Caitlin Moran

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" later "confined to the sofa by osteoarthritis". 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.

Moran attended Springdale Junior School and was then educated at home from the age of 11, having attended Wolverhampton Girls' High School for only three weeks. 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". The children frequently occupied their time with simple games, such as throwing mud at their house. 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.

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.

Journalism and writing career

Throughout her adolescence, Moran was certain that she would pursue a career as a writer. 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.

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.

Moran's semi-autobiographical novel, How to Build a Girl, 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.

Feminism

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

In 2011, Ebury Press published Moran's book How to Be a Woman In September 2020 Ebury Press published its sequel, More Than a Woman, which explores middle age.

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 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

Moran married *The Times''' rock critic Peter Paphides in Coventry on 27 December 1999; they met while both were working for *Melody Maker''. The couple share a home in North London and have two daughters, born in 2001 and 2003.

Awards and honours

• 2010 British Press Awards, Columnist of the Year
• 2011 Cosmopolitan, Ultimate Writer of the Year
• 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
• How to Be a Woman
• Moranthology
• How to Build a Girl
• Moranifesto
• • How to be Famous*
• More Than a Woman
• What About Men?

References

References

1. (13 December 2011). "Caitlin Moran - How To Be a Woman". Penguin Random House UK.
2. Rollman, Hans. (12 November 2014). "Caitlin Moran: Lady Sex Pirate and Working Class Hero". [[PopMatters]].
3. (6 April 2011). "Press Awards 2011: Caitlin Moran's speech". [[The Guardian]].
4. (22 May 2013). "BBC Newsnight journalists win award for spiked Jimmy Savile investigation".
5. "2013 Winners".
6. {{NPG name
7. (17 May 1994). "INTERVIEW / Atrocious mess, precocious mind: Meet Caitlin Moran".
8. Aida Edemariam [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/jun/18/caitlin-moran-interview-book-extract "The Saturday interview: Caitlin Moran"], ''The Guardian'', 18 June 2011.
9. [[BBC Radio 4]]: "My Teenage Diary", First Broadcast 6:30PM Wed, 4 July 2012.
10. ''[[The Times]] 2'', p. 2. 28 December 2011.
11. Thorpe, Vanessa. (15 March 2015). "Caitlin Moran: how to be a Renaissance woman". The Guardian.
12. Orenstein, Peggy. (16 July 2012). "Who Is This Fabulous British Feminist You Never Heard Of?". Slate Magazine.
13. Christie, Janet. (5 July 2014). "Interview: Caitlin Moran, journalist and author". The Scotsman.
14. Moran, Caitlin. (September 2024). "My glorious career? I won it in a competition". The Times.
15. "Pop on trial". [[BBC Online]].
16. 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]].
17. [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/raised-by-wolves/ "Raised by Wolves" page on Channel 4]
18. "Novelist and columnist honoured - Aberystwyth University".
19. "Woman's Hour Power List 2014 – Game Changers". BBC Radio 4.
20. (11 July 2014). "Caitlin Moran explores taboo subjects in her new book 'How to build a girl'". [[BBC Newsnight]].
21. Wiseman, Andreas. (16 July 2018). "Beanie Feldstein Comedy 'How To Build A Girl' Adds Cast, Lionsgate With Shoot Under Way".
22. Doreian, Robyn. (2012-12-15). "Caitlin Moran: what I know about men".
23. Doll, Jen. (16 July 2012). "Caitlin Moran on How to Be a Woman, How to Be a Feminist". [[The Atlantic Wire]].
24. (5 August 2013). "#TwitterSilence: Was Caitlin Moran's Twitter boycott an effective form of protest?". The Independent.
25. (6 May 2014). "English A-Level with Russell Brand and Dizzee Rascal on reading list under fire". The Guardian.
26. (11 June 2014). "Mainstream media 'still dominate online news'". BBC News.
27. Crampton, Robert. "Pop critic Pete Paphides: marriage to Caitlin Moran, his new book, Broken Greek, and 50 favourite albums". [[The Times]].
28. Moran, Caitlin. (2011). "How To Be a Woman". HarperCollins.
29. (4 November 2011). "Cosmo's Ultimate Women of the Year Awards 2011 announced!". Cosmopolitan UK.
30. Moran, Caitlin. (1992). "The Chronicles of Narmo". Corgi.
31. Moran, Caitlin. (2011). "How to Be a Woman". Ebury Press.
32. Moran, Caitlin. (2012). "Moranthology". Ebury Press.
33. Moran, Caitlin. (2014). "How to Build a Girl". Ebury Press.
34. Moran, Caitlin. (2016). "Moranifesto". Ebury Press.
35. Moran, Caitlin. (2018). "How to be Famous". Harper.
36. Moran, Caitlin. (2020). "More Than a Woman". Harper.
37. Heritage, Stuart. (2023-07-03). "What About Men? by Caitlin Moran review — eavesdropping on women's 'boy talk'". [[The Times]].