Dawn Foster facts for kids

Dawn Hayley Foster (born September 12, 1986 – died July 9, 2021) was an Irish-British writer and journalist. She wrote mainly about important social topics, politics, money matters, and women's rights. Dawn worked for well-known publications like Inside Housing, The Guardian, and Jacobin magazine. She also shared her ideas on TV as a political expert. Many people knew her for her reporting on the Grenfell Tower fire.

Early Life and Education

Dawn Foster was born and grew up in Newport, South Wales. She also had family connections to Belfast and was a citizen of both Britain and Ireland. In her writings for groups like Child Poverty Action Group and The Guardian, she shared that her family faced poverty and unemployment when she was young. In 2017, she spoke about experiencing hunger and even sleeping outside for a project called Food Memory Bank.

She went to Caerleon Comprehensive School and Bassaleg High School. Later, she studied English literature at the University of Warwick. Before becoming a journalist, Dawn worked in politics and at universities.

Dawn Foster's Journalism Career

Dawn Foster worked as a staff writer for Inside Housing, The Guardian, and Jacobin magazine. She also helped edit openDemocracy 50:50. Her articles appeared in many other places, including The New York Times, Tribune, and the London Review of Books.

Working at The Guardian

Dawn's blog about how female cyclists were treated unfairly led to her first writing job at The Guardian in 2010. In 2011, she started helping manage comments on The Guardian's website. She also became a regular writer for their opinion section.

Her work at The Guardian grew to include regular columns, like "Foster on Friday" for the Housing Network. She wrote many opinion pieces and worked for The Guardian's Society desk. Her articles mostly covered social issues, politics, money, and women's rights. She left The Guardian in mid-2019 after writing an opinion piece that criticized Tom Watson, who was then a leader in the Labour Party.

Working at Inside Housing

After working on comments and writing opinions for The Guardian, Dawn became a deputy features editor at Inside Housing. She worked there from 2014 to 2015. Her work included reports on hoarding, interviews with important people like Danny Dorling and Tanni Grey-Thompson, and investigations into how homeless women dealt with their periods.

Her colleagues at Inside Housing said Dawn was "brave and bold" and a "brilliant journalist." In 2014, the International Building Press organization named her their "New Journalist of the Year."

Reporting on the Grenfell Tower Fire

On the night of the terrible Grenfell Tower fire, Dawn Foster went to help. She then found an old blog post from people who used to live in the tower. This post had warned that recent repairs could cause a "serious fire." On the same day of the fire, Jacobin magazine published an article by Dawn about the tragedy. She called it an "atrocity" and said it was "explicitly political." She also said it was "a symbol of the United Kingdom's deep inequality."

The writer Juliet Jacques wrote a tribute to Dawn, saying that Dawn "reported on [the Grenfell Tower fire] relentlessly." She criticized how the building's management and local council had ignored the residents' worries. One year after the fire, Dawn discussed what happened next and the survivors' fight for fairness on Novara Media.

Uncovering a Security Flaw

While at the 2018 Conservative Party conference, Dawn found a big problem with the event's mobile app. It allowed anyone to see personal details and phone numbers of attendees. This included important people like Boris Johnson and senior members of Theresa May's government. The story quickly spread online. It led to an apology and an investigation from the Information Commissioner.

Supporting Transgender Rights

Dawn Foster wrote many articles against transphobia, which is prejudice against transgender people, in British media. She was one of more than 200 feminists who signed a letter to The Guardian in 2020. This letter said that transgender rights do not threaten women's rights.

In 2019, Dawn criticized people who she said harassed an NSPCC employee. This happened after the charity hired Munroe Bergdorf, a transgender woman and activist. Dawn called the online abuse "transphobic" and "flatly homophobic." In 2020, Dawn received hateful emails and threats because she supported the transgender rights movement.

Focus on Ireland

Dawn often wrote and spoke about Irish politics and social issues, especially in the north. She believed in Irish reunification and attended public meetings for Sinn Féin, an Irish political party. The magazine An Phoblacht described her as "one of the few working-journalists in Britain who intimately understood Ireland."

Media Appearances

Television

Dawn Foster often appeared as a political expert on TV. This included channels like Sky News, Channel 4 News, and the BBC. She was on shows such as BBC Newsnight and BBC News.

Radio and Podcasts

Dawn also regularly appeared on radio shows and podcasts in Britain and America. She was a frequent guest on Novara Media. There, she discussed topics like cuts to public spending, politics, and housing in Britain. From 2020 to 2021, Dawn also appeared on talkRADIO.

In 2017, Dawn was on The Independent's Double Take podcast. She talked about ways to solve Britain's housing emergency. In 2020, the London Review Bookshop podcast featured a talk between Dawn and author Lynsey Hanley. They discussed Hanley's book Estates. They also talked about social class in an episode released in 2016. Dawn also appeared on the London Review Bookshop podcast in 2017 with American poet Patricia Lockwood.

Books by Dawn Foster

Lean Out

Dawn Foster's first book, Lean Out, came out in January 2016. In her obituary in The Guardian, Lean Out was described as a response to Sheryl Sandberg's idea that women could succeed by "leaning in" to their careers. Dawn's book criticized what she called the "self help" approach of corporate feminism.

In January 2016, Dawn was interviewed by The Huffington Post about her book's ideas. She discussed how her book responded to Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. This 2013 book was co-written by Sheryl Sandberg, a top executive at Facebook. Dawn also discussed her criticism of Lean In and a type of feminism called liberal feminism. In March 2016, Dawn talked about her book with openDemocracy in an interview titled, "Is capitalism destroying feminism?"

Other Book Projects

According to her obituary in The Guardian, Dawn was working on a second book called Where Will We Live?. This book was about the history of the housing crisis and ways to solve it. She had almost finished it before she became ill. Her biography in the London Review of Books also mentioned she was working on another book. This one was about the cultural history of unemployment benefits.

Personal Life

When she was a child, Dawn Foster practiced Taekwondo, a martial art. Later in her life, she lived in South West London. She was a Roman Catholic. In 2019, Dawn wrote in The Guardian about finding her faith again after speaking with survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Dawn also volunteered, spending Christmases helping homeless charities connected to her church. She had epilepsy and schwannomatosis, which are health conditions. She wrote about her experiences with disabilities and the rights of people with disabilities.

Death

Dawn Foster's friends and colleagues announced her death on July 15, 2021. She was 34 years old. Dawn had been released from the hospital on July 9. She was found at her home, having died suddenly from problems related to her long-term health issues. Many political commentators, journalists, and politicians shared tributes to her. These included Jeremy Corbyn, Mary Lou McDonald, Angela Rayner, and John McDonnell.

Legacy

In July 2021, the South Wales Argus reported on a fundraiser. It was raising money for a memorial bench for Dawn Foster in Newport.

Housmans Bookshop

Some of Dawn Foster's books at the Housman's memorial sale.

In October 2021, Housmans, a radical bookshop in London, announced something special. Dawn Foster's family had donated her personal library of books to the shop. Each book was stamped with a message: ‘DAWN FOSTER FOREVER – From the library of Dawn Foster 1986-2021."

Dawn Foster Memorial Essay Prize

In November 2021, the Dawn Foster Memorial Essay Prize was created to honor her. It was launched by HCI Skills Gateway with Red Pepper magazine. In 2022, Jessica Field won the prize for her essay about #SaveOurHomesLS26. This was a group in Leeds working to save their prefabricated rented homes. The winning essay and other shortlisted entries were published by Red Pepper magazine.

Awards and Influence

• The International Building Press Prize for Young Journalist of the Year, 2014.
• Non-traditional journalist of the year, Words by Women awards, 2016.
• Shortlisted for Scoop of the Year, The International Building Press Prize, 2016.
• Longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain's Social Evils, 2017.
• Shortlisted for the Bread and Roses Award, 2017.
• Number 82 in "The 100 Most Influential People on the Left" by political commentator Iain Dale, 2017.
• One of the most respected journalists by journalists in the Journalists at Work survey by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, 2018.