Melissa Benn comes from a long line of outspoken campaigners and prominent Parliamentarians. Her journalism has appeared in a wide range of publications. Melissa has published nine books, including two novels, Public Lives (Hamish Hamilton, 1994) and One of Us (Chatto and Windus, 2008), which was shortlisted for a British Book Award in 2008. Her writing on the expanding possibilities and enduring burdens of women’s lives includes Madonna and Child: Towards A New Politics of Motherhood (Jonathan Cape 1998) and What Should We Tell Our Daughters? The Pleasures and Pressures of Growing Up Female (John Murray 2013), an exploration of young women’s lives from the perspective of a feminist and mother in mid-life. Melissa has also written a number of books on education including School Wars: The Battle for Britain’s Education (Verso, 2011) and Life Lessons: The Case for a National Education Service (Verso, 2018).
