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Taffy Brodesser-Akner

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Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Born
Stephanie Akner

1975 or 1976 (age 48–49)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
OccupationJournalist
Spouse
Claude Brodesser-Akner
​
​
(m. 2006)​
Children2
Websitewww.taffyakner.com Edit this at Wikidata

Taffy Brodesser-Akner (born Stephanie Akner) is an American journalist and author. She has worked freelance and as a contributor for GQ and The New York Times, where she is now a staff writer. Her profiles of celebrities have won her the New York Press Club Award and Mirror Award. Her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, achieved widespread success.

Career

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Journalism

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Brodesser-Akner's first major journalism job was at Soap Opera Weekly, a job she held until her role was eliminated due to layoffs in June 2001.[1] She also wrote for Mediabistro[2] and did freelance pieces for magazines including ESPN The Magazine, GQ, and Texas Monthly. The Columbia Journalism Review called her "one of the nation's most successful freelance writers".[3] Her freelance articles often focused on celebrity profiles, several of which went viral.[4] In 2014, she became a contributing writer to both The New York Times and GQ,[2] and won a New York Press Club Award for entertainment news in a magazine for her story about actress Gaby Hoffmann.[5] She won two New York Press Club awards in 2015, for her profiles of Damon Lindelof and Britney Spears.[6] The same year, Brodesser-Akner was nominated for a Mirror Award for her profile of Joey Soloway,[7] and she won the award in 2016 for her profile of broadcaster Don Lemon.[8] In 2017, she became a full-time staff writer for The New York Times.[4]

Fiction and television

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Her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, was published in June 2019 by Random House in the US[9][10] and by Wildfire in the UK.[11] The novel was selected for the longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020.[12] Brodesser-Akner has adapted the novel as a TV miniseries, which debuted on Hulu on November 17, 2022.[13] In 2023, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Her second novel, Long Island Compromise, was published in July 2024 by Random House in the US[14] and by Wildfire in the UK.[15]

Personal life

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Born Stephanie Akner, Brodesser-Akner received the nickname "Taffy" at a young age and continued using it professionally.[16] She grew up in Brooklyn, New York,[17] in an Orthodox Jewish household.[18] She attended New York University.

She married Claude Brodesser in 2006.[17] Brodesser converted to Judaism,[17] a process that eventually led Akner to evaluate and reinforce her own observance of Jewish customs.[19] After marrying, both took hyphenated last names.[16] They have two children.[20]

Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ Small, Jonathan (November 13, 2017). "Ep. 9 — New York Times Culture Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner On Celebrity Profiles, Personal Essays, and Her Bizarre Brush with British Tabloid Fame from Write About Now". www.WriteAboutNow.com. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  2. ^ a b Horgan, Richard (2014-10-22). "Taffy Brodesser-Akner Makes a Splash With GQ Feature Debut". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  3. ^ Croatto, Pete (2017-10-27). "The most annoying thing an editor can do". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  4. ^ a b Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (2017-06-28). "New York Times Adds Feature Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner to Staff". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  5. ^ O'Shea, Chris (2014-06-04). "NY Press Club Award Winners Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  6. ^ "The New York Press Club Journalism Awards". New York Press Club. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  7. ^ O'Shea, Chris (2015-04-15). "2015 Mirror Awards Finalists Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  8. ^ O'Shea, Chris (2016-06-09). "Mirror Award Winners Announced". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  9. ^ "Book Marks reviews of Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner". Book Marks. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
  10. ^ "Fleishman is in Trouble: Will Gompertz reviews Taffy Brodesser-Akner's debut novel ★★☆☆☆". BBC News. 27 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Wildfire". February 2019.
  12. ^ "Women's prize for fiction lines up 'heavy hitters' on 2020 longlist". TheGuardian.com. 3 March 2020.
  13. ^ Cordero, Rosy (September 23, 2022). "FX's 'Fleishman Is In Trouble' Sets Hulu Premiere Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Book Marks reviews of Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner". Book Marks. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  15. ^ "Long Island Compromise at Wildfire". July 2024.
  16. ^ a b Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2013-07-30). "If Your Name Isn't Jolie-Pitt or Beyoncé Knowles-Carter: To Hyphenate or Ditch the Dash?". Vogue. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  17. ^ a b c Brown, Janelle (2006-04-06). "Taffy Akner and Claude Brodesser". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  18. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2017-03-30). "The High Price of Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  19. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2010-05-27). "Intermarried: My Husband, a Convert, Is More Observant Than I Am". Tablet. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  20. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (2018-07-25). "How Goop's Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow's Company Worth $250 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
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