40 Facts About Julie Burchill

Julie Burchill was born on 3 July 1959 and is an English writer.

Julie Burchill's writing, which was described by The Observer in 2002 as "outrageously outspoken" and "usually offensive," has been the subject of legal action.

Julie Burchill was born in Bristol and educated at Brislington Comprehensive School.

Julie Burchill's father was a Communist union activist who worked in a distillery.

Julie Burchill's mother had a job in a cardboard box factory.

Julie Burchill did not attend university, leaving the A-levels she had started a few weeks earlier to begin writing for the New Musical Express.

Julie Burchill began her writing career at the New Musical Express in 1976, aged 17, after responding to an advert in that paper seeking "hip young gunslingers" to write about the then emerging punk movement.

Julie Burchill gained the job by submitting a "eulogy" of Patti Smith's Horses.

Julie Burchill admitted in 2008 to making up film reviews and having "skived" from screenings, and her ex-husband, Cosmo Landesman, has admitted to attending screenings on her behalf.

Julie Burchill has spoken repeatedly and frankly of her relationship with drugs, writing that she had "put enough toot up my admittedly sizeable snout to stun the entire Colombian armed forces".

In 1995, Julie Burchill wrote a column for The Times, titled "I'm a bitch, and I'm proud", in which she argued that women should reclaim the word 'bitch,' used as a slur.

For five years until 2003, Julie Burchill wrote a weekly column in The Guardian.

Julie Burchill compared the shock of Dando's murder to finding a "tarantula in a punnet full of strawberries".

Julie Burchill had expressed anti-Irish sentiment several times throughout her career, announcing in the London journal Time Out that "I hate the Irish, I think they're appalling".

Julie Burchill supported the Iraq War, writing in The Guardian in 2003 that she was "in favour of a smaller war now rather than a far worse war later", and criticised those opposed to the war as "pro-Saddam apologists".

Julie Burchill left The Guardian acrimoniously, saying in an interview that they had offered her a sofa in lieu of a pay rise.

Julie Burchill stated that she left the newspaper in protest at what she saw as its "vile anti-Semitism".

Julie Burchill was an early critic of the fashion for denigrating lower social classes as "chavs".

In 2006, The Times dropped her Saturday column, and arranged a more flexible arrangement with Julie Burchill writing for the daily paper.

Julie Burchill wrote her last column for The Independent at the end of October 2011.

On 13 January 2013, Julie Burchill wrote an article for The Observer defending Suzanne Moore after a reference by Moore to transsexuals had been greeted with a great deal of criticism.

In 1999, Julie Burchill said she "found God", and became a Lutheran and later a "self-confessed Christian Zionist".

In June 2009, The Jewish Chronicle reported that Julie Burchill had become a Friend of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue and was again considering a conversion to Judaism.

Julie Burchill wrote in November 2012: "The things I love about the Jews are: their religion, their language and their ancient country".

Julie Burchill clashed with Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah of the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, and the Rabbi's lesbian partner, Jess Woods.

In 2014, Julie Burchill's crowdfunded book Unchosen: The Memoirs of a Philo-Semite was published.

Julie Burchill's lesbian-themed novel for teenagers Sugar Rush was adapted into a television drama series produced by Shine Limited for Channel 4.

Julie Burchill has made television documentaries about the death of her father from asbestosis in 2002 and Heat magazine broadcast on Sky One in 2006.

On 16 March 2021, Julie Burchill announced she would not publish her book with Stirling Publishing, the same day she issued a public apology for libel and harassment of Sarkar.

Julie Burchill has described her own style as "the writing equivalent of screaming and throwing things".

For Michael Bywater, Julie Burchill's "insights were, and remain, negligible, on the level of a toddler having a tantrum".

In 2002, her life was the subject of a one-woman West End play, Julie Burchill is Away, by Tim Fountain, with Burchill played by her friend Jackie Clune.

In 2003, Julie Burchill was ranked number 85 in Channel 4's poll of 100 Worst Britons.

Julie Burchill refers to Lilbet as 'it' even though it has been announced that the baby is a girl and she could've addressed her as such.

In December 2020, Julie Burchill posted a series of defamatory tweets of Ash Sarkar, which included claims that she condones pedophilia and is supportive of Islamist terrorism.

In March 2021, after being sued for libel and harassment, Julie Burchill retracted her comments, issued a full apology and paid substantial damages to Sarkar, including her legal costs.

Julie Burchill married Tony Parsons in 1979 at the age of 20.

Immediately after her relationship with Parsons, Julie Burchill married Cosmo Landesman, the son of Fran and Jay Landesman, with whom she had a son.

Julie Burchill wrote of the joys of having a "toyboy" in her Times column in 2010.

Julie Burchill has lived in Brighton and Hove since 1995 and a book on her adopted home town titled Made in Brighton was published in April 2007.