Samantha Ellis

Last updated

Samantha Ellis
Born
London, England
Alma mater Queens' College, Cambridge
OccupationsPlaywright and writer
Website samanthaellis.me.uk

Samantha Ellis is a British playwright and writer best known for her book How to Be a Heroine , [1] her play How to Date a Feminist , [2] and her book Chopping Onions on My Heart. [3]

Contents

Early life

Ellis was born in London, England, to Iraqi-Jewish parents. [4] [5] She studied English at Queens' College, Cambridge.

Career and works

Ellis's play The Candy Jar was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996. [6] She worked as a journalist, and wrote a column on theatrical history for The Guardian newspaper. [7]

Her play Patching Havoc was produced at Theatre503 in 2003. [8] Her radio play Sugar and Snow, set in the Kurdish community in north London, was produced on BBC Radio 4 in 2006 and given a reading at the Hampstead Theatre. [9] Her short play A Sudden Visitation of Calamity was produced at Menagerie Theatre in 2008. [10] In 2010 her play The Thousand and Second Night was produced by LAMDA.[ citation needed ] In 2010, her play Cling to Me Like Ivy, published by Nick Hern Books, [11] was produced by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and went on tour. [12] [13] In 2012, she was a founder member of women's theatre company Agent 160. [14]

Her book How to be a Heroine was published by Chatto & Windus in January 2014; [15] and her biography of Anne Brontë, Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life was published in January 2017. [16] In the same years, Ellis worked on the screenplays of Paddington and Paddington 2 . [17] Her third book, Chopping Onions on My Heart, [18] was published by Chatto & Windus in 2025. The Guardian called it "a linguistic feast", [19] and The Observer called it "a gift to the future". [3]

References

  1. "How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis – review". The Guardian . 4 January 2014.
  2. "How to Date a Feminist". Nick Hern Books.
  3. 1 2 Merritt, Stephanie (6 April 2025). "Chopping Onions on My Heart by Samantha Ellis review – an Iraqi Jew's celebration of an endangered culture". The Observer .
  4. "VINTAGE". vintage-books.co.uk.
  5. Nathan, John (11 February 2010). "Interview: Samantha Ellis". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  6. Ellis, Samantha (19 August 2002). "Aaaargggh! it's Edinburgh". Prospect .
  7. Ellis, Samantha. "Samantha Ellis". The Guardian. London.
  8. "US". Independent.co.uk .[ dead link ]
  9. "What's On: Main Stage: Overview". Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  10. "Associate Playwrights - Menagerie Theatre Company". menagerietheatre.co.uk.
  11. http://nickhernbooks.co.uk/index.cfm?nid=025E2296-E2B2-4246-8FA9-9E54784CFB37&isbn=9781848420656&sr%5B%5D
  12. Gardner, Lyn (17 February 2010). "Cling to Me Like Ivy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  13. "What's On". Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  14. "AGENT 160 PRESENTS Agent 160 - LAUNCH SHOW". Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  15. Groskop, Viv (4 January 2014). "How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis – review". The Guardian .
  16. Goodwin, Daisy (7 January 2017). "Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis". The Times.
  17. "Samantha Ellis at Greene & Heaton". Greene & Heaton.
  18. "Chopping Onions on My Heart". penguin.co.uk.
  19. Kahn-Harris, Keith (18 April 2025). "Chopping Onions on My Heart by Samantha Ellis review – can you save a culture?". The Guardian.