Caitlin Moran is an English broadcaster, TV critic and columnist at The Times, where she
writes three columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, a TV review column, and the satirical
Friday column "Celebrity Watch". Moran is British Press Awards Columnist of the Year
for 2010, and both BPA Critic of the Year 2011, and Interviewer of the Year 2011.
Early life Moran's Irish father is a one-time "drummer
and psychedelic rock pioneer" who became "confined to the sofa by osteoarthritis". She is the
eldest of eight children and has four sisters and three brothers. She was born in Brighton
and then lived in a three-bedroom council house in Wolverhampton with her parents and
seven siblings, an experience she described as akin to "The Hunger Games". She attended
Springdale Junior School and was then educated at home from the age of 11, having attended
secondary school for only three weeks. Moran and her siblings received no proper
formal education from their parents during this time; the local council allowed them
to do so, as they were "the only hippies in Wolverhampton". The children frequently occupied
their time with simple games, such as throwing mud at their house. Moran describes her childhood
as happy but revealed she left home as soon as she was able, at age 18.
Journalism and writing career Moran was convinced throughout her teenage
years that she would become a writer. 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. She began her
career as a journalist for Melody Maker, the weekly music publication, at the age of 16.
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, 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. Johnny Vaughan co-presented with her on Naked City.
Moran's upbringing inspired her TV drama/comedy series, Raised By Wolves, which began airing
in the UK on Channel 4 in December 2013. In July 2012, Moran became a Fellow of the
University of Aberystwyth. In April 2014, she was named as one of Britain's most influential
women in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014,. Feminism
In 2011, Ebury Press published Moran's book How To Be a Woman in the UK. As of July 2012,
it had sold over 400,000 copies in 16 countries. Twitter
Moran is an influential figure on Twitter. 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.
In 2014, her Twitter feed was recognised for its brevity, impact and register control when
it became a controversial addition to the list of English A-Level set texts. In June
2014 the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reported she was the most influential
British journalist on Twitter. Personal life
In December 1999, Moran married The Times rock critic Peter Paphides in Coventry and
the couple have two daughters, born in 2001 and in 2003.
Awards and honors 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 2011 Irish Book Award, Listeners Choice category,
How to Be A Woman 2011 Cosmopolitan, Ultimate Writer of the
Year 2010 British Press Awards, Columnist of the
Year Bibliography
Moran, Caitlin. The Chronicles of Narmo. Corgi. ISBN 0-552-52724-6.
Moran, Caitlin. How to Be A Woman. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194073-7.
Moran, Caitlin. Moranthology. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194088-1.
Moran, Caitlin. How to Build a Girl. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-194900-6.
References
External links "How To Be a Woman" website site
"Raised by Wolves" page on Channel 4