Photograph from JunoDawson.com

English writer Juno Dawson was born James Dawson. She worked as a school teacher, where she began writing books aimed at young adults including Hollow Pike, Say Her Name and Spot The Difference. Her six YA novels feature LGBTQ people, and Dawson has advocated for more young adult books to feature more prominent queer characters.

In 2014 Dawson wrote This Book Is Gay (2014), a non-fiction book aiming to be a “manual to all areas of life as an LGBTQ person”. The always delightful Sarah Palin was part of a petition drive to remove the book from the public library in Wasilla, Alaska, upset the profanity and sexually explicit elements of the book. Dawson responded by saying: “There is still such small-mindedness and hatred left to contend with”.

In 2015, Dawson came out as transgender. She wrote a column in Glamour Magazine documenting her experience of transitioning.

In 2017 Dawson published The Gender Games where she explores themes of gender as well as her own life experiences.