Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Taffy Brodesser-Akner (born Stephanie Akner) is an American journalist and author. She has worked freelance and as a contributor for GQ and The New York Times, where she is now a staff writer. Her profiles of celebrities have won her the New York Press Club Award and Mirror Award.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Born
Stephanie Akner

1975/1976 (age 44–45)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)
Claude Brodesser-Akner
​
​
(m. 2006)​
Children2
Websitewww.taffyakner.com

Personal life

Born Stephanie Akner, Brodesser-Akner received the nickname "Taffy" at a young age and continued using it professionally.[1] She grew up in Brooklyn, New York,[2] in an Orthodox Jewish household.[3] She attended New York University and married Claude Brodesser in 2006.[2] Brodesser converted to Judaism[2] and eventually grew more observant than his wife.[4] After marrying, both took hyphenated last names.[1] They have two children.[5]

Career

Brodesser-Akner's first major journalism job was at Soap Opera Weekly, a job she held until her role was eliminated due to layoffs in June 2001.[6] She also wrote for Mediabistro[7] and did freelance pieces for magazines including ESPN The Magazine, GQ, and Texas Monthly. The Columbia Journalism Review called her "one of the nation's most successful freelance writers".[8] Her freelance articles often focused on celebrity profiles, several of which went viral.[9] In 2014, she became a contributing writer to both The New York Times and GQ.[7] In 2017, she became a full-time staff writer for The New York Times.[9]

In 2014, Brodesser-Akner won a New York Press Club Award for entertainment news in a magazine for her story about actress Gaby Hoffmann.[10] She won two New York Press Club awards in 2015, for her profiles of Damon Lindelof and Britney Spears.[11] The same year, Brodesser-Akner was nominated for a Mirror Award for her profile of Jill Soloway,[12] and she won the award in 2016 for her profile of broadcaster Don Lemon.[13]

Her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, was published in June 2019 by Random House in the US[14][15] and by Wildfire in the UK.[16] The novel was selected for the longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020.[17]

References
  1. Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2013-07-30). "If Your Name Isn't Jolie-Pitt or Beyoncé Knowles-Carter: To Hyphenate or Ditch the Dash?". Vogue. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  2. Brown, Janelle (2006-04-06). "Taffy Akner and Claude Brodesser". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  3. Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2017-03-30). "The High Price of Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  4. Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2010-05-27). "Intermarried: My Husband, a Convert, Is More Observant Than I Am". Tablet. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  5. Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2018-07-25). "How Goop's Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow's Company Worth $250 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  6. Small, Jonathan (November 13, 2017). "Ep. 9 — New York Times Culture Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner On Celebrity Profiles, Personal Essays, and Her Bizarre Brush with British Tabloid Fame from Write About Now". www.WriteAboutNow.com. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  7. Horgan, Richard (2014-10-22). "Taffy Brodesser-Akner Makes a Splash With GQ Feature Debut". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  8. Croatto, Pete (2017-10-27). "The most annoying thing an editor can do". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  9. Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (2017-06-28). "New York Times Adds Feature Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner to Staff". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  10. O'Shea, Chris (2014-06-04). "NY Press Club Award Winners Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  11. "The New York Press Club Journalism Awards". New York Press Club. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  12. O'Shea, Chris (2015-04-15). "2015 Mirror Awards Finalists Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  13. O'Shea, Chris (2016-06-09). "Mirror Award Winners Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  14. "Book Marks reviews of Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner". Book Marks. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
  15. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49088173
  16. https://www.headline.co.uk/imprint/headline/page/wildfire/
  17. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/03/womens-prize-for-fiction-lines-up-heavy-hitters-on-2020-longlist
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