PalFest 2008- Ian Jack and Brigid Keenan take a workshop (cropped 2)

Brigid Ann Keenan (born 1939) is an author and journalist. She was born in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

, India, where her father was an officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

during the Raj. Her family repatriated to the United Kingdom after India's independence in 1947, and she was subsequently sent to convent schools in England and a finishing school in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Keenan has worked as an editor on ''

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

'' magazine, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. Her older sister

Moira Keenan Moira Keenan (1933 – 16 October 1972) was a British fashion and lifestyle journalist. Life and work Keenan grew up in India where her father, Brigadier-General John Keenan served as a British officer of the Indian Army. She and her sisters ...

(1933-1972) was also a successful journalist who worked as Woman's Editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' whilst Keenan had the same role at ''The Observer''. When Keenan secured her job at ''The Sunday Times'', the paper had mistaken her for her older, and at the time, more successful sister. After marrying a European Union diplomat, Keenan left her successful career as a fashion editor to become a

trailing spouse The term trailing spouse is used to describe a person who follows their life partner to another city because of a work assignment. The term is often associated with people involved in an expatriate assignment but is also used by academia on domestic ...

and best-selling author. Her published works include ''The Women We Wanted to Look Like'' (1978), ''Dior in Vogue'' (1988), ''Travels in Kashmir'' (1989), ''Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City'' (2001), ''Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse'' (2005), ''Packing Up: Further Adventures of a Trailing Spouse'' (2014), and ''Full Marks for Trying'' (2016). As of 2020 she is a contributor to ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edi ...

'' and ''Trailing-Spouse.com''. Keenan has lived in Ethiopia,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Trinidad, Barbados, India,

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, Syria and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. She is a founding board member of the

Palestine Festival of Literature The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival, founded in 2008, that takes place in cities across Palestine. History The festival was founded in 2008 with the stated mission of affirming "the power of cultur ...

. She is married to

Alan Waddams Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * A ...

, a retired ambassador, with whom she has two children and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Brigid British journalists 1939 births Living people Fashion editors British columnists British non-fiction writers