Shon Faye

{{Infobox writer

| image = Shon Faye Penguin Studio 2021.jpeg

| caption = Faye in 2021

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1988|3|27|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bristol, England

| alma_mater = University of Oxford

| occupation =

| subjects = {{Flatlist|

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Shon Faye (born 27 March 1988) is an English writer, editor, journalist, and presenter, known for her commentary on LGBTQ+, women's, and mental health issues. She hosts the podcast Call Me Mother and is the author of the 2021 book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice. She was an editor-at-large at Dazed and has contributed features and comment journalism to The Guardian, The Independent, VICE, n+1, Attitude, Vogue, Verso and others.

Early life and education

Faye was born in Bristol.{{Cite web|title=Shon Faye|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/141689/shon-faye.html?tab=penguin-biography|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Penguin}} She is of Irish descent and attended a Convent school.{{Cite web|url=https://m.independent.ie/entertainment/books/our-existence-enriches-the-world-author-shon-faye-on-giving-voice-to-the-transgender-community/41398580.html|title='Our existence enriches the world' – Author Shon Faye on giving voice to the transgender community|work=Irish Independent|first=Liadan|last=Hynes|date=5 March 2022|accessdate=25 April 2025}}{{paywall}} Faye studied English Literature at the University of Oxford, followed by a Graduate Diploma in Law.{{Cite web|last=Levine|first=Nick|date=2021-09-01|title=Interview: Shon Faye on why The Transgender Issue is a call to arms|url=https://theface.com/life/shon-faye-interview-the-transgender-issue-book-review|access-date=2021-09-03|website=The Face|language=en-gb}} Faye moved to London in her early twenties, where she worked as a lawyer. In her own words, she later "had a complete implosion, quit my job, moved back to Bristol and came out as a trans woman". She is now based in London.

Career

Faye began her writing career in 2014.{{Cite news|last=AnOther|date=2021-04-01|title=Shon Faye Is Telling Queer History Like It's Never Been Told Before|url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13226/shon-faye-call-me-mother-podcast-queer-lgbtq-history-interview|access-date=2021-06-18|website=AnOther|language=en}} The focus of Faye's editing and writing has been sexuality, feminism and mental health.{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/shon-faye-on-changing-the-conversation-around-trans-rights|title=Shon Faye On Changing The Conversation Around Trans Rights|first=Shon|last=Faye|website=British Vogue|date=22 November 2018|accessdate=24 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.qxmagazine.com/2019/05/qx-meetsshon-faye/|title=QX meets…Shon Faye|first=Dylan|last=Jones|date=8 May 2019|publisher=QX|accessdate=24 June 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Pavka |first1=Evan |title=What Do We Mean By Queer Space? |url=https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/what-do-we-mean-by-queer-space/ |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=Azure |date=June 29, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/09/05/anti-transgender-shon-faye-deal-horrific-stickers/|title=Campaigner Shon Faye shows exactly how you should deal with horrific anti-trans stickers|website=www.pinknews.co.uk|accessdate=24 June 2019|date=5 September 2018}} She has written and appeared in two short films{{cite news |others=Out.com Editors |date=December 13, 2017 |title=8 Trans Trailblazers Unite to Fight Gender Based Violence |work=Out |url=https://www.out.com/fashion/2017/12/13/8-trans-trailblazers-unite-fight-gender-based-violence#slide-3 |access-date=7 May 2021}} and her debut, Catechism,{{Cite web|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/35502/1/shon-faye-s-film-turns-society-s-queerphobia-back-on-itself |title=This film turns society's queerphobia back on itself|last=Dazed|date=2017-07-05|website=Dazed|language=en|access-date=2020-03-03}} was exhibited at the Tate Britain 'Queer British Art' exhibition in 2017.{{cite web |title=Queer British Art 1861–1967 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/press/press-releases/queer-british-art-1861-1967 |website=Tate |access-date=7 May 2021 |date=3 April 2017 |quote=Tate Britain 5 April - 1 October 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Jake |title=Tate Britain's landmark survey of queer British art is a hymn to resistance |url=https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/milestone-exhibition-tate-britain-surveys-century-queer-british-art/ |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=Crack Magazine |date=April 18, 2017}} She presented an online video series called Shon This Way{{Cite web |url=http://novaramedia.com/category/video/shon-this-way/|title=Shon This Way |website=Novara Media|access-date=20 May 2018}} for Novara Media in 2017, which dealt with queer politics and history.

file:shon faye 2022 1.jpg in 2022.]]

In a 2017 historical review for The Guardian, political columnist Owen Jones cited Faye, along with Paris Lees and Munroe Bergdorf, as emerging "brilliant trans voices".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/trans-backlash-anti-gay-zealotry-section-28-homophobia |title=Anti-trans zealots, know this: history will judge you |date=15 December 2017 |first=Owen |last=Jones |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 June 2018}} Her art has been exhibited in the show Am I Making Sense at the Hoxton Arches.{{cite news |last1=Flynn |first1=Niall |title=The art show exploring self-worth in the 21st century |url=https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/art-2/draft-exhibition-exploring-21st-century-coping-mechanisms-opening-london/ |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=Huck |date=October 31, 2017}} In 2017, Faye used her column in The Guardian to call attention to the need for trans women to have access to support services in response to rape and domestic violence.{{Cite web |last=Faye |first=Shon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/21/trans-women-rape-domestic-violence-dangers|title=Trans women need access to rape and domestic violence services. Here's why |date=21 November 2017|website=the Guardian|access-date=20 May 2018}} In 2018, she presented at Amnesty International's Women Making History event, where she gave a speech calling for the public to "re-centre" underprivileged trans women.{{cite web|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/05/20/shon-faye-asks-public-to-re-centre-trans-women-in-the-face-of-anti-trans-petition-calling-for-her-removal/ | first=Jasmine |last=Andersson |website=Pink News |title=Shon Faye asks public to 'centre trans women' in Amnesty speech after petition called for her removal |date=20 May 2018 |access-date=12 June 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Dommu |first1=Rose |title=Shon Faye Calls for Centering of Trans Women in Feminist Movements Following Transphobic Petition |url=https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2018/5/20/shon-faye-calls-centering-trans-women-feminist-movements-following-transphobic-petition |access-date=6 May 2021 |work=Out |date=May 20, 2018}}

She hosts Call Me Mother,{{cite news |last1=Greig |first1=James |title=Shon Faye Is Telling Queer History Like It's Never Been Told Before |url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13226/shon-faye-call-me-mother-podcast-queer-lgbtq-history-interview |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=AnOther |date=April 1, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Parsons |first1=Vic |title=Author Shon Faye on trans liberation, prison abolition and remembering our queer history |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/04/16/shon-faye-call-me-mother-podcast-trans-liberation-queer-history-prison-abolition/ |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=PinkNews |date=April 16, 2021}} a podcast that "rails against the patronising image that reaching your 60s and 70s involves sitting under a blanket and knitting, by talking to older LGBTQ trailblazers," according to The Guardian.{{cite news |last1=Verdier |first1=Hannah |last2=Davies |first2=Hannah J |last3=Toussaint-Strauss |first3=Josh |title=Warmth and wisdom from queer trailblazers – podcasts of the week |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/mar/19/warmth-and-wisdom-from-queer-trailblazers-podcasts-of-the-week |access-date=6 May 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=March 19, 2021}} A review of the podcast in GQ includes, "This isn’t just a podcast for queer people, anybody can listen and enjoy the stories being shared and learn something about queer life."{{cite news |last1=Blacklock |first1=Hannah |last2=Jones |first2=Annie |last3=Maoui |first3=Zak |title=Ten coolest things to do from home right now |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/gallery/things-to-do-from-home |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=GQ |date=April 5, 2021}} Erin Patterson wrote for British Vogue that the podcast "highlights to me that I have a history as a queer person, I have ancestry."{{cite news |last1=Paterson |first1=Erin |title=The Queer Community Has A Long & Meaningful History – And An Empowered Future |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/trans-history |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=British Vogue |date=April 18, 2021}}

In 2021, Faye published The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, described in a review by Fiona Sturges of The Guardian as "sobering reading". Sturges writes, "I had anticipated raw fury, but while the author talks about the ways trans people are publicly monstered, hers is a cool dismantling of the myths and falsehoods that continue to blight their lives."{{cite news |last1=Sturges |first1=Fiona |title=The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a call for compassion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/13/the-transgender-issue-by-shon-faye-review-a-call-for-compassion |access-date=7 January 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=October 13, 2021}} Felix Moore writes in a review for The Guardian that "many cisgender people live in blissful ignorance of the acute crises that face trans people in this country every day" and "It is those people who really need to read this book."{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Felix |title=The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a cry for compassion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/19/the-transgender-issue-by-shon-faye-review-a-cry-for-compassion |access-date=7 January 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=September 19, 2021}} In a review for the Evening Standard, Stella O'Malley described the book as "a welcome contribution to the trans debate".{{cite news |last1=O'Malley |first1=Stella |title=The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review: Clear and concise analysis of the issues facing trans people |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/books/the-transgender-issue-by-shon-faye-review-b954336.html |access-date=7 January 2022 |work=Evening Standard |date=September 9, 2021}} In a review for The Times Literary Supplement, Christine Burns writes, "This will be a challenging book for those lulled by the nonsense that sometimes passes for journalism about trans lives."{{cite news |last1=Burns |first1=Christine |title=The real issues: Shaking the status quo by the lapels |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-transgender-issue-shon-faye-book-review-christine-burns/ |access-date=7 January 2022 |work=The Times Literary Supplement |date=November 5, 2021}}

In March 2022 it was announced that Faye would release a second non-fiction book Love in Exile, due out in 2025, again on Allen Lane. Love in Exile is a literary memoir which explores the concepts of love and fulfillment in a lonely age.{{Cite web |last=AnOther |date=2022-06-21 |title=Shon Faye Is the Star of On's New Campaign |url=https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/14124/shon-faye-is-the-star-of-on-runnings-new-campaign |access-date=2022-10-23 |website=AnOther |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Allen Lane lands 'ground-breaking' non-fiction from Shon Faye |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/allen-lane-lands-ground-breaking-non-fiction-from-shon-faye |first=Sian |last=Bayley |date=16 March 2022 |access-date=23 October 2022 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}

Faye is a supporter of the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals, and was an original signatory of the manifesto "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions".{{Cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11KaIIavJWoaoyA5d969dk1MbgH6mRgaC7FTmNb-2tpw/viewform?pli=1&pli=1&pli=1&edit_requested=true/|title=Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions|access-date= October 29, 2024}}

Works

{{cite book |last1=Faye |first1=Shon |title=The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice |date=2021 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd |isbn=978-0-241-42314-1}}{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Hannah |last2=Zwieglinska |first2=Zofia |title=27 Inspiring LBGTQ+ Books Everyone Needs On Their Bookshelf |url=https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/g29870651/best-lgbt-books/?slide=1 |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=ELLE |date=April 15, 2021}}
Faye, Shon (2025). Love in Exile. Penguin Books Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0-241-60598-1}}.{{Cite news |last=Drake |first=Kitty |date=2025-02-05 |title=Love in Exile by Shon Faye review – lessons in romance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/05/love-in-exile-by-shon-faye-review |access-date=2025-02-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |title=Here are 8 of the best non-fiction books on love in all its forms |url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/best-non-fiction-books-on-love/961481 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=www.stylist.co.uk}}

References

External links

[https://www.amnesty.org.uk/shon-faye Shon Faye] on Amnesty International's website
[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/24/shaky-acceptance-transgender-kids-families-fight-for-inclusion ‘I feel like it’s quite shaky acceptance’: trans kids and the fight for inclusion] (Shon Faye, edited excerpt from The Transgender Issue, via The Guardian)
[https://wlrc.uic.edu/programs/sounds-of-feminism/ Importance of Transfeminism] (Shon Faye, Sounds of Feminism, Women's Leadership and Resource Center, University of Illinois Chicago)
[https://www.dazeddigital.com/user/shonfaye Shon Faye] at Dazed
[https://www.standard.co.uk/author/shon-faye Shon Faye] at Evening Standard
[https://www.frieze.com/contributor/shon-faye Shon Faye] at Frieze
[https://www.theguardian.com/profile/shon-faye Shon Faye] at The Guardian
[https://www.independent.co.uk/author/shon-faye Shon Faye] at The Independent
[https://novaramedia.com/category/video/shon-this-way/ Shone Faye] at Novara Media
[https://www.stylist.co.uk/author/shon-faye Shon Faye] at Stylist
[https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/shon-faye Shon Faye] at Vice
[https://www.vogue.co.uk/profile/shon-faye Shon Faye] at British Vogue