Melanie Challenger is a writer, researcher and broadcaster on environmental history and philosophy of science, Deputy Co-Chair of the

Nuffield Council on Bioethics The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is a UK-based independent charitable body, which examines and reports on bioethical issues raised by new advances in biological and medical research. Established in 1991, the Council is funded by the Nuffield F ...

, and a Vice President of the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

, UK. She wrote ''How to Be Animal: What it Means to Be Human'' (2021). Her first non-fiction book ''On Extinction: How We Became Estranged from Nature'' was published in 2011. It was selected by

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

as one of the best non-fiction books of 2012 and received the Santa Barbara Library's Green Award for environmental writing. She is a member of CEP, a new global collective of environmental philosophers and a founding member of the ''Animals in the Room'' project, involved in devising new models for representing the interests of non-human animals in decisions critical to their lives.

Early work

Challenger began her career in the arts, writing poetry and

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

. She has published two collections of poetry, ''Galatea'', which won an

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

for poetry in 2005 and was shortlisted for the

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for Best First Collection, and a second collection, ''The Tender Map'' was published in 2017. In 2003, she adapted ''

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', commonly referred to as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of t ...

'' for the choral work '' Annelies'' by

James Whitbourn James Philip Edwin Whitbourn (17 August 1963 – 12 March 2024) was a British composer and conductor. Biography James Whitbourn was born in Kent and educated at Skinners' School before winning a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, wher ...

. As the librettist for British composer Mark Simpson, she provided the text for his oratorio, ''The Immortal'', which won the 2016

South Bank Sky Arts Award The Sky Arts Awards (formerly The South Bank Show Awards and The South Bank Sky Arts Awards) are an accolade recognising British and Irish achievements in the arts. The awards have been given annually since 1997. They originated with the long- ...

for classical music and received its London premiere at the 2017 BBC Proms under

Juanjo Mena Juanjo Mena (born Juan José Mena; born 21 September 1965) is a Spanish conductor. Biography Mena was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country, where he began his music studies at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Conservatory. He later attended the ...

. Their first opera together, ''Pleasure'', was co-commissioned by

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays a ...

and

Aldeburgh Music Britten Pears Arts is a large music education organisation based in Suffolk, England. It aims to continue the legacy of composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, singer Peter Pears, and to promote the enjoyment and experience of music for all ...

Publications

* * *

References

General references

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Challenger, Melanie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Exeter College, Oxford British writers British broadcasters Librettists 21st-century British poets RSPCA workers