Hilary Freeman

Hilary Freeman is a Zionist writer and journalist.

Becoming more Zionist on October 7:

Until October 7, my relationship with Israel was an ambivalent one. To me, Israel was like your slightly embarrassing uncle. He was family, and I was glad he existed, but I didn’t want to hang out with him, and I didn’t appreciate a lot of the things he did. I merely tolerated him.

That all changed when Hamas launched its murderous assault, killing 1,200 people – including one of my relatives – and kidnapping 200 others. Suddenly, like many diaspora Jews, I felt personally attacked – a visceral reaction that is hard to articulate, but which I can only describe as a re-ignition of a Jewish collective consciousness spanning centuries of persecution and pogroms. This was an existential threat, and it altered my relationship with Israel overnight.

A biographical note states:

Hilary Freeman lives in Camden Town, London with her partner and their baby daughter. Her latest YA novel, When I was Me, is published by Hot Key Books, and she has also had six books published by Piccadilly Press, including Loving Danny, Lifted and the Camden Town Tales Series. She has been shortlisted for several book awards.

Currently the agony aunt for The Jewish Chronicle, she has also dispensed advice in teen magazines, such as CosmoGirl! and online, for Youthnet and Sky.com. An award-winning journalist, she contributes regularly to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites, and she makes regular appearances on radio and TV. When she isn’t writing, she likes singing karaoke, doodling, shopping and most things French, especially Tarte Tatin and Beaufort cheese. Although she’s only 5ft 3, she was once a leg model for a charity campaign and appeared on posters all over the London Underground.

Education

• South Hampstead High School

Career

• May 2023 - Present Media and Communications Coordinator GesherEU · Part-time London, England, United Kingdom
• Aug 2021 - Present - GB News Freelance Regular panellist, Mark Dolan show
  • Aug 2021 - Present Contributor
• Jan 2021 - Present Advice page writer and counsellor, Dear Deidre - The Sun · Part-time London, England, United Kingdom. Part of the new team at The Sun's Dear Deidre advice pages. I respond to readers' problems with advice and signposting. I also write two columns a week for The Sun newspaper.
• Jan 1998 - Present - Freelance Journalist, Agony Aunt and Novelist
  • Self-employed. I write features for newspapers, magazines and websites, specialising in health, relationships, opinion pieces and interviews. I also ghost-write articles and am a freelance features editor for The Sun. I have written for: The Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, The Sun, You Magazine, Daily Express, Independent, Sunday Express, Daily Mirror, Raconteur, Debrief, Grazia, Glamour, Marie Claire, Prima, Bella, Best, Woman, Woman's Own, Cosmopolitan and others. I've worked as a freelance features editor on women's glossy magazines, edited an insurance publication and written/edited charity publications for patients, and Annual Reports. I was on the editorial board of the MS Society for 18 years and had a column in their magazine, MS Matters. I continue to contribute articles. I've also contributed articles to theatre programmes.
  • Agony aunt: I have been the agony aunt for The Jewish Chronicle newspaper, for Sky.com, for teen magazine Cosmogirl! and a relationship adviser for askthesite.org I frequently appear on TV and Radio in my capacity as agony aunt and sometimes following articles. Recently, I have been on This Morning, Channel 5 News and Good Morning Britain.
  • Lecturing and Consultancy: I lecture in journalism at the University of the Arts, specialising in feature writing. I have appeared at careers fairs, and have visited schools as an author. I was a judge at the 2014 MS Awards, judging the media award, which I won in 2013. I act as a consultant to PR companies, giving advice on how to get media coverage. I also provide creative consultancy to publishers.
  • Author: I've had 7 novels for teenagers/young adults published, which have been translated into several languages.
    • Loving Danny (2006)
    • Don't Ask (2009)
    • Lifted (2010)
    • Camden Town Tales: The Celeb Next Door (2011)
    • Camden Town Tales: Stuck on Me (2012)
    • The Boy from France (2013)
    • When I was Me, (September 2015) Hot Key Books.
    • I'm currently ghost-writing an autobiography.
• Jan 2015 – Present - Associate Lecturer University of the Arts London Teaching feature writing to third year-undergraduate Journalism students.
• Apr 2016 - 2018 Agony Aunt Jewish Chronicle - I'm the new Agony Aunt for The Jewish Chronicle Newspaper. Contact me at:

agony@thejc.com

• Sep 2002 - Feb 2015 - Relationship Adviser for TheSite – YouthNet - I provide online relationship advice to over-16s.
• 2008 – 2009 - Agony Aunt for sky.com Sky Wrote two monthly columns answering readers' problems about their relationships.
• Sep 2001 - Aug 2007 - Agony Aunt CosmoGirl! National Magazine Company - Agony aunt answering teenagers' relationship problems.
• 1997 – 1998 - Deputy Ed/ Reporter on in-house magazine GlaxoWellcome
• 1997 - 1998 Reporter Paragon Golin/Harris

Affiliations

• Jewish Chronicle | GesherEU

Resources

• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06042314
• https://www.thejc.com/life/my-daughter-and-i-were-targeted-at-her-school-for-being-zionists-ect4twn9
• https://www.thejc.com/life/how-hamas-and-its-apologists-made-me-a-true-zionist-mvql7hzv
• https://x.com/HFreemanauthor