Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Lucy Angela Hughes-Hallett (born 7 December 1951)[1] is a British cultural historian, biographer[2] and novelist. In November 2013, she won the Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction for her biography of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, The Pike.[3] The book also won the 2013 Costa Book Award (Biography)[4][5] and the Duff Cooper Prize.[6]

Biography

Lucy Hughes-Hallett has written four works of nonfiction: Cleopatra, Heroes, The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, and The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham.[7] She has also written a novel, Peculiar Ground, set partly in the 1660s and partly during the Cold War. In her collection of short stories, Fabulous, she reimagines stories from classical mythology, the Bible, and folklore, setting them in modern Britain.

Hughes-Hallett was a Vogue Talent Contest prizewinner in 1973 and subsequently worked for five years as a feature writer on the magazine. In 1978 she won the Catherine Pakenham Award for Young Female Journalists for a profile of Roald Dahl. Since then she has written on books and arts for all of the British broadsheet newspapers including The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She was television critic of the London Evening Standard for five years.

She has judged the WH Smith Award, The Duff Cooper Prize, The Encore Award, the RSL Jerwood Award, the Rathbones Prize, and the Hawthornden Prize.

In 2021 she was the Chair of the Judges of the International Booker Prize.

She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association.[8]

In 1984, she married publisher Dan Franklin. They have two daughters.

Selected publications

  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (1990). Cleopatra: Histories, Dreams and Distortions. New York: Harper & Row.[9]
  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (2004). Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen. London: Harper Press;[10] Heroes (no subtitle), New York: Alfred A. Knopf
  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (2013). The Pike: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War, London: 4th Estate; Gabriele d'Annunzio: Poet, Seducer, and Preacher of War, New York: Alfred A. Knopf
  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (2017). Peculiar Ground: A Novel, London: 4th Estate
  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (2019). Fabulous: Stories, London: 4th Estate
  • Hughes-Hallett, L. (2024). The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham, London: 4th Estate; New York: HarperCollins Publishers.[11][12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Lucy Hughes-Hallett". Debrett's. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ Sheri Berman (30 August 2013). "'Gabriele d'Annunzio' by Lucy Hughes-Hallett". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ Mark Brown (4 November 2013). "Biography of Italian fascist wins Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Former winners recapture Costa prize". BBC News. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  5. ^ Mark Brown (26 November 2013). "Costa book awards 2013: late author on all-female fiction shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Home". lucyhugheshallett.com.
  7. ^ Hughes-Hallett, Lucy (2024). The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham. London and New York: HarperCollins.
  8. ^ "Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. ^ Bianchi, R. S. (1991). "(Review of) Cleopatra. Histories, Dreams and Distortions". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 28: 239–240. doi:10.2307/40000593. JSTOR 40000593.
  10. ^ Oliver, Taplin (3 December 2004). "History & Biography - Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen - Lucy Hughes-Hallett". Times Literary Supplement. p. 27.
  11. ^ Moore, Lucy (16 October 2024). "The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett review – James I's beloved bedfellow". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  12. ^ "'The Scapegoat' by Lucy Hughes-Hallett review | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  13. ^ Hunt, Alice (26 December 2024). "The Unfortunate Posset". London Review of Books. Vol. 46, no. 24. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  14. ^ Jones, Dan (11 October 2024). "The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett review — the rise and fall of James I's 'erotic toy'". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 9 January 2025.