Amber Kirk-Ford

Amber Kirk-Ford
Amber Kirk-Ford
Born28 October 1998 (1998-10-28) (age 26)
Norfolk, England, UK
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Columnist, blogger, vlogger
Years active2006–2017
WebsiteAmber Kirk-Ford

Amber Kirk-Ford (born 28 October 1998) is a British former blogger and vlogger from Norfolk. She began blogging at the age of seven.[1]

Personal life

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Amber Kirk-Ford was born and raised in Norfolk, England. She began home-schooling at the age of seven, and was homeschooled at the age of fourteen after being diagnosed with chronic anxiety and panic disorder.[2] Kirk-Ford originally started blogging to document her day-to-day life. She later decided to focus on book reviews, discussions, and author interviews, with the occasional blog post about her personal life.

She attended InterHigh from 2013 to 2017 and studied English Literature and Media Studies at A Level. She started the #HelpAmber campaign in August 2015 to raise the funds needed to enrol at A Level, and the campaign made global press.[3][4]

Blog

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Kirk-Ford first created her current blog, originally called "Let's Call it a Journey", in April 2006. This was renamed to "The Mile Long Bookshelf" in 2009, and became self-titled in 2018. She originally gained a following from writing about her life as a home-schooled child, but later transformed her blog into a book blog after starting at her local secondary school, and then decided to write about "life, books, food and travel." The Guardian named her one of the "top 10 best books bloggers" in December 2014.[5]

In June 2016, Kirk-Ford was involved in Instagram's #MyStoryUK exhibition in London, which showcased 24 women using their social media platforms for good. She was later named one of the "most inspiring women on Instagram" by Stylist Magazine and one of the "secret ... British stars of Instagram" in an article by BBC Newsbeat.[6][7]

YouTube

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Kirk-Ford created a YouTube channel, "The Mile Long Bookshelf", to run alongside her blog in July 2013, and was between Tyler Oakley and Joe Sugg in Huffington Post's "25 Vloggers Under 25 Owning the World of YouTube" in December 2014.[8][9] Originally posting short skits, she later added book hauls, discussions and giveaways for her subscribers, and occasionally works with brands and book publishers.[10][11][12]

Her YouTube channel had over 2,000 subscribers and over 100,000 views in May 2015.[13]

Awards and nominations

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Kirk-Ford won "Trending Blogger" in the 2013 Bloggy Awards.[14] She went on to win "Best Blogger" in the inaugural Future8 Awards 2014.[15][16][17] The following year, she was nominated in two categories in the 2015 UKYA Blogger Awards and won "Champion Teen Blogger".[18]

Published works

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Outside of blogging, Kirk-Ford has been a columnist for her local newspaper, and regularly writes for publications such as The Guardian, Teen Breathe magazine, and the Penguin Books blog.[19][20][21]

Kirk-Ford contributed to Rife: 21 Stories from Britain's Youth edited by Nikesh Shukla and Sammy Jones, and published in July 2019 by Unbound.[22]

She has been quoted in The Bookseller, Shout (magazine) and We Heart Pop as well as newspapers such as The Guardian. Her reviews have been quoted in books such as The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, Chocolate SOS by Sue Limb, Diary of a Mall Girl by Luisa Plaja, Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff, The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair by Lara Williamson, How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss, and Finding Your Inner Cherokee by Siobhan Curham. The Mile Long Bookshelf has also been used as a case study in The Quick Expert's Guide to Writing a Blog.

References

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  1. ^ Curham, Siobhan. "Amber Kirk-Ford Talks Books, Blogging and Dreaming Boldly" Archived 21 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, True Face. Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  2. ^ Kirk-Ford, Amber. "Mental health and books: teenagers speak out", The Guardian. Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  3. ^ Grant, Katie. "Meet the teenage YouTube star crowdfunding to stay in school" Archived 17 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent. Retrieved on 3 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Give A Girl An Education: How Amber Crowdfunded Her Schooling", MTV. Retrieved on 4 June 2016.
  5. ^ Quibell, Megan. "Top 10 Best Books Bloggers", The Guardian. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  6. ^ Crockett, Moya. "“It’s amazing what a hashtag can do”: meet the most inspiring women on Instagram" Archived 12 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Stylist Magazine. Retrieved on 10 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Meet the secret all-female and British stars of Instagram", BBC Newsbeat. Retrieved on 10 June 2016.
  8. ^ Samuelson, Kate. "25 Vloggers Under 25 Owning the World of YouTube", Huffington Post. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  9. ^ Pittman, Taylor. "How YouTubers Became A New Breed Of Celebrity That Hollywood Stars Can't Touch", Huffington Post Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  10. ^ Eyre, Charlotte. "Walker partners with vloggers", The Bookseller. Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  11. ^ Robinson, Hannah. "Penguin Platform: a new home for young readers to get closer to the stories they love" Archived 30 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Random House Group Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  12. ^ Shaffi, Sarah. "Quercus launches Christmas book-giving campaign", The Bookseller Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  13. ^ Roser, Philip. "Most of the young people I know are doing incredible things online" Archived 26 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Vlogger Watch. Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
  14. ^ Wang, Nikki. "Bloggy Awards 2013 Winners!", The Bloggy Awards. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  15. ^ Dredge, Stuart. "Future8: tech teens are experienced business heads on young shoulders", The Guardian. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  16. ^ Eyre, Charlotte. "Teen book blogger wins digital talent award", The Bookseller. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  17. ^ Dredge, Stuart. "Future8 Awards celebrates best UK and Ireland teen tech talent", The Guardian. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  18. ^ Robb, Andy. "UKYA Blogger Awards 2015 - The Shortlist" Archived 11 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, UKYA Blogger Awards. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  19. ^ Kirk-Ford, Amber. "Looking Back on the Year Part 1" Archived 16 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Mile Long Bookshelf. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  20. ^ Kirk-Ford, Amber. "Looking Back on the Year Part 2" Archived 16 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Mile Long Bookshelf. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  21. ^ Kirk-Ford, Amber. "Clippings", clippings.me. Retrieved on 15 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Buy the Rife Book", Rife Magazine. Retrieved on 12 July 2019.
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