Sandi Toksvig

**Sandra Birgitte "Sandi" Toksvig**  (born 3 May 1958) is a Danish and British writer, comedian, and radio and TV presenter. She lives and works in England.

## Career

Sandi Toksvig was born on 3 May 1958 in Copenhagen. Her father, Claus Toksvig, was a foreign correspondent for Danmarks Radio. She spent six years at Mamaroneck High School in New York before studying at Girton College, Cambridge. Her first book, a children’s story called _Tales from the Norse’s Mouth_, was published in March 1994 (no German edition). She writes regular columns for the women’s magazine _Good Housekeeping_ and for the _Sunday Telegraph_.

She began her comedy career at Cambridge, where she wrote the first all-female show for the Cambridge Footlights. While at Girton, she was also a member of the Cambridge University Light Entertainment Society. She performed improvisation at London’s Comedy Store. On television, she presented children’s shows like _No. 73_, _Saturday Starship_, _Get Fresh_, _Motormouth_, and _Gilbert’s Fridge_. From 2010 to 2016 she co-hosted _The Great British Bake Off_. She was a regular guest on the quiz show _QI (Quite Interesting)_, and in October 2016 she took over as its host from Stephen Fry. She has also appeared on _Call My Bluff_, _Whose Line Is It Anyway?_, _Mock the Week_, and first appeared on _Have I Got News For You_ in 1990.

Until June 2015, she hosted BBC Radio 4’s _The News Quiz_, replacing Simon Hoggart in September 2006. In 2007 she was the main host of _Excess Baggage_. She is also often a guest on the radio show _I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue_ and on _Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off_. For three years, until December 2005, she had a weekday lunchtime show on London talk radio LBC 97.3.

Her wife is psychotherapist Debbie Toksvig.

### Political career

Sandi Toksvig has supported the Liberal Democrats. In 2003 she ran for Chancellor of the University of Oxford but was eliminated in the first round. She campaigned against student fees. In March 2015 she co-founded the Women’s Equality Party.

### Children’s books (English)

- _Hitler’s Canary_, Doubleday, July 2005
- _The Troublesome Tooth Fairy_, Transworld, November 2000, ISBN 0-552-54663-1
- _Super-Saver Mouse to the Rescue_, Transworld, April 2000, ISBN 0-552-54541-4
- _Super-Saver Mouse_, Transworld, September 1999, ISBN 0-552-54540-6
- _If I Didn’t Have Elbows_, De Agostini, April 1998, ISBN 1-84089-048-7
- _Unusual Day_, Transworld/Corgi, April 1997, ISBN 0-552-54539-2
- _If This Had Never Been Invented_, De Agostini, 1996
- _Tales from the Norse’s Mouth_, BBC Books, March 1994, ISBN 0-563-40358-6

### Adult books (English)

- _Island Race: An Improbable Voyage Round the Coast of Britain_ (with John McCarthy), BBC Books, 1995
- _Great Journeys of the World_, Penguin, 1997
- _Drowning in the Desert_, Transworld, 1998
- _Whistling for the Elephants_, Transworld, August 1999, ISBN 0-593-04480-0
- _Flying Under Bridges_, Little, Brown, April 2001
- _The Travels of Lady Bulldog Burton_ (with Sandy Nightingale), Little, Brown, September 2002
- _Tell the Führer It’s Shakespeare_, Little, Brown, December 2002
- _Gladys Reunited: A Personal American Journey_, Little, Brown, 2003, ISBN 0-7515-3328-9
- _Melted into Air_, Little, Brown, July 2006
- _Forgotten Forest_, June 2007

### German editions

Two of her books have been published in German:

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Sandi Toksvig
- **image**: Sandi Toksvig - Secret Comedy Podcast - 2013 (9468814916) (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Toksvig in 2013
- **birth name**: Sandra Birgitte Toksvig
- **birth place**: Copenhagen, Denmark
- **education**: Girton College, Cambridge (Bachelor of Arts, BA)
- **relatives**: Signe Toksvig (great-aunt)
- **years active**: 1982–present
- **children**: 3
- **partner**: Peta Stewart (1986-1997)