Samantha Ellis is a British playwright and writer best known for her book '' How to be a Heroine'' and her play '' How to Date a Feminist''.

Early life

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

Career and works

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper. Her play ''Patching Havoc'' was produced at Theatre503 in 2003. Her radio play ''Sugar and Snow'', set in the Kurdish community in north London, was produced on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in 2006 and given a reading at the Hampstead Theatre. Her short play ''A Sudden Visitation of Calamity'' was produced at Menagerie Theatre in 2008. In 2010 her play ''The Thousand and Second Night'' was produced by LAMDA. In 2010 her play ''Cling To Me Like Ivy'', published by Nick Hern Books, was produced by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and went on tour. In 2012 she was a founder member of women's theatre company Agent 160. Her book ''How to be a Heroine'' was published by Chatto & Windus in January 2014, and her biography of Anne Brontë ''Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life'' was published in January 2017. Her third boo
Chopping Onions on my Heart
was published by Chatto & Windus in 2025. The Guardian called it
a linguistic feast
. The Observer called it " a gift to the future".

References

External links

Samantha Ellis's website
* https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/05/too-sticky-too-saucy-too-weird-could-i-persuade-my-son-to-eat-the-food-of-my-heritage * https://www.ft.com/content/c9149d3c-1225-4b43-b9ba-49ac847406db {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Samantha Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Jewish dramatists and playwrights Living people 1975 births English people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish English writers Writers from London English women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English women writers People educated at the City of London School for Girls Jewish women writers