Helen Pidd (born 1981) is a British journalist who is a news writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', succeeding

Martin Wainwright Martin Wainwright MBE is a British journalist and author. He left ''The Guardian'' after 37 years at the end of March 2013.Martin Wainwrigh"The Northerner - into 2013" ''The Guardian'' (blog), 31 December 2012 Early life He was born in Leeds, ...

as the paper's Northern Editor, based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, in Spring 2013.

Early life and education

Pidd was born in

Hest Bank Hest may refer to: * Ari Hest (born 1979), American singer-songwriter * Greg van Hest (born 1973), Dutch runner * ''Hest'', an album by the Norwegian band Kakkmaddafakka See also * Hest Bank, a village in England {{disambiguation, surnam ...

in Lancaster and went to school in nearby

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. She studied German at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

before joining ''The Guardian''. While at the university she regularly contributed to '' The Student'' newspaper.

Career

In 2002, Pidd co-founded ''

Fest Magazine ''Fest Magazine'' is an Edinburgh-based arts magazine that publishes during the Edinburgh Festival each year. It is a free, bi-weekly, A5 glossy publication distributed through key Festival venues. History ''Fest'' was established in 2002 as ...

'', an alternative

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

magazine, and that same year was also a runner-up in ''The Guardian'' media awards best feature writer section. She began freelancing for ''The Guardian'' before her graduation in 2004. Since joining the paper's staff, she has been the Berlin correspondent and worked briefly in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

before moving to Manchester in 2013. She is also the author of ''Bicycle – Love Your Bike: the Complete Guide to Everyday Cycling''.

Awards and honours

While at university, Pidd won Student Journalist of the Year 2002 in ''The Glasgow Herald'''s media awards.

References

1981 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British women journalists Cycling journalists Cycling writers Living people People from Morecambe The Guardian journalists {{UK-journalist-stub