Pigeonholed

'Responsible but not beholden; substantial as well as symbolic; sympathetic but not pandering; political but not proscriptive: there's not an awful lot of wiggle room there, but it's the space in which I feel I need to both operate and expand.'
In this incisive, moving and personal essay, one of the nation's leading political voices, explores the 'burden of representation'.
Gary Younge analyses the pressures exerted upon the relatively small group of people from underrepresented communities, who break through into elite spaces and the expectations that may come from above, below, within and outwith, from those with power and those without. These are issues that have framed, frustrated, inspired, and inflected his entire working life as a writer.
Younge offers reflections on how to navigate representation, power and responsibility while keeping your job, your sanity and your freedom both as a human being and as a writer.

Gary Younge is an award-winning author and broadcaster, and is professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. Formerly a columnist and an editor-at-large at the Guardian, he is an editorial board member of The Nation magazine. He is the author of five books, including Another Day in the Death of America (shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Jhalak Prize), and his writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, the Financial Times, GQ, the New Statesman, and beyond. He has made several radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit. Younge received the 2023 Orwell Prize for Journalism. In 2025 he received the prestigious Robert B. Silvers Award in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the field of journalism. He lives in London.
@garyyounge
garyyounge.com