Savannah Brown

Brown was born in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] She credits the poems of Edgar Allan Poe and her eleventh grade English teacher for cultivating her interest in poetry.[2] She graduated from Wadsworth High School in 2014 then shortly after moved to London.[1]

Brown gained prominence after videos of her performing original poems, one exploring the topic of self-love and another about female sexuality, went viral.[3]

At age 19, Brown self-published a collection of poetry titled Graffiti (and other poems) which was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards.[4][5] In 2020 she released a second poetry collection called Sweetdark.[6] Writing about Sweetdark for i-D, Jenna Mahale notes the collection "explores how we live vulnerably, pleasurably, and chaotically at the end of the world".[6] In Redbrick, Sam Wait states "Brown has succeeded in writing a collection that, though deeply personal, is universally relatable".[7] Of her poetry, Brown has said "I’m interested in [...] acknowledging that so many small and human things are happening while out of frame there’s, like, a star collapsing".[8] In Our Culture Magazine, Konstantinos Pappis describes Brown's work as having "a mix of wry self-awareness and earnest sincerity".[9]

It was announced in 2018 that Brown had signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House.[10] The first book was published in 2019, a young adult thriller called The Truth About Keeping Secrets about a teenager dealing with intense grief after the sudden death of her father. Brown has said the story was inspired by her own fear of death.[11] The book was generally well-received, a review from Kirkus citing it as a "captivatingly moody, introspective drama".[12] Writing for Booklist, Rob Bittner says Brown's debut "will satisfy fans of mystery who yearn for a proverbial path of breadcrumbs leading to a hopeful, satisfying conclusion".[13] Her second novel The Things We Don't See was released in 2021.[14] Brown's novels are recognized for their LGBT protagonists.[15]

In 2019, Brown started a 30-day poetry challenge called Escapril in which participants are tasked to write an original poem every day of April, which she still runs annually.[16][17] More than 90,000 poems have been written for the event since.[8]

Brown has also acted as a judge for the National Poetry Day competition run in collaboration with Arts Council England and The Poetry Society.[18]

Brown started streaming on Twitch in early 2023.[19]

Brown is autistic[20] and identifies as bisexual.[21] In April 2023, she became a British citizen.[22]