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Caitlin Moran

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For the Australian rugby league player, see Caitlin Moran (rugby league).

Caitlin Moran
Caitlin Moran at the 2016 Hay Festival
Born
Catherine Elizabeth Moran

(1975-04-05) 5 April 1975 (age 49)
Brighton, England
EducationWolverhampton Girls' High School
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, broadcaster
Spouse
​
(m. 1999)​
Children2

Catherine Elizabeth Moran (/ˈkætlɪn məˈræn/ KAT-lin mə-RAN;[1] born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, broadcaster,[2] and author at The Times, where she writes two columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, and the satirical Friday column "Celebrity Watch".

Moran was named British Press Awards (BPA) Columnist of the Year for 2010, and both BPA Critic of the Year 2011 and Interviewer of the Year 2011.[3] In 2012, she was named Columnist of the Year by the London Press Club,[4] and Culture Commentator at the Comment Awards in 2013.[5][6]

Early life

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Moran was born in Brighton, the eldest of eight children; she has four sisters and three brothers. She has described her father, who is of Irish extraction, as a "psychedelic rock pioneer" drummer who "did session work with many well-known bands in the Sixties"[7] later "confined to the sofa by osteoarthritis".[8] Moran lived in a three-bedroom council house in Wolverhampton with her parents and siblings, an experience she described as akin to The Hunger Games.[9]

Moran attended Springdale Junior School and was then educated at home from the age of 11, having attended Wolverhampton Girls' High School[7] for only three weeks.[10] She and her siblings received no formal education from their parents; the local council allowed this, as home education is legal in England. Moreover, according to Ms Moran, they were "the only hippies in Wolverhampton".[9] The children frequently occupied their time with simple games, such as throwing mud at their house.[9] Moran describes her childhood as happy, but revealed she left home as soon as she was able to do so at the age of 18.[9]

Journalism and writing career

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Moran at the Hay Festival, 2016

Throughout her adolescence, Moran was certain that she would pursue a career as a writer.[9] At the age of 13 in October 1988 she won a Dillons young readers' contest for an essay on Why I Like Books and was awarded £250 of book tokens. At the age of 15, she won The Observer's Young Reporter of the Year.[11] She began her career as a journalist for Melody Maker, the weekly music publication, at the age of 16.[12] Moran also wrote a novel called The Chronicles of Narmo at the age of 16, inspired by having been part of a home-schooled family.

In 1992, she launched her television career, hosting the Channel 4 music show Naked City,[13] which ran for two series and featured a number of then up-and-coming British bands such as Blur, Manic Street Preachers and the Boo Radleys.

Moran's upbringing inspired her TV drama/comedy series, Raised by Wolves, which began airing in the UK on Channel 4 in December 2013.[14]

In July 2012, Moran became a Fellow of the University of Aberystwyth.[15] In April 2014, she was named as one of Britain's most influential women in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014.[16]

Moran's semi-autobiographical novel, How to Build a Girl, [17] is set in Wolverhampton in the early 1990s. It is the first of a planned trilogy, to be followed by How to Be Famous, and concluding with How To Change The World.[18] Moran co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name alongside John Niven. She also served as an executive producer on the film, directed by Coky Giedroyc, and starring Beanie Feldstein, Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine and Sarah Solemani.[19]

Feminism

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Moran recalls becoming a feminist after reading The Female Eunuch as a child.[20]

In 2011, Ebury Press published Moran's book How to Be a Woman[21] in the UK, which details her early life including her views on feminism. As of July 2012, it had sold over 400,000 copies in 16 countries.[22] In September 2020 Ebury Press published its sequel, More Than a Woman, which explores middle age.[23]

Twitter

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Publicity photo by Moran's Swedish publishers Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2013

In August 2013, she organised a 24-hour boycott of Twitter in protest against the organisation's perceived failure to deal adequately with offensive content posted, sometimes anonymously, on public figures' Twitter feeds.[24]

In 2014, her Twitter feed became a controversial addition to the list of English A-Level set texts.[25] In June 2014 the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reported she was the most influential British journalist on Twitter.[26]

Personal life

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In December 1999, Moran married The Times' rock critic Peter Paphides in Coventry; they have two daughters, born in 2001 and 2003.[27]

Awards and honours

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Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ "Caitlin Moran - How To Be a Woman". Penguin Random House UK. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. ^ Rollman, Hans (12 November 2014). "Caitlin Moran: Lady Sex Pirate and Working Class Hero". PopMatters.
  3. ^ "Press Awards 2011: Caitlin Moran's speech". The Guardian. 6 April 2011.
  4. ^ "BBC Newsnight journalists win award for spiked Jimmy Savile investigation". TheGuardian.com. 22 May 2013.
  5. ^ "2013 Winners". Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. The Comment Awards
  6. ^ Portraits of Caitlin Moran at the National Portrait Gallery, London Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ a b "INTERVIEW / Atrocious mess, precocious mind: Meet Caitlin Moran". The Independent. 17 May 1994.
  8. ^ Aida Edemariam "The Saturday interview: Caitlin Moran", The Guardian, 18 June 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e BBC Radio 4: "My Teenage Diary", First Broadcast 6:30PM Wed, 4 July 2012.
  10. ^ The Times 2, p. 2. 28 December 2011.
  11. ^ Moran, Caitlin (26 November 2007). "My glorious career? I won it in a competition". The Times. London. Retrieved 24 April 2009.[dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Pop on trial". BBC Online. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  13. ^ Davies, Huer (17 May 1994). "Atrocious mess, precocious mind: Meet Caitlin Moran, newspaper columnist, television presenter, novelist, screenwriter, pop music pundit … and typical teenage slob". The Independent. London.
  14. ^ "Raised by Wolves" page on Channel 4
  15. ^ "Novelist and columnist honoured - Aberystwyth University". www.aber.ac.uk.
  16. ^ "Woman's Hour Power List 2014 – Game Changers". BBC Radio 4.
  17. ^ a b Moran, Caitlin (2014). How to Build a Girl. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194900-6.
  18. ^ Caitlin Moran explores taboo subjects in her new book 'How to build a girl'. BBC Newsnight. 11 July 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021.
  19. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (16 July 2018). "Beanie Feldstein Comedy 'How To Build A Girl' Adds Cast, Lionsgate With Shoot Under Way". Deadline Hollywood.
  20. ^ Doreian, Robyn (15 December 2012). "Caitlin Moran: what I know about men". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  21. ^ a b Moran, Caitlin (2011). How to Be a Woman. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194073-7.
  22. ^ Doll, Jen (16 July 2012). "Caitlin Moran on How to Be a Woman, How to Be a Feminist". The Atlantic Wire. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
  23. ^ a b Moran, Caitlin (2020). More Than a Woman. Harper. ISBN 978-0062893710. "social media is a hostile environment for women" (chapter 20)
  24. ^ "#TwitterSilence: Was Caitlin Moran's Twitter boycott an effective form of protest?". The Independent. London. 5 August 2013.
  25. ^ "English A-Level with Russell Brand and Dizzee Rascal on reading list under fire". The Guardian. London. 6 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Mainstream media 'still dominate online news'". BBC News. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  27. ^ Moran, Caitlin (2011). How To Be a Woman. HarperCollins. pp. 275. ISBN 9780062124296.
  28. ^ "Cosmo's Ultimate Women of the Year Awards 2011 announced!". Cosmopolitan UK. 4 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013.
  29. ^ Moran, Caitlin (1992). The Chronicles of Narmo. Corgi. ISBN 0-552-52724-6.
  30. ^ Moran, Caitlin (2012). Moranthology. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194088-1.
  31. ^ Moran, Caitlin (2016). Moranifesto. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0091949044.
  32. ^ Moran, Caitlin (2018). How to be Famous. Harper. ISBN 978-0062433770.
  33. ^ Heritage, Stuart (3 July 2023). "What About Men? by Caitlin Moran review — eavesdropping on women's 'boy talk'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 July 2023.



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