Sarah Hampson began her career in journalism in 1993, when she started to write for magazines as a freelance contributer. For her work in publications such as Toronto Life, Report on Business, Chatelaine, and the now-defunct Saturday Night, she won several National Magazine Awards, including three Golds. She has also written for publications in England, including The Observer.
In 1999, The Globe and Mail invited her to write a weekly Interview column, which still runs today. The tally of interviews now numbers over 500. She has talked to a wide range of interesting people. Among others, she has sat down with the eccentric (Karen Black, Criss Angel, John Waters), the delusional (Steven Seagal), the beautiful (Sophia Loren, Faith Hill, Jane Seymour) the iconic (Hugh Hefner, Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds) and the reclusive (Leonard Cohen; poet Anne Carson). Her goal is to give the reader a snapshot of that person in that moment, and to get beneath the veneer of celebrity to understand the motivation and personality of her subjects.
In 2000, her Interview column was nominated for a National Newspaper Award.
Although known primarily as a profile writer, Hampson has an interest in many topics. She has covered business stories about female ambition, the appeal of late-night browsing on the Shopping Channel, the mating and feeding habits of Bay Street denizens and the retail magic of Holt Renfrew. She has reflected on her life as a mother of three boys. She has gone on a road trip through the dusty Saskatchewan plains to write about the acclaimed “Saskatchewan Series” by Canadian artist, Landon McKenzie. She has trekked across the Arctic lowlands of Devon Island, the world’s largest uninhabited island, for a travel memoir; ventured into the wrong Chicago ‘hood with basketball legend, Isiah Thomas; and hung out in the Leafs’ Wives’ Room to understand the behind-the-scenes culture of hockey.
In 2007, she joined the staff in the Life section of The Globe and Mail. That year, she began Generation Ex, a column about the social phenomenon of divorce. She also writes Currency, a weekly column about the way we spend money.
Her book about mid-life post-divorce, Happily Ever After Marriage. There's Nothing Like Divorce to Clear the Head, will be published by Knopf in the spring, 2010.
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