Lex Croucher
{{Short description|English author and YouTuber}}
{{Infobox person
| image = lex croucher 2016 1.jpg
| caption = Croucher in 2016
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1992|3|8|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| alma_mater = University of Southampton
| website = {{URL|https://www.lexcroucher.co.uk/}}
| module = {{Infobox YouTube personality|embed=yes
| channel_handle = LexCroucher
| channel_display_name = Lex Croucher
| years_active = 2008–present
| genre =
| subscribers =
| views =
| associated_acts =
| stats_update = 16 October 2021
}}
}}
Lex Croucher (born 8 March 1992) is an English author and YouTuber. Croucher began their career on YouTube before going into writing with their debut non-fiction book You're Crushing It (2019) and novel Reputation (2021). Their Arthurian novel Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (2023) won the 2024 YA Book Prize among other accolades.
Early life and education
Croucher grew up in Surrey. They graduated from the University of Southampton with a degree in English.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/news/volume/writers-in-residence-2024-shortlist-announced|title=Writers in Residence 2024 shortlist announced!|website=Gladstones Library|first=Rhian|last=Waller|date=14 July 2023|accessdate=2 October 2024}}
Career
=YouTube=
Having done some BlogTV shows and discovered AmazingPhil through MySpace,{{Cite web|url=http://teneightymagazine.com/2016/05/29/lex-croucher-interview-social-justice-worrier/|title=Lex Croucher: Social Justice Worrier|work=TenEighty Magazine|first=Daniel|last=Tostevin|date=29 May 2016|accessdate=28 September 2024}} Croucher created their YouTube channel under the username tyrannosauruslexxx on 2 June 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/@LexCroucher/about|title=About|author=Lex Croucher|via=YouTube}} Also inspired by the likes of fiveawesomegirls, charlieissocoollike, and John Green, Croucher would use their phone camera to film videos.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/charge-of-the-viral-video-x9k8l8hhc2k|title=Charge of the viral video|journal=The Sunday Times|first1=Stephen|last1=Armstrong|first2=Robin|last2=Henry|date=27 November 2011|accessdate=2 October 2024}}{{subscription required}} In 2011, Croucher won Google's NextUp grant, which allowed them to buy a "proper camera", laptop, and editing equipment and go to VidCon. By 2013, Croucher had over 60 thousand subscribers, and their content shifted from autobiographical vlogs towards advice and opinion pieces.{{Cite journal|url=https://theguardian.com/technology/2013/apr/07/youtube-superstars-new-generation-bloggers|title=YouTube superstars: the generation taking on TV – and winning|journal=The Guardian|first=Tim|last=Lewis|date=7 April 2023|accessdate=28 September 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/lex-croucher-youtube-wcw/|title=How WCW Lex Croucher came to voice my internal monologue|work=Daily Dot|first=Carly|last=Lanning|date=29 May 2015|accessdate=28 September 2024}} As of September 2020, Croucher's main channel had over 120 thousand subscribers.{{Cite web|url=https://evoke.ie/2021/07/04/life-style/review-reputation-lex-croucher|title=REVIEW: Reputation fills the Bridgerton shaped hole in our hearts|work=Evoke|first=Bronwyn|last=O'Neill|date=4 July 2021|accessdate=3 October 2024}} Croucher has been on an indefinite hiatus from YouTube since 2021.
In addition, Croucher created the side channels lexcanroar in 2008, featuring mostly vlogs,{{Cite web |title=lexcanroar |url=https://www.youtube.com/@lexcanroar/about |website=YouTube|accessdate=16 October 2021}} and girlyashell, featuring beauty content. From 2011 to 2014, Croucher was a member of the collaboration channel Sarcaschicks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/sarcaschicks|title=sarcaschicks|website=YouTube|accessdate=16 October 2021}}
At both Summer in the City (SitC) and VidCon, Croucher co-founded and chaired the Women on YouTube panel from 2012, discussing the experiences of women creators in an online space. The SitC 2015 panel included Cherry Wallis, Theadora Lee, Dodie Clark, Laci Green, Lucy Moon and Jana Damanhouri.{{Cite web|url=http://teneightymagazine.com/2015/08/16/women-on-youtube-panel-at-summer-in-the-city-2015/|title=Women on YouTube Panel at Summer in the City 2015|work=TenEighty Magazine|first=Tilly Jeanette|last=Pearce|date=16 August 2015|accessdate=22 March 2022}}
Due to their sex education-related videos, in 2014, Croucher was invited to appear on the BBC Two programme Newsnight to discuss the new NICE guidelines around the morning-after pill.
In 2017 and 2018, Croucher hosted an advice podcast with fellow YouTuber Rosianna Halse Rojas titled Make Out With Him, with a focus on dating and relationships.{{Cite web|url=http://teneightymagazine.com/2017/04/10/lex-and-rosianna-release-relationship-advice-podcast/|title=Lex and Rosianna Release Relationship Advice Podcast|work=TenEighty Magazine|first=Daria|last=Skubich|date=10 April 2017|accessdate=28 September 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://teneightymagazine.com/2018/03/27/six-youtuber-podcasts-you-need-to-check-out/|title=Six YouTuber Podcasts You Need to Check Out|work=TenEighty Magazine|author=Quinn Rose|date=27 March 2018|accessdate=16 October 2021}}
=Writing=
After graduating from university, Croucher contributed to HuffPost UK and had a WordPress-based blog.
As announced in 2018, Croucher began their professional writing career with You're Crushing It: Positivity for Living Your Real Life, a non-fiction self-help guide aimed at teenagers published by Bloomsbury Children' Books in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-children-s-publish-youtuber-lex-croucher-899541|title=Bloomsbury Children's to publish YouTuber Lex Croucher|work=The Bookseller|first=Charlotte|last=Eyre|date=27 November 2018|accessdate=16 October 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.unitedbypop.com/books/young-adult-books/10-things-youre-crushing-it/|title=10 Things We Learnt From Lex Croucher's You're Crushing It!|work=United by Pop|date=29 June 2019|accessdate=28 September 2024}} Croucher described it as written for their teenage self.{{Cite web|url=http://teneightymagazine.com/2018/12/03/lex-croucher-to-release-first-book/|title=Lex Croucher To Release First Book|work=TenEighty Magazine|first=Benji T|last=Fox|date=3 December 2018|accessdate=28 September 2024}}
In September 2019, shortly after Croucher first spoke of it on at SitC,{{Cite web|url=https://heysarahhere.com/interviewing-youtubers-about-books-hannah-witton-lex-croucher-and-sanne-vliegenthart/|title=Interviewing YouTubers about books: Hannah Witton, Lex Croucher and Sanne Vliegenthart|website=Hey Sarah Here|date=August 2019|accessdate=2 October 2024}} Zaffre (a Bonnier Books imprint) picked up the rights to publish Croucher's debut fiction novel Reputation, a Regency era-set romantic comedy,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/rights/zaffre-land-youtuber-lex-crouchers-debut-1219993|title=Zaffre lands 'feminist take on Regency romance' from Lex Croucher|website=The Bookseller|first=Tamsin|last=Hackett|date=23 September 2020|accessdate=22 March 2022}} in July 2021, billed as Mean Girls meets Jane Austen.{{Cite web|url=https://culturefly.co.uk/book-review-reputation-by-lex-croucher/|title=Book Review: Reputation by Lex Croucher|work=CultureFly|first=Natalie|last=Xenos|date=8 July 2021|accessdate=3 October 2024}} Zaffre acquired the rights to two further Regency novels from Croucher in February 2022:{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Lily |date=2022-02-23 |title=Zaffre scoops two new 'Regency romps' by Lex Croucher|url=https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/news-and-media/zaffre-scoops-two-new-regency-romps-by-lex-croucher/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Bonnier Books |language=en-GB}} Infamous,{{Cite web|url=https://thenerddaily.com/review-infamous-by-lex-croucher/|title=Review: Infamous by Lex Croucher|work=The Nerd Daily|first=Mimi|last=Koehler|date=21 March 2023|accessdate=3 October 2024}} published 21 July 2022, and Trouble,{{Cite web|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/lex-croucher-trouble-review/|title=Bi4Bi Romance Thrives in This New Queer Regency-Era Rom-Com|work=Autostraddle|first=Casey|last=Stepaniuk|date=8 April 2024|accessdate=28 September 2024}} published a year later.{{Cite web|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/lex-croucher-trouble-review/|title=Bi4Bi Romance Thrives in This New Queer Regency-Era Rom-Com|work=Autostraddle|author=Casey|date=8 April 2024|accessdate=28 September 2024}} The former had a US release via St Martin's Press Infamous in March 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/rights/zaffre-snaps-up-two-more-regency-romps-from-croucher|title=Zaffre snaps up two more Regency romps from Croucher|website=The Bookseller|first=Heloise|last=Wood|date=23 February 2022|accessdate=22 March 2022}} Croucher was nominated for the 2023 TikTok Book Award for Author of the Year.
Also in 2023, Croucher released their first young adult (YA) novel Gwen & Art Are Not in Love via Bloomsbury UK in the UK and Commonwealth and Wednesday Books (a St Martin's Press imprint) in the US; both publishers had acquired the rights back in 2021.{{Cite web |title=Bloomsbury bags Croucher's queer medieval YA debut |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-bags-crouchers-ya-queer-medieval-love-story-1274959|work=The Bookseller|first=Ruth|last=Comerford|date=9 August 2021|accessdate=16 October 2021|language=En}} The Arthurian Camelot-set novel centres on the arranged betrothal between a medieval lesbian princess and a gay duke.{{Cite web|url=https://inbetweendrafts.com/gwen-art-are-not-in-love-review/|title='Gwen & Art Are Not In Love' review: A romantic romp by Lex Croucher|work=InBetweenDrafts|first=Allyson|last=Johnson|date=27 November 2023|accessdate=3 October 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.intomore.com/entertainment/books/a-medieval-cover-up-with-jousting-queer-romance-is-about-to-hit-shelves/|title=Lex Croucher on writing a queer Medieval romance|work=IntoMore|first=Billy|last=McEntee|date=24 November 2023|accessdate=28 September 2024}} Croucher told The Bookseller, "I wanted it to be absolutely over-the-top ridiculous, funny, escapist; full of things like flirty sword fights and terrible puns". Gwen & Art Are Not in Love won the 2024 YA Book Prize and the 2023 Books Are In My Bag Readers Award for Young Adult Fiction. It was also shortlisted for an inaugural Nero Book Award, a Barnes & Noble Award and another TikTok Book Award, and longlisted for the Branford Boase Award. It has been nominated for a Polari Prize.{{Cite journal |last=Creamer |first=Ella |date=30 September 2024 |title=Polari prize shortlists include Munroe Bergdorf, Jon Ransom and Lex Croucher |url=https://theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/30/polari-prize-shortlists-include-munroe-bergdorf-jon-ransom-and-lex-croucher |journal=The Guardian |accessdate=3 October 2024}}
Croucher reunited with Bloomsbury UK for the release of their second YA medieval romance Not For the Faint of Heart, a Robin Hood reimagining. In March 2024, Croucher signed a two-standalone book deal with Gollancz (an Orion Publishing Group imprint), which won a 10-way bidding war for the rights to The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones, a fantasy YA novel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/gollancz-triumphs-in-10-way-bidding-war-for-two-books-from-lex-croucher|title=Gollancz triumphs in 10-way bidding war for two books from Lex Croucher|work=The Bookseller|first=Sian|last=Bayley|date=12 March 2024|accessdate=2 October 2024}}
Philanthropy and activism
As part of their YouTube career, Croucher traveled to Syria with the charity Save the Children.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lex-croucher/saving-syrias-children_b_3941335.html|title=Saving Syria's Children|date=17 September 2013|website=HuffPost UK|first=Lex|last=Croucher|accessdate=16 October 2021}}
In 2015, Croucher started an online petition calling on Sea Life London Aquarium to improve its penguins' living conditions, which garnered media attention and over 100 thousand signatures.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/5-worthwhile-campaigns-to-support-on-change-9988406.html|title=5 worthwhile campaigns to support on Change|date=19 January 2015|website=The Independent|first=Brie|last=Rogers Lowry|accessdate=22 March 2022}}
In April 2020, Croucher presented a video for Greenpeace's channel and website titled Do hashtags and petitions actually work?; in the video, Croucher discusses the effectiveness of online activism (via petitions, social media and hashtags) and the term slacktivist.{{Cite web|url=https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/online-activism-how-petitions-and-social-media-campaigns-have-changed-the-world/|title=Does online activism really work?|date=9 April 2020|website=Greenpeace UK|first=Helle|last=Abelvik-Lawson|accessdate=22 March 2022}}
In 2020, Croucher added their name to an open letter from The Second Shelf, a feminist bookstore, showing their support for the transgender and non-binary community, along with over 200 other authors.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/09/celebrities-authors-picking-sides-j-k-rowlings-war-trans-people/|title=Celebrities & authors are picking sides in J.K. Rowling's war on trans people|first=Alex|last=Bollinger|website=LGBTQ Nation|accessdate=22 March 2022}}
Personal life
Croucher lives in London. In 2020, Croucher came out as non-binary via Twitter,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/author-interviews/lex-croucher-on-their-arthurian-set-childrens-debut-love-and-happy-endings|title=Lex Croucher on their Arthurian-set children's debut, love and happy endings|work=The Bookseller|first=Charlotte|last=Eyre|date=17 April 2023|accessdate=28 September 2024}}{{cite tweet |last=Croucher |first=Lex |user=lexcanroar |number=1338804212017328129 |date=15 December 2020 |title=hi. so. I'm non-binary. I had no plans to ~announce this~ as it feels personal & nbd to anybody else, but I'm doing it because the people who believe your gender has to correspond with your sex assigned at birth are VERY loud right now. I'm fine with any pronouns! that's all. |language=en |access-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322234228/https://twitter.com/lexcanroar/status/1338804212017328129 |archive-date=22 March 2022 |url-status=live}} which they elaborated on in a YouTube video.{{cite AV media |date=28 March 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBKM6zQktk |title=I don't know what my gender is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask |publisher=Lex Croucher |via=YouTube |access-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331170645/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBKM6zQktk |archive-date=31 March 2023 |url-status=live}}
Bibliography
=Non-fiction=
- You're Crushing It: Positivity for Living Your REAL Life (2019)
=Adult=
- Reputation (2021)
- Infamous (2022)
- Trouble (2023)
=Young adult=
- Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (2023)
- Not for the Faint of Heart (2024)
- The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones (2025)
- Untitled (2026)
Accolades
| class="wikitable sortable
!Year !Title !Award !Category !Result !Ref. |
| rowspan="3" | 2023
|— | Author of the Year | {{sho}} |
|---|
| rowspan="7" | Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
| Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards | Young Adult Fiction | {{won}} |
| Nero Book Awards
| Children's Fiction | {{sho}} |
| rowspan="5" | 2024
|— | {{nom|Longlisted}} |
| Barnes & Noble Children's and YA Awards
| Young Adult | {{sho}} |
| TikTok Book Awards
| Book of the Year | {{sho}} |
| YA Book Prize
|— | {{won}} |
| Polari Prize
| Children's and YA | {{sho}} |
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:croucher, lex}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton
Category:British writers of young adult literature
Category:English non-binary writers
Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages
Category:Writers of historical romances