Lenny Letter

Feminist newsletter founded by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner

Lenny Letter

Editor| Jessica Grose
Deputy Editor| Laia Garcia
Editor at Large| Mikki Halpin
Publisher| Condé Nast
Founder| Lena Dunham
Jennifer Konner
Founded| 2015
First issue| October 23, 2015 (2015-10-23)
Final issue| October 19, 2018 (2018-10-19)
Country| United States
Language| English
Website| LennyLetter.com

Lenny Letter, also known as Lenny, was a weekly online feminist newsletter created by Lena Dunham and Jennifer Konner.[1] Lenny also had a book imprint called Lenny Books on Random House.[2] It was shut down in October 2018.[3]

## History

[edit]

In September 2015, Dunham and Konner started Lenny Letter as a self-funded project that would give a platform to young female voices to discuss feminist issues.[4][5][6] The newsletter featured political essays, personal stories, interviews, artwork and even an advice column from Dunham and Konner themselves called "Letters to Lenny".[7] Benjamin Cooley was the CEO.[8] Laia Garcia was made deputy editor in July 2015.[9]

Notable articles include an essay written by actress Jennifer Lawrence about the gender wage gap in Hollywood;[10] one written by singer Alicia Keys about her decision to start wearing little to no make-up;[11] and another by singer Kesha on the release day of her single "Praying", her first in close to four years, about her public struggles against producer Dr. Luke (detailed in Kesha v. Dr. Luke).[12]

Lenny Letter was supported by Hearst Corporation advertising.[13] After December 2017, it was supported by Condé Nast.[14]

In addition to the regular newsletter, Lenny Letter published a fiction issue and a poetry issue during fall 2015. Lenny Letter was developing a possible HBO short film series.[15]

In July 2017, Lenny Letter announced its first Lenny book imprint with Random House, writer Jenny Zhang's short story collection, Sour Heart.[2][16][17][18]

In November 2017, following Dunham and Konner's controversial letter denouncing Aurora Perrineau's accusation of sexual assault by Murray Miller, Zinzi Clemmons announced that she would no longer contribute to the newsletter, saying Dunham's racism was "well-known" and called for all women of color to "divest" from Dunham.[19]

In October 2018, it was announced the website would be shutting down,[20][21] reportedly due to a decline in subscribers and failure to build momentum upon other platforms.[22] Contributors were told a week prior to the shut down, receiving fees for unpublished written works.[23]

## Publications

[edit]

* Zhang, Jenny (2017). Sour Heart: Stories. New York: Lenny. ISBN 978-0-399-58938-6. OCLC 962438345.
* Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda; Ross, Tracee Ellis; Waters, Alice; Wu, Jason (2017). Haramis, Nicholas (ed.). Courage Is Contagious (Collection of essays). New York: Lenny. ISBN 978-0-399-59261-4. OCLC 971091570.

## Featured

[edit]

* Bett Williams
* Lupe Valdez
* Jeneca Jones
* Else Bostelmann
* Mya Spalter

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jagannathan, Meera (September 29, 2015). "10 fast facts about Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner's first Lenny Letter". New York Daily News.
2. ^ a b Zhang, Jenny; Dunham, Lena (August 1, 2017). "An Evening with Jenny Zhang and Lena Dunham: Celebrating the first book from the LENNY imprint". Random House. Housing Works, New York.
3. ^ Evans, Greg (October 18, 2018). "Lena Dunham Website Set To Close Down Tomorrow: Report". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
4. ^ Wright, Mic (July 14, 2015). "Lena Dunham is starting an email newsletter…yep". The Next Web.
5. ^ Petersen, Anne Helen (July 14, 2015). "Lena Dunham Is Launching A Newsletter For Young Women". BuzzFeed.
6. ^ Vara, Vauhini (October 8, 2015). "Lena Dunham, Media Mogul: The creator of Girls invades your inbox". Bloomberg Businessweek.
7. ^ Valby, Karen. "The Girls collaborators want to change the voice of online feminism—and make some money too". Fast Company.
8. ^ "About Us". Lenny Letter. October 22, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
9. ^ Crimmens, Tamsin (June 20, 2016). "Meet The Women Behind The Game Changing Newsletter - Lenny". ELLE UK.
10. ^ Lawrence, Jennifer (October 14, 2015). "Jennifer Lawrence: "Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co‑Stars?"". Lenny Letter.
11. ^ Keys, Alicia (May 31, 2016). "Alicia Keys: Time to Uncover". Lenny Letter. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
12. ^ Sebert, Kesha (July 6, 2017). "Kesha Fights Back in Her New Single, "Praying"". Lenny Letter. Condé Nast. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
13. ^ Owen, Laura Hazard (March 4, 2016). "Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter has grown to 400,000 subscribers with a 65 percent open rate". NiemanLab.
14. ^ "Style Notes: Lenny Letter Moves From Hearst to Conde Nast; Stance Socks Expands to Intimates". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
15. ^ Wappler, Margaret (January 11, 2017). "Lena Dunham Is Our February Cover Star: Dunham talks the end of 'Girls,' our new president, and being a workaholic". Nylon.
16. ^ Ziv, Stav (April 18, 2016). "Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner's New Lenny Book Imprint Has Acquired Its First Title". Newsweek.
17. ^ Biedenharn, Isabella (April 18, 2016). "Lena Dunham's Lenny imprint signs first book". Entertainment Weekly.
18. ^ "SOUR HEART by Jenny Zhang: Announcing the first book in the LENNY imprint". Lenny Letter. June 1, 2017. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
19. ^ "Zinzi Clemmons: 'It's Time For Women of Color...to Divest From Lena Dunham'". Jezebel. November 19, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
20. ^ Lewis, Hilary (October 18, 2018). "Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter Website to Shut Down (Reports)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
21. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 18, 2018). "Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter Is Shutting Down (Reports)". Variety. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
22. ^ Willens, Max (October 18, 2018). "Lenny Letters tells contributors it's shutting down on Friday". Digiday. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
23. ^ Ryan, Lisa (October 18, 2018). "Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter Is Reportedly Shutting Down". New York. Retrieved October 18, 2018.

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