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Laurie Penny

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Laurie Penny
Penny in 2016
Born
Laura Barnett

(1986-09-28) 28 September 1986 (age 40)
London, England
EducationBrighton College
Alma materWadham College, Oxford
OccupationsJournalist, author, screenwriter

Laurie Penny (born Laura Barnett, 28 September 1986) is a British journalist and writer. Penny has written articles for publications including The Guardian, The Spectator, 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.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Penny was born in London, England, to two lawyers of Irish, Jewish, and Maltese descent,[3] and grew up in Lewes[4] and Brighton.[3] Penny suffered from anorexia nervosa 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.[5]

Penny attended the fee-paying private school Brighton College[6] before studying English at Wadham College, Oxford.[7]

Career

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Penny's blog "Penny Red" was launched in 2007[8] and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for blogging in 2010.[9] Penny became a columnist at The Independent in 2012[10] and then a columnist and contributing editor for the New Statesman.[11][12] They are a regular contributor to The Guardian.[13]

In April 2011, they presented the Channel 4 Dispatches programme "Cashing in on Degrees"[14] and appeared on Channel 4's satirical current affairs programme 10 O'Clock Live[15] and on BBC Two's Newsnight.[16]

In 2012, Tatler magazine described Penny as one of the top 100 "people who matter".[17] In October 2012, The Daily Telegraph ranked Penny as the 55th most influential left-wing figure in Britain, describing them as "without doubt the loudest and most controversial female voice on the radical left",[18] and the knowledge networking company Editorial Intelligence awarded Penny its "Twitter Public Personality" award.[19] In 2015, Penny was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University,[20][21] and a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society also at Harvard.[22]

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"[23][additional citation(s) needed] and a 2015 article defending vandalism of the Monument to the Women of World War II.[24][additional citation(s) needed]

Publications

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Penny is the author of nine books, including Bitch Doctrine, Unspeakable Things, and Everything Belongs to the Future.[25] 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.[26] Their seventh book, Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults, was longlisted for the 2018 Orwell Prize.[27]

Screenwriting

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Penny has written for streaming TV, contributing to episodes of the Netflix show The Haunting of Bly Manor and HBO's The Nevers. Penny also worked as a story editor on Carnival Row.[2]

Personal life

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Penny came out as genderqueer, pansexual, and polyamorous in 2015.[28][29] 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".[30] Penny disclosed in May 2022 that they are autistic.[31]

Penny got married in 2020 and was living in the United States.[32] As of May 2025 they were divorced.[33]

Awards

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Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref.
2010 — Orwell Prize Blogger Shortlist [34]
2012 Penny Red: Notes from the New Age of Dissent Bread and Roses Award — [35]
2014 — Red Women of the Year Award Blogger [36]
2017 — John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer — [37]
2018 Longreads columns National Magazine Awards Columns and Commentary [38]

Bibliography

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  • 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 (illustrated by Molly Crabapple, 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, 2022)

References

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  1. ↑ "Laurie Penny". IMDb. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 Johnston, Rich (12 July 2019). "Talking to Laurie Penny About the Switch From British Politics to Hollywood". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Laurie Penny on the politics of the personal (From Herald Scotland)". The Herald. Glasgow. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Penny, Laurie (6 November 2014). "So they burned Alex Salmond in my hometown". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Laurie Penny (30 June 2014). "Being a perfect girl can kill you". The Guardian. London.
  6. ↑ Penny, Laurie (25 January 2016). "It's easy for rich kids to break the rules. But it's not how the world changes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "Laurie Penny". Jewish Lives Project. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Penny, Laurie (23 September 2007). "We have achieved preambulation. Bring me a sweetie-bag of amphetamines and the head of Margaret Thatcher". Penny Red. Blogspot. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "Orwell Prize 2010 Longlists Announced". The Orwell Foundation. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Laurie Penny leaves The Independent after nine months to rejoin New Statesman". Press Gazette. 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  11. ↑ "Laurie Penny". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 11 August 2026. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  12. ↑ Penny, Laurie (30 July 2014). "Sex, Lies and Revolution". IAI TV. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "Laurie Penny". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  14. ↑ Jackson, Scott (5 April 2011). "Cashing in on Degrees- Channel 4 Dispatches". Unite the Union. University of Stirling.
  15. ↑ "'10 O'Clock Live' Episode #1.11 (TV Episode 2011) - Laurie Penny as Self". IMDb. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "'Newsnight' Episode dated 20 June 2011 (TV Episode 2011) - Laurie Penny as Self". IMDb. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Future of Humanity". LSE. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Top 100 most influential figures from the Left 2012". The Daily Telegraph. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  19. ↑ Turvill, William (18 October 2012). "The late Marie Colvin among seven Times and Sunday Times winners at Comment Awards". Press Gazette. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Class of 2015". Nieman Foundation. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  21. ↑ "Nieman announces named fellowships for the class of 2015". Nieman Reports. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  22. ↑ "Berkman Center Announces 2015-2016 Community". Berkman Klein Center. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  23. ↑ Gray, Freddy (28 January 2014). "Sorry Laurie Penny, but the patriarchy likes short hair | Coffee House". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  24. ↑ Steerpike (9 May 2015). "Laurie Penny defends war memorial vandalism at anti-Tory march". The Spectator. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  25. ↑ "Laurie Penny | Authors". Macmillan. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  26. ↑ Flood, Alison (6 March 2012). "New prize for radical writing announces shortlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  27. ↑ Onwuemezi, Natasha (10 April 2018). "Smith, Penny and Eddo-Lodge make Orwell Prize longlist". The Bookseller.
  28. ↑ Penny, Laurie (31 October 2015). "How To Be A Genderqueer Feminist". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  29. ↑ Penny, Laurie [@PennyRed] (11 October 2015). "Hi. I'm pansexual, polyamorous and a genderqueer woman. I prefer the pronouns 'she' or 'they' and sometimes 'oi, you!' #NationalComingOutDay" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. ↑ Penny, Laurie [@PennyRed] (9 August 2020). "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" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ↑ Penny, Laurie (8 May 2022). "Thread: I'm autistic". Substack. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  32. ↑ Penny, Laurie (13 December 2020). "My Highly Unexpected Heterosexual Pandemic Zoom Wedding". Wired.
  33. ↑ Penny, Laurie (10 May 2025). "I came out as autistic. Everyone said: That explains a lot". The Observer. Tortoise Media. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  34. ↑ "Laurie Penny". The Orwell Prize. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  35. ↑ Flood, Alison (6 March 2012). "New prize for radical writing announces shortlist". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  36. ↑ "Laurie Penny shortlisted for the Red Women of the Year awards 2014". Blake Friedmann. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  37. ↑ "2017 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  38. ↑ "Ellies 2018 Finalists Announced". American Society of Magazine Editors. 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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