Samantha Ellis

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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] published in the US under the title Always Carry Salt. [4]

Contents

Early life

Ellis was born in London, England, to Iraqi-Jewish parents. [5] [6] She studied English at Queens' College, Cambridge.

Career and works

Ellis's play The Candy Jar was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996. [7] She worked as a journalist, and wrote a column on theatrical history for The Guardian newspaper. [8]

Her play Patching Havoc was produced at Theatre503 in 2003. [9] 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. [10] Her short play A Sudden Visitation of Calamity was produced at Menagerie Theatre in 2008. [11] 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, [12] was produced by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and went on tour. [13] [14] In 2012, she was a founder member of women's theatre company Agent 160. [15]

Her book How to be a Heroine was published by Chatto & Windus in January 2014; [16] and her biography of Anne Brontë, Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life was published in January 2017. [17] In the same years, Ellis worked on the screenplays of Paddington and Paddington 2 . [18] Her third book, Chopping Onions on My Heart, [19] was published by Chatto & Windus in 2025. The Guardian called it "a linguistic feast", [20] 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. ↑ "Always Carry Salt: A Memoir of Preserving Language and Culture | Pegasus Books". pegasusbookstore.com. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "VINTAGE". vintage-books.co.uk.
  6. ↑ Nathan, John (11 February 2010). "Interview: Samantha Ellis". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Ellis, Samantha (19 August 2002). "Aaaargggh! it's Edinburgh". Prospect .
  8. ↑ Ellis, Samantha. "Samantha Ellis". The Guardian. London.
  9. ↑ "US". Independent.co.uk .[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ "What's On: Main Stage: Overview". Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "Associate Playwrights - Menagerie Theatre Company". menagerietheatre.co.uk.
  12. ↑ http://nickhernbooks.co.uk/index.cfm?nid=025E2296-E2B2-4246-8FA9-9E54784CFB37&isbn=9781848420656&sr%5B%5D
  13. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (17 February 2010). "Cling to Me Like Ivy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "What's On". Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "AGENT 160 PRESENTS Agent 160 - LAUNCH SHOW". Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Groskop, Viv (4 January 2014). "How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis – review". The Guardian .
  17. ↑ Goodwin, Daisy (7 January 2017). "Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis". The Times.
  18. ↑ "Samantha Ellis at Greene & Heaton". Greene & Heaton.
  19. ↑ "Chopping Onions on My Heart". penguin.co.uk.
  20. ↑ Kahn-Harris, Keith (18 April 2025). "Chopping Onions on My Heart by Samantha Ellis review – can you save a culture?". The Guardian.
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