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Emma Brockes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 50–51) |
| Education | St Edmund Hall,Oxford University |
Emma Brockes (born 1975) is a British author and a contributor toThe Guardian andThe New York Times. She lives in New York.[1]
The daughter of a South-African-born mother,[2] Brockes studied English atSt Edmund Hall,Oxford University,[3] graduating in 1997 with afirst.[4] At Oxford, she was editor of the student newspaperCherwell[5] and won the Philip Geddes prize for journalism for her work.[4] She worked briefly as feature writer onThe Scotsman, before joiningThe Guardian in 1997.[6] She has been recognised by theBritish Press Awards three times, winning the "Young Journalist of the Year" award in 2001 and the "Feature Writer of the Year" award in 2002.[6] She was nominated as "Interviewer of the Year" in 2006.[7]
In 2005, an interview by Brockes inThe Guardian was described by its subjectNoam Chomsky as a "scurrilous piece of journalism".[8][9]The Guardian later withdrew the article from the website, acknowledging "Ms Brockes's misrepresentation of Prof Chomsky's views onSrebrenica", and offering "an unreserved apology to Prof Chomsky" for Brockes's suggestion that Chomsky denied Srebrenica to be a massacre.[10]
An external ombudsman review determined that the "Readers' Editor was right to conclude that an apology and correction was deserved", though adding that "the removal of the original interview from the website was unnecessary and over responsive", a view that Chomsky himself shared.[11] The text of the original can now be found on Chomsky's official website.[12]
Brockes's first book,What Would Barbra Do?,[13] was published in 2007. TheNew York Times Book Review responded: "Spirited, articulate and utterly devourable ... If I could offer [Brockes] any advice, it would be ... to write as many books on as many subjects as she can, as fast as is reasonably possible."[14] Another book by Brockes,She Left Me the Gun: My Mother's Life Before Me (London: Faber), appeared in 2013 and featured as BBC Radio 4'sBook of the Week.[2][15]
Brockes is now a freelance writer, but continues to write profiles of major public figures forThe Guardian, as well as contributing her own work toThe New York Times and other publications.
