Savannah Brown

Savannah Brown (born c. 1996) is an American-British poet and author.

Savannah Brown
Bornc. 1996
Cleveland, Ohio
NationalityAmerican and British
Occupation(s)Poet, author
Years active2011-present
Websitehttp://www.savbrown.com

Early life

Brown was born in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] She credits the poems of Edgar Allan Poe and her eleventh grade English teacher for cultivating her interest in poetry.[2] She graduated from Wadsworth High School in 2014 then shortly after moved to London.[1]

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.[3]

At age 19, Brown self-published a collection of poetry titled Gratffiti (and other poems) which was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards.[4][5] In 2020 she released a second poetry collection called Sweetdark.[6] 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".[6] In Redbrick, Sam Wait states "Brown has succeeded in writing a collection that, though deeply personal, is universally relatable".[7] 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".[8] In Our Culture Magazine, Konstantinos Pappis describes Brown's work as having "a mix of wry self-awareness and earnest sincerity".[9]

It was announced in 2018 that Brown had signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House.[10] 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.[11] The book was generally well-received, a review from Kirkus citing it as a "captivatingly moody, introspective drama".[12] 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".[13] Her second novel The Things We Don't See was released in 2021.[14] Brown's novels are recognized for their LGBT protagonists.[15]

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.[16][17] More than 90,000 poems have been written for the event since.[8]

Brown has also acted as a judge for the National Poetry Day competition run in collaboration with Arts Council England and The Poetry Society.[18]

Personal life

Brown identifies as bisexual.[19] In April 2023, she became a British citizen.[20]

Bibliography

Collections
  • Graffiti (and other poems) (2016)
  • Sweetdark (2020)

Novels

References
  1. Canning-Dean, Emily. "WHS grad publishes novel with Penguin Random House". The Post Newspapers. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  2. Shunyata, Kaiya (2020-10-08). "Sci-fi, Inspirations and Sweetdark: A Conversation with Savannah Brown". obscur. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  3. Schugart, Annie (2014-06-20). "How This YouTube Star Took Down The Haters In An Epic Slam Poem". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  4. Fitzgerald, Clare (4 February 2016). "Savannah Brown to Release Book of Poetry". TenEighty. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  5. Mitchell, Julia (21 November 2016). "Savannah Brown Reaches Goodreads Choice Awards Final". TenEighty. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  6. Mahale, Jenna (2020-10-12). "The poet articulating your deepest existential fears". i-D. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  7. Wait, Sam (2020-09-26). "Review: Sweetdark by Savannah Brown". Redbrick. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  8. 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 2022-02-18.
  9. Pappis, Konstantinos (2020-12-05). ""In the Curl of an Infinity": Existential Wonder in Savannah Brown's 'Sweetdark'". Our Culture. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  10. Eyre, Charlotte (9 March 2018). "Poet Savannah Brown pens YA thriller". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  11. "Savannah Brown discusses her debut novel, The Truth About Keeping Secrets and why she writes YA". United By Pop. 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  12. THE TRUTH ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS. Kirkus Review. 2020.
  13. Bittner, Rob. "Truth about Keeping Secrets, by Savannah Brown". Booklist.
  14. Brown, Savannah. The Things We Don't See. www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  15. Adler, Dahlia. "30 LGBTQ YA Books You'll Absolutely Want To Pick Up This Spring". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  16. Belcher, Sara (2021-04-02). "This Young Writer Is Behind Escapril — Write a Poem Every Day in April". Distractify. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  17. Anne, Kelly (24 February 2019). "Savannah Brown Announces 30-Day Poetry Challenge". TenEighty.
  18. "Speak Your Truth Poem". National Poetry Day. 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  19. Griffin, Louise. "Can YouTube Combat Bisexual Erasure?". TenEighty.
  20. "savannah brown on Instagram: "havin fun performing…reading...obtaining citizenship(!!!!!!)..scheming…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
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