Taffy Brodesser-Akner
{{Short description|American journalist and author}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Taffy Brodesser-Akner
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Stephanie Akner
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|30|2006|04|02}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = New York University
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| spouse = {{marriage|Claude Brodesser-Akner|2006}}
| children = 2
| notable_works =
| website = {{official URL|http://www.taffyakner.com/}}
}}
Taffy Brodesser-Akner (born Stephanie Akner) is an American journalist and author. She has worked freelance and as a contributor to GQ and The New York Times, where she is now a staff writer. Her profiles of celebrities have won her the New York Press Club Award and Mirror Award. Her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, achieved widespread success.
Career
= Journalism =
Brodesser-Akner's first major journalism job was at Soap Opera Weekly, a job she held until her role was eliminated due to layoffs in 2001.{{Cite web|url=https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/force-cdn/highwinds/writeaboutnow/taffyfinalcut.mp3|title=Ep. 9 — New York Times Culture Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner On Celebrity Profiles, Personal Essays, and Her Bizarre Brush with British Tabloid Fame from Write About Now|last=Small|first=Jonathan|date=November 13, 2017|website=www.WriteAboutNow.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-01}} She also wrote for Mediabistro and did freelance pieces for magazines including ESPN The Magazine, GQ, and Texas Monthly. The Columbia Journalism Review called her "one of the nation's most successful freelance writers".{{cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/freelance-editor-silence.php|title=The most annoying thing an editor can do|last=Croatto|first=Pete|work=Columbia Journalism Review|date=2017-10-27|accessdate=2018-01-12}} Many of her freelance articles were celebrity profiles, several of which went viral.{{cite web|url=http://wwd.com/business-news/media/new-york-times-adds-feature-writer-taffy-brodesser-akner-to-staff-10933696/|title=New York Times Adds Feature Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner to Staff|last=Bloomgarden-Smoke|first=Kara|work=Women's Wear Daily|date=2017-06-28|accessdate=2018-01-12}} In 2014, she became a contributing writer to both The New York Times and GQ,{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/taffy-brodesser-akner-gq-nicki-minaj/|title=Taffy Brodesser-Akner Makes a Splash With GQ Feature Debut|last=Horgan|first=Richard|work=Adweek|date=2014-10-22|accessdate=2018-01-12}} and won a New York Press Club Award for entertainment news in a magazine for her story about actress Gaby Hoffmann.{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/ny-press-club-award-winners-announced/|title=NY Press Club Award Winners Announced|last=O'Shea|first=Chris|work=Adweek|date=2014-06-04|accessdate=2018-01-12}} She won two New York Press Club awards in 2015, for her profiles of Damon Lindelof and Britney Spears.{{cite web|url=https://www.nypressclub.org/awards.php|title=The New York Press Club Journalism Awards|author=|work=New York Press Club|accessdate=2018-01-12}} The same year, Brodesser-Akner was nominated for a Mirror Award for her profile of Joey Soloway,{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/2015-mirror-awards-finalists-announced/|title=2015 Mirror Awards Finalists Announced|last=O'Shea|first=Chris|work=Adweek|date=2015-04-15|accessdate=2018-01-12}} and in 2016 she won the award for her profile of broadcaster Don Lemon.{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/mirror-award-winners-announced/|title=Mirror Award Winners Announced|last=O'Shea|first=Chris|work=Adweek|date=2016-06-09|accessdate=2018-01-12}} In 2017, she became a full-time staff writer at The New York Times.
= Fiction and television =
Her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, was published in 2019 by Random House in the US{{Cite web|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/fleishman-is-in-trouble/|title=Book Marks reviews of Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner|website=Book Marks|access-date=2019-06-03}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49088173|title = Fleishman is in Trouble: Will Gompertz reviews Taffy Brodesser-Akner's debut novel ★★☆☆☆|work = BBC News|date = 27 July 2019}} and by Wildfire in the UK.{{Cite web|url=https://www.headline.co.uk/imprint/headline/page/wildfire/|title = Wildfire|date = February 2019}} The novel was selected for the longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/03/womens-prize-for-fiction-lines-up-heavy-hitters-on-2020-longlist|title = Women's prize for fiction lines up 'heavy hitters' on 2020 longlist|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 3 March 2020}} Brodesser-Akner adapted the novel as a TV miniseries, which debuted on Hulu on November 17, 2022.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/09/fx-fleishman-is-in-trouble-hulu-premiere-date-1235125728/|title=FX's 'Fleishman Is In Trouble' Sets Hulu Premiere Date|work=Deadline Hollywood|first=Rosy|last=Cordero|date=September 23, 2022|access-date=September 23, 2022}} In 2023, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Her second novel, Long Island Compromise, was published in 2024 by Random House in the US{{Cite web|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/long-island-compromise/|title=Book Marks reviews of Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner|website=Book Marks|access-date=2024-07-11}} and by Wildfire in the UK.{{Cite book|url=https://www.headline.co.uk/titles/taffy-brodesser-akner/long-island-compromise/9781472273031/|title = Long Island Compromise at Wildfire|date = July 2024| isbn=978-1-4722-7303-1 }}
Personal life
Born Stephanie Akner, Brodesser-Akner received the nickname "Taffy" at a young age and continued using it professionally.{{cite web |last=Brodesser-Akner |first=Taffy |date=2013-07-30 |title=If Your Name Isn't Jolie-Pitt or Beyoncé Knowles-Carter: To Hyphenate or Ditch the Dash? |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/if-your-name-isnt-jolie-pitt-or-beyonc-mrs-carter-knowles-carter-to-hyphenate-or-ditch-the-dash |accessdate=2018-01-12 |work=Vogue}} She grew up in Brooklyn, New York,{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Janelle |date=2006-04-06 |title=Taffy Akner and Claude Brodesser |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/fashion/weddings/taffy-akner-and-claude-brodesser.html |accessdate=2018-01-12 |work=The New York Times}} in an Orthodox Jewish household.{{cite news |last=Brodesser-Akner |first=Taffy |date=2017-03-30 |title=The High Price of Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/magazine/the-high-price-of-leaving-ultra-orthodox-life.html |accessdate=2018-01-12 |work=The New York Times}} She attended New York University.
She married Claude Brodesser in 2006. Brodesser converted to Judaism, a process that eventually led Akner to evaluate and reinforce her own observance of Jewish customs.{{cite web |last=Brodesser-Akner |first=Taffy |date=2010-05-27 |title=Intermarried: My Husband, a Convert, Is More Observant Than I Am |url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/34444/intermarried |accessdate=2018-01-12 |work=Tablet}} After marrying, both took hyphenated last names. They have two children.{{cite news |last1=Brodesser-Akner |first1=Taffy |date=2018-07-25 |title=How Goop's Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow's Company Worth $250 Million |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/magazine/big-business-gwyneth-paltrow-wellness.html |accessdate=2018-06-30 |work=The New York Times}} She wrote that as a "3G" grandchild of Holocaust survivors, she was particularly alarmed when her son was called an antisemitic slur on the basketball court in Riverside Park, and her other son had a caricature done in Times Square that evoked antisemitic tropes.{{cite web |last=Brodesser-Akner |first=Taffy |date=2025-04-06 |title=The Holocaust Story I Said I Wouldn’t Write |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/magazine/holocaust-story-education.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The New York Times}}
Bibliography
- Fleishman is in Trouble (2019, Random House)
- Long Island Compromise (2024, Random House)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{IMDb name|10368081}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodesser-Akner, Taffy}}
Category:People from Huntington, New York
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:The New York Times journalists
Category:Jewish American journalists
Category:New York University alumni
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:21st-century American women writers