Sophie Parkin

Sophie Parkin (born 6 June 1961) is an English writer, artist and poet. She is the proprietor of an arts club in East London, Vout-O-Reenee's, opened in 2014. Biography Born in London in 1961, Sophie Parkin was schooled at Redcliffe School, Oxford Gardens Primary School, Burlington Grammar School in West London, Frensham Heights Boarding School, Surrey, then Camborne School of Mines, near Redruth, Cornwall. She went on to attend Saint Martin's School of Art, Leeds Polytechnic (tutored by Jeff Nuttall) and Anthony Earnshaw, then Maidstone College of Art, where she graduated with a Fine Art degree in 1982. As a child, Parkin starred in many commercials, including for Wall's sausages, Comfort fabric conditioner and as the Dulux girl. She also modelled in Nova magazine and The Sunday Times and appeared in Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World in 1979 film. She has also appeared in film, such as the Dylan Thomas biopic The Edge of Love, directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys. As a present on her 18th birthday, her parents gave her membership to the Chelsea Arts Club and The Colony Rooms in Soho, and she went on to work in or manage several high-profile clubs and bars. Literary career Parkin has regularly written for British newspapers and periodicals, and appeared on television and radio as a broadcaster – on Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. She wrote regularly for 3:AM Magazine. She has also written for The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Lady magazine, Tatler, Harper's, Bonham's Magazine and the British Library. She has written obituaries in national British newspapers on Sylvia Scaffardi, Martha Hill and Dick Bradsell. She also taught creative writing at Morley College, London, for three years.