Dea Birkett (born 1958) is a British writer,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, broadcaster and a former

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

performer.

Personal life

Birkett was brought up in the suburbs of Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. As a child she watched the circus parade through her town, which made her want to be in a circus. When she had her eldest daughter

Storme Toolis Storme Toolis (born 26 November 1992) is a British actress from London. Early life Toolis was born and raised in London. Her father journalist Kevin Toolis was born in Edinburgh; his parents originated from Achill Island in County Mayo, Ir ...

in year 1992, she left her daughter with her child’s father Kevin Toolis, so she could run away to the circus. She left the circus in year 1993 but when Birkett turned 60 years of age, she “ran away” again to return to the Circus life beside her youngest child River Toolis.

Career

Birkett during her time as journalist she had written on social issues 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 ...

'' and broadcasts for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. She is creative director of the charit
Kids in Museums
and Ringmaster o
Circus 250
She was awarded the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

in 1993 for her book ''Jella,'' in which follows Birkett journey from Africa to the UK.

Bibliography

*''Spinsters Abroad'' (1989) *''Jella: A Woman at Sea'' (1992) *''

Mary Kingsley Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an English ethnographer, scientific writer, and explorer whose travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of both African cultures and ...

: Imperial Adventuress'' (1992) *''Serpent in

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

'' (1997)

References

External links

Official site
British journalists British writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People from Surrey 1958 births Living people {{UK-writer-stub