Kitty Empire

Kitty Empire
Born	1970 (age 53–54) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	British
Occupations	Writer journalist

Kitty Empire (born 1970) is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for The Observer.^[1]

Early life

Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain in 1988. She studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and Thames Valley University before working as a stage door-keeper for the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's Barbican Theatre.^[2] Empire describes herself as a feminist.^[3]

Career

Empire began writing about music at the NME in 1995, continuing for seven years. In 2002, she became pop critic for The Observer.^[2] She has also contributed to a variety of publications and broadcasts such as Elle (US), GQ, Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Newsnight Review, Uncut and The Scotsman.^[2] In 2008, she served as a judge for the Mercury Music Prize and she is a guest judge for the 2022 Observer / Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism.^[4][5] Empire also featured on 5Live, BBC 6Music, and BBC2's The Culture Show and Newsnight Review.^[1]

Critical reception

Writing in Cambridge University's Popular Music journal, Devon Powers and Tom Perchard describe Empire as "one of the UK's comparatively few broadsheet pop critics, and one of the most insightful."^[6] Jennifer Skellington notes that Empire's reviewing style focuses as much upon the artists as their art, and reflects a trend towards "a less conservative approach to rock- and pop-related writing" in the quality press.^[7] Educator Mary Hogarth praises Empire's "show, don't tell" approach to writing, her pacing, and her balance of description, perspective, and first-hand experience.^[8]

References

1. "Kitty Empire". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
2. "Kitty Empire". BBC News. 19 January 2006. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
3. Rivers, Nicola (2017). "From Feminist Mothers to Feminist Monsters: Tensions Across the Waves". Postfeminism(s) and the Arrival of the Fourth Wave. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 29–55. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59812-3_3. ISBN 9783319598116.
4. Empire, Kitty (14 September 2008). "Dull? Let me be the judge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
5. "Kitty Empire joins the panel for the 2022 Observer / Burgess prize". News and Blog Posts. The International Burgess Foundation. 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
6. Powers, Devon; Perchard, Tom (January 2017). "The Critical Imperative" (PDF). Popular Music. 36 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1017/S0261143016000623. S2CID 164607170. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
7. Skellington, Jennifer (2014). "Defining Qualities: Making a Voice for Rock and Pop Music in the English Quality News Press". Litpop: Writing and Popular Music. Routledge. pp. 109–125. doi:10.4324/9781315592718. ISBN 9781315592718. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
8. Hogarth, Mary (2019). Writing Feature Articles: Print, Digital and Online (5th ed.). Routledge. p. 235. ISBN 9781315297996. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.

External links

• Profile at The Guardian