Wikipedia

Shon Faye

Shon Faye (born 27 March 1988) is an English writer, editor, journalist, and presenter, known for her commentary on LGBTQ+, women's, and mental health issues. She hosts the podcast Call Me Mother and is the author of the 2021 book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice. She was an editor-at-large at Dazed and has contributed features and comment journalism to The Guardian, The Independent, VICE, n+1, Attitude, Vogue, Verso and others.

Shon Faye
Faye in 2021
Faye in 2021
Born (1988-03-27) 27 March 1988 (age 36)
Bristol, England
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Subjects

Early life and education

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Faye was born in Bristol.[1] She studied English Literature at the University of Oxford, followed by a Graduate Diploma in Law.[2] Faye moved to London in her early twenties, where she worked as a lawyer.[3] In Faye's own words, she later "had a complete implosion, quit my job, moved back to Bristol and came out as a trans woman".[3] She is now based in London.[1]

Career

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Faye began her writing career in 2014.[4] The focus of Faye's editing and writing has been sexuality, feminism and mental health.[5][3][6][7] She has written and appeared in two short films[8] and her debut, 'Catechism',[9] was exhibited at the Tate Britain 'Queer British Art' exhibition in 2017.[10][11] She presented an online video series called Shon This Way[12] for Novara Media in 2017, which dealt with queer politics and history.

 
Faye at the British Library in 2022.

In a 2017 historical review for The Guardian, political columnist Owen Jones cited Faye, along with Paris Lees and Munroe Bergdorf, as emerging "brilliant trans voices".[13] Her art has been exhibited in the show Am I Making Sense at the Hoxton Arches.[14] In 2017, Faye used her column in The Guardian to call attention to the need for trans women to have access to support services in response to rape and domestic violence.[15] In 2018, she presented at Amnesty International's Women Making History event, where she gave a speech calling for the public to "re-centre" underprivileged trans women.[16][17]

She hosts Call Me Mother,[18][19] a podcast that "rails against the patronising image that reaching your 60s and 70s involves sitting under a blanket and knitting, by talking to older LGBTQ trailblazers," according to The Guardian.[20] A review of the podcast in GQ includes, "This isn’t just a podcast for queer people, anybody can listen and enjoy the stories being shared and learn something about queer life."[21] Erin Patterson wrote for British Vogue that the podcast "highlights to me that I have a history as a queer person, I have ancestry."[22]

In 2021, Faye published The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, described in a review by Fiona Sturges of The Guardian as "sobering reading". Sturges writes, "I had anticipated raw fury, but while the author talks about the ways trans people are publicly monstered, hers is a cool dismantling of the myths and falsehoods that continue to blight their lives."[23] Felix Moore writes in a review for The Guardian that "many cisgender people live in blissful ignorance of the acute crises that face trans people in this country every day" and "It is those people who really need to read this book."[24] In a review for the Evening Standard, Stella O'Malley described the book as "a welcome contribution to the trans debate".[25] In a review for The Times Literary Supplement, Christine Burns writes, "This will be a challenging book for those lulled by the nonsense that sometimes passes for journalism about trans lives."[26]

In March 2022 it was announced that Faye would release a second non-fiction book Love in Exile, due out in 2025, again on Allen Lane. Love in Exile is set to explore concepts of love and fulfillment in a lonely age.[27][28]

Faye is a supporter of the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals, and was an original signatory of the manifesto "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions".[29]

Works

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  • Faye, Shon (2021). The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 9780241423141.[18][19][30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Shon Faye". Penguin. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  2. ^ Levine, Nick (1 September 2021). "Interview: Shon Faye on why The Transgender Issue is a call to arms". The Face. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Jones, Dylan (8 May 2019). "QX meets…Shon Faye". QX. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  4. ^ AnOther (1 April 2021). "Shon Faye Is Telling Queer History Like It's Never Been Told Before". AnOther. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  5. ^ Faye, Shon (22 November 2018). "Shon Faye On Changing The Conversation Around Trans Rights". British Vogue. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  6. ^ Pavka, Evan (29 June 2020). "What Do We Mean By Queer Space?". Azure. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Campaigner Shon Faye shows exactly how you should deal with horrific anti-trans stickers". www.pinknews.co.uk. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  8. ^ "8 Trans Trailblazers Unite to Fight Gender Based Violence". Out. Out.com Editors. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ Dazed (5 July 2017). "This film turns society's queerphobia back on itself". Dazed. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Queer British Art 1861–1967". Tate. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2021. Tate Britain 5 April - 1 October 2017
  11. ^ Hall, Jake (18 April 2017). "Tate Britain's landmark survey of queer British art is a hymn to resistance". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Shon This Way". Novara Media. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  13. ^ Jones, Owen (15 December 2017). "Anti-trans zealots, know this: history will judge you". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  14. ^ Flynn, Niall (31 October 2017). "The art show exploring self-worth in the 21st century". Huck. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  15. ^ Faye, Shon (21 November 2017). "Trans women need access to rape and domestic violence services. Here's why". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  16. ^ Andersson, Jasmine (20 May 2018). "Shon Faye asks public to 'centre trans women' in Amnesty speech after petition called for her removal". Pink News. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  17. ^ Dommu, Rose (20 May 2018). "Shon Faye Calls for Centering of Trans Women in Feminist Movements Following Transphobic Petition". Out. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  18. ^ a b Greig, James (1 April 2021). "Shon Faye Is Telling Queer History Like It's Never Been Told Before". AnOther. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  19. ^ a b Parsons, Vic (16 April 2021). "Author Shon Faye on trans liberation, prison abolition and remembering our queer history". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  20. ^ Verdier, Hannah; Davies, Hannah J; Toussaint-Strauss, Josh (19 March 2021). "Warmth and wisdom from queer trailblazers – podcasts of the week". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  21. ^ Blacklock, Hannah; Jones, Annie; Maoui, Zak (5 April 2021). "Ten coolest things to do from home right now". GQ. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  22. ^ Paterson, Erin (18 April 2021). "The Queer Community Has A Long & Meaningful History – And An Empowered Future". British Vogue. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  23. ^ Sturges, Fiona (13 October 2021). "The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a call for compassion". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  24. ^ Moore, Felix (19 September 2021). "The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a cry for compassion". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  25. ^ O'Malley, Stella (9 September 2021). "The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review: Clear and concise analysis of the issues facing trans people". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  26. ^ Burns, Christine (5 November 2021). "The real issues: Shaking the status quo by the lapels". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  27. ^ AnOther (21 June 2022). "Shon Faye Is the Star of On's New Campaign". AnOther. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  28. ^ Bayley, Sian (16 March 2022). "Allen Lane lands 'ground-breaking' non-fiction from Shon Faye". The Bookseller. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  29. ^ "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  30. ^ Thompson, Hannah; Zwieglinska, Zofia (15 April 2021). "27 Inspiring LBGTQ+ Books Everyone Needs On Their Bookshelf". ELLE. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
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