Caitlin Moran

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Catherine Elizabeth Moran (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, broadcaster,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, she was named Columnist of the Year by the London Press Club,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Culture Commentator at the Comment Awards in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web The Comment Awards</ref><ref name=npg>Template:NPG name</ref>

Early life

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"<ref name="independent.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref> later "confined to the sofa by osteoarthritis".<ref>Aida Edemariam "The Saturday interview: Caitlin Moran", The Guardian, 18 June 2011.</ref> 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.<ref name=TEEN>BBC Radio 4: "My Teenage Diary", First Broadcast 6:30PM Wed, 4 July 2012.</ref>

Moran attended Springdale Junior School and was then educated at home from the age of 11, having attended Wolverhampton Girls' High School<ref name="independent.co.uk"/> for only three weeks.<ref>The Times 2, p. 2. 28 December 2011.</ref> 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".<ref name=TEEN/> The children frequently occupied their time with simple games, such as throwing mud at their house.<ref name=TEEN/> Moran describes her childhood as happy, but said that she left home as soon as she was able to do so at the age of 18.<ref name=TEEN/>

Moran's birth name was Catherine; she renamed herself Caitlin, pronounced KAT-lin, when she was 14, having seen the name in a novel by Jilly Cooper.<ref name="q842">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="b798">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="w140">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name=TEEN/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> She began her career as a journalist for Melody Maker, the weekly music publication, at the age of 16.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=wolves>"Raised by Wolves" page on Channel 4</ref>

In July 2012, Moran became a Fellow of the University of Aberystwyth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2014, she was named as one of Britain's most influential women in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Moran's semi-autobiographical novel, How to Build a Girl,<ref name=htbag/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite videoTemplate:Cbignore</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Feminism

Moran recalls becoming a feminist after reading The Female Eunuch as a child.<ref name="Sydney-know">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, Ebury Press published Moran's book How to Be a Woman<ref name=htbaw/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2020 Ebury Press published its sequel, More Than a Woman, which explores middle age.<ref name=mtaw/>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2014, her Twitter feed became a controversial addition to the list of English A-Level set texts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2014 the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reported she was the most influential British journalist on Twitter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Moran married The Times' rock critic Peter Paphides in Coventry on 27 December 1999; they met while both were working for Melody Maker.<ref name="Sydney-know" /><ref name="Times-50favs">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="book-how-woman">Template:Cite book</ref> The couple share a home in North London<ref name="Times-50favs" /> and have two daughters, born in 2001 and 2003.<ref name="Sydney-know" /><ref name="book-how-woman" />

Awards and honours

• 2010 British Press Awards, Columnist of the Year
• 2011 Cosmopolitan, Ultimate Writer of the Year<ref name="cosmo-2011">Template:Cite journal</ref>
• 2011 Irish Book Award, Listeners Choice category, How to Be A Woman
• 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards, Book of the Year, How to Be A Woman
• 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards, Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year, How to Be A Woman
• 2011 British Press Awards, Interviewer of the Year
• 2011 British Press Awards, Critic of the Year
• 2012 Glamour Awards, Writer of the Year
• 2015 Glamour Awards, Columnist of the Year

Bibliography

• The Chronicles of Narmo<ref name=narmo>Template:Cite book</ref>
• How to Be a Woman<ref name=htbaw>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Moranthology<ref name=moranthology>Template:Cite book</ref>
• How to Build a Girl<ref name=htbag>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Moranifesto<ref name=moranifesto>Template:Cite book</ref>
• How to be Famous<ref name=htbf>Template:Cite book</ref>
• More Than a Woman<ref name=mtaw>Template:Cite book</ref>
• What About Men?<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

References

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