Juliet Jacques (born 3 October 1981) is a British writer, filmmaker and journalist, known for her work on the

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

experience, including her transition as a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

, but also for critical writing on football. She is the founder and presenter of

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

art discussion show ''Suite (212)''. She appeared on two episodes of the Media Democracy podcast, talking about how the UK media have treated trans and non-binary people over the last decade. She was a founding member of ''The Justin Campaign'', created in memory of Justin Fashanu, later renamed to ''Football vs. Homophobia'' as the UK's first major campaign against homophobia in football.

Education

Jacques was born in Redhill, Surrey and grew up in nearby

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own eco ...

. She attended

Reigate Grammar School Reigate Grammar School is a 2–18 mixed independent day school in Reigate, Surrey, England. It was established in 1675 by Henry Smith. History The school was founded as a free school for poor boys in 1675 by Alderman Henry Smith with Jon Will ...

for two years before her parents moved her to a local comprehensive school, followed by the College of Richard Collyer in Horsham, West Sussex, studying History at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

and then Literature and Film at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. She completed a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at the

in 2019.

Writing

She began her journalistic career writing about film for ''Filmwaves, Cineaste'' and other film publications, while working in a data entry job in Brighton. In 2007, she published a book on English ''avant-garde'' author

Rayner Heppenstall John Rayner Heppenstall (27 July 1911 in Lockwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England – 23 May 1981 in Deal, Kent, England) was a British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer.John Wakeman, ''World Authors 1950-1970 : a companion volu ...

for

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

. Her memoir, entitled ''Trans'', was published by

Verso Books Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a left-wing publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of '' New Left Review''. Renaming, new brand and logo Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The ...

in 2015. This book emerged from a series of blog posts called 'A Transgender Journey' that Jacques wrote for the '' Guardian'' newspaper in 2010-12, chronicling her gender reassignment on the NHS. The audiobook was narrated by trans actress

Rebecca Root Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

. She also wrote a regular column for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' between 2011 and 2015 on literature, film, art and football, and has written for ''

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

The London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review o ...

'' and other publications. She contributed a section to

Sheila Heti Sheila Heti (; born 25 December 1976) is a Canadian writer. Early life Sheila Heti was born on 25 December 1976 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her parents are Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her brother is the comedian David Heti. Her father wanted ...

's book ''Women in Clothes'', which was published in 2014. She published her debut short story collection, ''Variations'', with

Influx Press Influx Press is an independent British publishing company, based in north London, founded in 2012 by Gary Budden and Kit Caless. They are known for publishing "innovative and challenging fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction from across the UK ...

in 2021.

Film

Jacques has made three short films: ''Approach/Withdraw'' (2016), co-directed with artist Ker Wallwork; ''You Will Be Free'' (2017) about the legacy of the HIV/AIDS crisis, narrated by Anna-Louise Plowman; and ''Revivification'' (2018), a documentary about queer and feminist art and politics in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. She also played herself in Josh Appignanesi's film ''Female Human Animal'' (2018).

Awards

She was longlisted for The

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

in 2011 for 'A Transgender Journey'. In 2012, she was selected as one of The

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Pink List's most influential journalists, and was also included in the list for 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, her book ''Trans: A Memoir'' was shortlisted for Polari LGBT Literary Salon's First Book Prize Award. In 2019,

Val McDermid Valarie "Val" McDermid, (born 4 June 1955) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill in a grim sub-genre that McDermid and others have identified as Tartan Noir. Biography ...

chose her as one of ten British LGBT+ writers for the British Council's International Literary Showcase.

Personal life

Jacques also plays football, and won the Shield with the Brighton Bandits at the 2008 IGLFA World Cup. For several years Jacques worked for the NHS, during the period Andrew Lansley's reforms were implemented. She was made redundant in 2014. She wrote about this period of the NHS in a personal essay for the ''New Statesman''.(''Paywall'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques, Juliet 1981 births British journalists LGBT memoirists British LGBT writers Living people People educated at The College of Richard Collyer People from Horley People from Redhill, Surrey Transgender rights activists Transgender women Transgender writers