Savannah Brown | |
---|---|
Born | (1996-07-21) 21 July 1996 (age 28) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
Nationality | American and British |
Occupation(s) | Poet, author, Twitch streamer |
Years active | 2011–present |
Website | www |
Savannah Brown (born 21 July 1996) is an American-British poet and author.
Early life
Brown was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. She credits the poems of Edgar Allan Poe and her eleventh grade English teacher for cultivating her interest in poetry. She graduated from Wadsworth High School in 2014 then shortly after moved to London.
Career
Brown gained prominence after videos of her performing original poems, one exploring the topic of self-love and another about female sexuality, went viral.
At age 19, Brown self-published a collection of poetry titled Graffiti (and other poems), which was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards. In 2020 she released a second poetry collection called Sweetdark. Writing about Sweetdark for i-D, Jenna Mahale notes the collection "explores how we live vulnerably, pleasurably, and chaotically at the end of the world". In Redbrick, Sam Wait states "Brown has succeeded in writing a collection that, though deeply personal, is universally relatable". Of her poetry, Brown has said "I’m interested in acknowledging that so many small and human things are happening while out of frame there’s, like, a star collapsing". In Our Culture Mag, Konstantinos Pappis describes Brown's work as having "a mix of wry self-awareness and earnest sincerity".
It was announced in 2018 that Brown had signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House. The first book was published in 2019, a young adult thriller called The Truth About Keeping Secrets about a teenager dealing with intense grief after the sudden death of her father. Brown has said the story was inspired by her own fear of death. The book was generally well-received, a review from Kirkus citing it as a "captivatingly moody, introspective drama". Writing for Booklist, Rob Bittner says Brown's debut "will satisfy fans of mystery who yearn for a proverbial path of breadcrumbs leading to a hopeful, satisfying conclusion". Her second novel The Things We Don't See was released in 2021. Brown's novels are recognized for their LGBT protagonists.
In 2019, Brown started a 30-day poetry challenge called Escapril in which participants are tasked to write an original poem every day of April, which she still runs annually. More than 90,000 poems have been written for the event since.
Brown has also acted as a judge for the National Poetry Day competition run in collaboration with Arts Council England and The Poetry Society.
Brown started streaming on Twitch in early 2023.
Personal life
Brown is autistic and identifies as bisexual. In April 2023, she became a British citizen.
Bibliography
Collections
- Graffiti (and other poems) (2016)
- Sweetdark (2020)
- Closer Baby Closer (2023)
Novels
- The Truth About Keeping Secrets (Penguin Random House, 2019)
- The Things We Don't See (Penguin Random House, 2021)
References
- ^ Canning-Dean, Emily (14 April 2018). "WHS grad publishes novel with Penguin Random House". The Post Newspapers. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Shunyata, Kaiya (8 October 2020). "Sci-fi, Inspirations and Sweetdark: A Conversation with Savannah Brown". obscur. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Schugart, Annie (20 June 2014). "How This YouTube Star Took Down The Haters In An Epic Slam Poem". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Fitzgerald, Clare (4 February 2016). "Savannah Brown to Release Book of Poetry". TenEighty. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Mitchell, Julia (21 November 2016). "Savannah Brown Reaches Goodreads Choice Awards Final". TenEighty. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ Mahale, Jenna (12 October 2020). "The poet articulating your deepest existential fears". i-D. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Wait, Sam (26 September 2020). "Review: Sweetdark by Savannah Brown". Redbrick. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Gupta, Saachi (3 August 2021). "Exploring the Intimacy of Privacy, Savannah Brown Talks "The Things We Don't See", Social Media & More". The Luna Collective. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Pappis, Konstantinos (5 December 2020). ""In the Curl of an Infinity": Existential Wonder in Savannah Brown's 'Sweetdark'". Our Culture. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Eyre, Charlotte (9 March 2018). "Poet Savannah Brown pens YA thriller". The Bookseller. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Savannah Brown discusses her debut novel, The Truth About Keeping Secrets and why she writes YA". United By Pop. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- THE TRUTH ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS. Kirkus Review. 2020.
- Bittner, Rob. "Truth about Keeping Secrets, by Savannah Brown". Booklist.
- Brown, Savannah (24 June 2021). The Things We Don't See. Retrieved 18 February 2022 – via Penguin.co.uk.
- Adler, Dahlia (30 April 2020). "30 LGBTQ YA Books You'll Absolutely Want To Pick Up This Spring". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Belcher, Sara (2 April 2021). "This Young Writer Is Behind Escapril — Write a Poem Every Day in April". Distractify. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Anne, Kelly (24 February 2019). "Savannah Brown Announces 30-Day Poetry Challenge". TenEighty.
- "Speak Your Truth Poem". National Poetry Day. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Brown, Savannah. "@savannahbrown on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- "savannah brown on Twitter: hello i was officially diagnosed w autism today…this will probably not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me even a little ha but it's a big relief to know for sure. feeling a little sad but much lighter".
- Griffin, Louise. "Can YouTube Combat Bisexual Erasure?". TenEighty.
- "savannah brown on Instagram: "havin fun performing…reading...obtaining citizenship(!!!!!!)..scheming…"". Instagram. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- 1996 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American poets
- 21st-century American women writers
- American bisexual women
- American bisexual writers
- American emigrants to England
- American LGBTQ poets
- American Twitch (service) streamers
- American women poets
- American writers with disabilities
- Autistic LGBTQ people
- Autistic writers
- Bisexual poets
- Bisexual women writers
- LGBTQ YouTubers
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- Poets from Ohio
- Writers from Cleveland
- YouTubers from Cleveland