Melissa Benn is a writer, and the author of seven works of non-fiction and two novels. Her acclaimed non-fiction includes School Wars: The Battle for Britain’s Education (Verso, 2011), What Should We Tell Our Daughters? The Pleasures and Pressures of Growing Up Female ( John Murray, 2013) ( shortlisted for Politico Book of the Year), and Life Lessons ( Verso 2018). She has published two novels: Public Lives (Hamish Hamilton, 1995) and One of Us (Chatto and Windus, 2008) – a modern retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone – which was shortlisted for a British Book award. Her latest book is The Most Dangerous Man in Britain? (Verso, 2024). As a freelance writer, Melissa has written for The Guardian, New Statesman and Financial Times among numerous others. She is a patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and is often in public discussion with a range of authors.
Melissa was the Royal Literary Fund fellow at Lucy Cavendish from 2023-2025. She now works at the College, offering writing support to undergraduates in the humanities.
