Juno Dawson

Juno Dawson is a British writer of young adult fiction and non-fiction, including This Book is Gay, Margot & Me, and The Gender Games.

Juno Dawson
BornJames Dawson
(1981-07-10)10 July 1981
Bingley, West Yorkshire
OccupationAuthor, columnist
NationalityBritish
EducationBingley Grammar School
Alma materBangor University
GenreYoung adult fiction
Website
junodawson.com

Life and career

Juno Dawson was born 10 July 1981 as James Dawson in Bradford Royal Infirmary,[1] West Yorkshire, lived in Bingley and was educated at Bingley Grammar School.[2][3] After graduating from Bangor University,[2] she worked as a primary school teacher and later became a PSHE co-ordinator.[4] While working as a teacher, she began writing books aimed at young adults until she became successful enough to leave her job.[5] She wrote a number of young adult fiction books including Hollow Pike and Say Her Name.[6] Her books often feature LGBT people, and Dawson has advocated for other books to feature more prominent LGBT characters.[7]

In 2014, Dawson wrote This Book is Gay, a non-fiction book aiming to be a "manual to all areas of life as an LGBT person."[8] 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.[9] Dawson responded by saying that the event highlighted how "there is still such small-mindedness and hatred left to contend with."[10] In the same year, she was a recipient of the Queen of Teen award.

In 2015, Dawson came out as a transgender woman, having begun her journey of transitioning 18 months prior, and beginning hormonal transition in early 2016.[6][11] She was signed to write a column in Glamour magazine documenting her experience of transitioning.[12] She represents the LGBT charity Stonewall as a School Role Model.[13] Dawson sat on the judging panel for the 2016 BBC Young Writers' Award.[14]

In 2017, Dawson published The Gender Games, her first book aimed at adults, discussing themes of gender as well as her own life experiences.[5] Television rights to the book were acquired in 2018 by SunnyMarch, the production company founded by Benedict Cumberbatch.[15]

In 2018, it was announced that Dawson would be writing a novel called The Good Doctor, one of the first Doctor Who novels to feature the Thirteenth Doctor as played by Jodie Whittaker, released in October.[16][17] She also contributed audio plays for the Big Finish Torchwood range.

Awards

In 2014 Dawson won the 'Queen of Teen' award, a biennial prize (discontinued in 2016) for young adult fiction writers.[18]

Works
  • 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)
  • Torchwood: The Dollhouse (2016)
  • Spot the Difference - written for World Book Day[19] (2016)
  • Margot & Me (2017)
  • The Gender Games (2017)
  • What is Gender? How Does it Define Us? and Other Big Questions (2017)
  • Grave Matter (2017)
  • Torchwood: Orr (2017)
  • Clean (2018)
  • Doctor Who: The Good Doctor (2018)
  • Meat Market (2019)
  • Proud (2019)

References
  1. Kay, Adam (2020). "Juno Dawson". Dear NHS 100 Stories to say Thank You. ISBN 978-1-3987-0118-2.
  2. Juno Dawson (2017). The Gender Games.
  3. Hogan, Michael (1 April 2018). "Juno Dawson: 'Teenagers have seen things that would make milk curdle'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. Armstrong, Rebecca (20 April 2018). "Juno Dawson on sex education: 'Nobody had thought to tell these young people that sex was pleasurable'". i. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  5. 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.
  6. Williams, Joe (24 October 2015). "International best selling author comes out as transgender". Pink news. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  7. Hawkes, Rebecca (24 July 2015). "James Dawson: 'Young Adult literature should celebrate being gay'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  8. "Why my book is gay: and I'm proud of it". The Guardian. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  9. 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.
  10. Flood, Alison (26 November 2015). "James Dawson criticises parents who attacked his LGBT guide for children". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  11. Hawkes, Rebecca (14 October 2015). "YA author James Dawson: 'I'm becoming a transgender woman'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  12. Duffy, Nick (5 January 2016). "'This Book is Gay' author to document her transition in Glamour". Pink News. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  13. Levine, Nick (31 January 2017). "Juno Dawson on her life, her novel and debunking trans myths". Evening Standard. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  14. "Transgender author Juno Dawson joins judging panel for BBC Young Writers' Award". The Telegraph. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  15. Kroll, Justin (4 June 2018). "Benedict Cumberbatch's SunnyMarch Banner Lands TV Rights to Memoir 'The Gender Games'". Variety. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  16. Cowdrey, Katherine (10 May 2018). "Alderman and Dawson to write Doctor Who tales". The Bookseller.
  17. Alderman, Naomi (11 May 2018). "New Doctor Who regenerated in fiction by Juno Dawson and Naomi Alderman". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  18. Eyre, Charlotte (11 February 2016). "The Book People closes Queen of Teen award". The Bookseller. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  19. Auld, Tim (3 March 2016). "World Book Day 2016: which stories to buy with your £1 token". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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