Brenda Ueland

American journalist and writer, 1891–1985

Brenda Ueland (October 24, 1891 – March 5, 1985) was an American journalist, editor, freelance writer, and teacher of writing. She is best known for her book If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit.

Brenda was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Andreas and Clara Hampson Ueland. She was the third of seven children. She attended Wells and Barnard colleges and received her baccalaureate from Barnard in 1913. Brenda was raised in a relatively progressive household; her father, an immigrant from Norway, was a prominent lawyer and judge. Her mother was a suffragette and served as the first president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters. Brenda would spend her life as a staunch feminist and is said to have lived by two rules: To tell the truth, and to not do anything she didn't want to.

Brenda Ueland had a varied and prolific career. She freelanced for many publications including the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Golfer and Sportsman, and varied newspapers. She was a staff writer for Liberty and the Minneapolis Times, among other publications. She worked for two years (1915–1917) as an editor for Crowell Publishing in New York City. Brenda wrote scripts for radio shows including a program entitled Tell Me More, which featured Ueland responding to listener's personal problems, and Stories for Girl Heroes, a children's program about notable women. She also taught many local writing classes starting in 1934. In 1946, while covering the treason trials of Vidkun Quisling, she was awarded the Knight of Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf by the Norwegian government.

She lived in and around New York City for much of her adult life before returning to Minnesota in 1930. Brenda was concerned with animal welfare and regularly spoke out against vivisection. She worked with Pet Haven, Inc, a no kill animal shelter based in Minnesota that was established in 1952. Brenda was very physically active well into her old age. She regularly walked up to 9 miles a day, and liked to spend time improving her handstands. She enjoyed swimming and set an international swimming record for people over 80 years old. She died at the age of 93 on March 5, 1985.

By her own account, Ueland had many lovers. She was married three times. Her first marriage was to William Benedict in 1916. This marriage resulted in the birth of her only child, a daughter named Gabrielle in 1921. Brenda and William divorced in 1926 and she raised Gabrielle on her own. She went on to marry two more times, first to Manus McFadden, the editor of the Minneapolis Times, then to Sverre Hanssen, a Norwegian artist. Both marriages resulted in divorce. She is the maternal grandmother of Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader.