Tributes paid to writer Dawn Foster, who has died aged 34

Tributes have poured in for the journalist and author Dawn Foster, who has died suddenly aged 34.

Foster, a regular television commentator and a fierce critic of inequality, died of causes related to her long-term illness, according to friends.

James Butler, co-editor of the leftwing media organisation Novara, and a number of other close friends of the writer posted a message about her death on Twitter late on Thursday afternoon.

“We are immensely saddened to announce that our dear friend @DawnHFoster died suddenly at home this week, related to her long-term illness,” Butler wrote.

“Dawn never wavered in her belief in a better world, and was never shy about fighting for it. She did not modulate her beliefs in pursuit of professional advancement. The world did not always treat her kindly, but I never saw a trace of self-pity in her. I admired that greatly.”

Foster, who had epilepsy and a number of other health complications, tweeted on Friday that she had been discharged from hospital and was trying to get to the pharmacy in time to get her medication.

Her friends said it was typical of her sense of fairness that in her last public message she urged others to use community pharmacies “not big corps”, writing: “I love mine, they’re just as much help as the GP surgery in an emergency, true heroes.”

It is understood she was found at home, having been reported missing by friends when she did not respond to messages over the weekend.

Foster was a staff writer for Jacobin magazine, and a contributor to the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement. She wrote for the Guardian’s comment pages on housing and social justice issues.

In 2015, she wrote about her chronic health conditions for the Guardian with typical honesty: “It’s never socially acceptable to reply to the question ‘How are you?’ with ‘Shit, actually’, even when for the vast majority of the time that’s true.”

Foster, who grew up in south Wales, published two books: Lean Out, a critique of the rise of “corporate ‘1% feminism’”, and Where Will We Live?, a polemic on the UK housing crisis. She had been working on a book about the dole.

Podcaster Helen Zaltzman wrote: “No posthumous euphemising for @DawnHFoster: she was, in truth, my most terrifying friend. And one of the funniest and cleverest. The most bellicose, stylish, merciless, dauntless. Her work on inequality was so important. I learned so much from her.”

The writer Sarah Woolley said she was “deeply thankful for the time we had with her”, adding: “She lit up our lives.”

Friends of Foster called for tributes to be sent to fordawnhfoster@gmail.com, adding that contributions could be made to causes she championed, such as the Dogs Trust Freedom Project.