Grace Dent

Grace Dent
Dent in 2011
Born	(1973-10-03) 3 October 1973 Carlisle, Cumbria
Occupation	Journalist and author

Grace Dent (born 3 October 1973) is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster.^[1][2] Dent writes mainly for The Independent, in which her opinion column appears every Wednesday and a television column every Saturday.^[3] She is a restaurant critic for the London Evening Standard, writing a weekly column called "Grace and Flavour". She also writes for magazines such as Tatler and Marie Claire.

Dent has written eleven novels for teenagers.^[4] Her "Diary of A Snob" novels were acquired for TV development by Nickelodeon in March 2011. Dent appears on British television and has fronted documentaries for Sky Atlantic and Channel 4. She has appeared, among others, on Have I Got News For You (BBC1), The Now Show (Radio 4), The Review Show (BBC2), Film 2012 (BBC1), The Culture Show (BBC2), Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (BBC4), Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (Dave), Front Row (Radio 4) and The Lauren Laverne Show (6 Music).

Dent's first non-fiction title How To Leave Twitter (My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop) was published in July 2011.

Early life

Dent was born in Carlisle, Cumbria, and studied English Literature at Stirling University.^[1] While at university she was employed by Cosmopolitan.

Journalism

After her graduation, Dent was employed as an editorial assistant at Marie Claire in London.^[1] In 1998 Dent became a freelance journalist with regular features and columns in women's magazines including Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and More. She worked for the Daily Mirror, visiting many international destinations to investigate off-beat and bizarre stories.

Dent became a television critic for The Guardian in 2000 and her television column "World of Lather" appeared in the newspaper's "Guide" supplement from 2001–2010.^[4] From 2010–2012, she wrote the regular column "Grace Dent's TV-OD". Dent left The Guardian in April 2012,^[5] moving to The Independent, where she writes a weekly television review column for the paper's arts and culture supplement "Independent Radar", entitled "Grace Dent on Television."^[6]

Dent has appeared many times on British television as host and commentator. She has presented several items for The Culture Show (BBC Two) and was a writer and on-screen contributor to Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (BBC Four). During Big Brother 9, Dent was the regular critic on Big Brother's Little Brother (E4). In July 2008 she was a guest on Switch with Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1. In October 2008 she appeared on the Piers Morgan series The Dark Side of Fame. In November 2008 she appeared on Radio 4's You and Yours, Ant and Dec: Where did it all go Right? (Five) and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now (ITV2). In December 2008 she was a guest on I Love Celebrity Big Brother (E4). In March 2009 she appeared on Front Row (Radio 4) discussing missing television stars. In May 2009 Dent authored and presented a documentary for Channel 4 entitled Big Brother: A Decade In The Headlines. In July 2009 she appeared on the BB10 series of Big Brother's Little Brother (E4) and was also a guest on Charlie Brooker's You Have Been Watching (C4). In September 2010 she discussed teen literature on Radio 4's Woman's Hour. In October 2010 and March 2012, she was a panel member on The Apprentice: You're Fired on BBC2 and Seven Day Sunday with Chris Addison on Radio 5 Live, and Have I Got News For You (November 2011, BBC1) and Film 2010 (BBC1).

Published works

Dent has written eleven novels. Her first novel, It's a Girl Thing, was published in 2003. She was shortlisted for the 2008 Queen of Teen Prize.^[7] Dent's first non-fiction title How To Leave Twitter (My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop) was published in July 2011.

In October 2008, Dent was part of the judging panel for the Young Minds book awards. She was a judge on the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize.^[8]

LBD

Her first trilogy of novels for Puffin Books were about Miss Ronnie Ripperton and her two best friends, a.k.a. "Les Bambinos Dangereuses."^[9]

1. It's a Girl Thing (2003)
2. The Great Escape (2004), also published under the title Live and Fabulous!
3. Curse of the Mega Boobed Bimbos (2005), also published under the title Friends Forever!

Diary of a Chav

In 2006 the first Diary of a Chav novel Trainers v. Tiaras was released for Hodder Books chronicling the life of Essex teenager Shiraz Bailey Wood, the series was briefly renamed to Shiraz from "The Ibiza Diaries" – "The Fame Diaries")

1. Trainers V. Tiaras (2007), (also published under the titles Diary of a Chav and Diva Without a Cause in America)
2. Slinging the Bling (2007), (also published under the title Posh and Prejudice in America)
3. Too Cool for School (2008)
4. The Ibiza Diaries (2008) (later published under the titles Ibiza Nights and Lost in Ibiza^[10])
5. The Fame Diaries (2008), (later published under the title Fame and Fortune)
6. Keeping It Real (2009), (also published under the title The Real Diaries)

Diary of a Snob

In December 2008 Dent signed a two-book deal with Hodder to write about Hampstead It-girl Poppet Zanzibar Montague-Jones. The first book was launched to the public with an event at Hay on Wye Literary Festival in June 2009. The novels were acquired for TV development by Nickelodeon in March 2011.

1. Poor Little Rich Girl (July 2009)
2. Money Can't Buy Me Love (September 2010) (originally proposed with the title Slumming It)

References

External links

• Grace Dent at the Internet Movie Database
• World of Lather
• TV OD