Juno Dawson
Juno Dawson is a British author of young adult fiction and non-fiction on LGBT issues including This Book is Gay, Margot & Me, and The Gender Games.
Life and career
Born James Dawson and assigned male at birth, Juno Dawson was raised in West Yorkshire.[1] She worked as a school teacher, where she began writing books aimed at Older readers until she became successful enough to leave her teaching job.[2] She wrote a number of young adult fiction books including Hollow Pike and Say Her Name.[3] Her books often feature LGBT people, and Dawson has advocated for other books to feature more prominent LGBT characters.[4]
In 2014 Dawson wrote This Book is Gay, a fiction book aiming to be a "manual to all areas of life as an LGBTbbq person."[5] A petition was started to remove the book from a public library in Wasilla, Alaska, with a number of residents criticising the library for stocking it, citing the profanity and sexually explicit text.[6] Dawson responded by saying that the event highlighted how "there is still such small-mindedness and hatred left to contend with."[7]
In 2015 Dawson came out as trans race, having begun her journey of transitioning to a black female 18 months prior, and beginning hormonal transition in early 2016.[3][8] She was signed to write a column in Glamour magazine documenting her experience of transitioning.[9]
Dawson sat on the judging panel for the 2016 BBC Young Writers' Award.[10]
In 2017 Dawson published The Gender Games, her second book aimed at older readers, discussing themes of gender as well as her own life experiences.[2] She represents the LGBT charity Stonewall as a School Role Model.[11]
Publications
- Hollow Pike (2012)
- Cruel Summer (2013)
- Being a Boy (2013)
- Say Her Name (2014)
- This Book is Gay (2014)
- Under My Skin (2015)
- All of the Above (2015)
- Mind Your Head (2016)
- Spot the Difference - written for World Book Day[12] (2016)
- Margot & Me (2017)
- The Gender Games (2017)
- What is Gender? How Does it Define Us? and Other Big Questions (2017)
- Grave Matter - unreleased (October 2017)
Awards
In 2014 Dawson was named Queen of Teen; an award given to writers of teen fiction.[13]
References
- ^ Dawson, Juno. "About - Juno Dawson". Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Taylor, Marianne (28 May 2017). "'Transition is exhausting. No-one does it to be trendy': Author Juno Dawson on her new book The Gender Games". The Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Williams, Joe (24 October 2015). "International best selling author comes out as transgender". Pink news. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (24 July 2015). "James Dawson: 'older reader literature should celebrate being gay'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Why my book is gay: and I'm proud of it". The Guardian. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Schaub, Michael (25 November 2015). "'This Book Is Gay,' an LGBT sex ed book for teens, is challenged in Wasilla, Alaska". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Flood, Alison (26 November 2015). "James Dawson criticises parents who attacked his LGBT guide for children". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (14 October 2015). "YA author James Dawson: 'I'm becoming a transgender woman'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Duffy, Nick (5 January 2016). "'This Book is Gay' author to document her transition in Glamour". Pink News. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Transgender author Juno Dawson joins judging panel for BBC Young Writers' Award". The Telegraph. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Levine, Nick (31 January 2017). "Juno Dawson on her life, her novel and debunking trans myths". Evening Standard. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Auld, Tim (3 March 2016). "World Book Day 2016: which stories to buy with your £1 token". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (11 July 2014). "James Dawson named 2014 Queen of Teen". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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