2019-06-13}}
2017: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, finalist{{cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2017-hugo-awards/|title=2017 Hugo Awards|date=2016-12-31|website=The Hugo Awards|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-30}}
2018: American Society of Magazine Editors National Magazine Awards, Columns and Commentary category, finalist, for the columns "The Horizon of Desire", "We’re All Mad Here: Weinstein, Women, and the Language of Lunacy", and "The Unforgiving Minute".{{cite web|url=https://www.asme.media/ellies-2018-finalists-announced|title=Ellies 2018 Finalists Announced|publisher=American Society of Magazine Editors|year=2018|access-date=12 April 2021}}

Bibliography

Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism (Zero Books, 2011)
Penny Red: Notes from the New Age of Dissent (Pluto Press, 2011)
Discordia: Six Nights in Crisis Athens (Random House, 2012)
Cybersexism: Sex, Gender and Power on the Internet (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013)
Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014)
Everything Belongs to the Future (Tor.com, 2016)
Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults (Bloomsbury USA, 2017)
Sexual Revolution: Modern Fascism and the Feminist Fightback (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2022) {{isbn|978-1526602213}}