NEWS

Delighted The Folio Society agreed to dedicate this magnificent reproduction of Robert Hooke's Micrographia to Lisa Jardine who did so much to promote Hooke's memory in her lifetime:
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/press/2017/06/the-folio-society-publishes-limited-edition-of-hookes-micrographia.phtml
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/press/2017/06/the-folio-society-publishes-limited-edition-of-hookes-micrographia.phtml
My column for the Wall Street Journal on novels of political protest: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ruth-scurr-1487367801
Joyous response to John Aubrey: My Own Life in the Paris Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/01/30/aubrey-illustrated/

Delighted that Aubrey is on the Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2016 list!
http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2016/nonfiction#book/book-18
http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2016/nonfiction#book/book-18
Aubrey is getting some really wonderful American reviews:
In the New York Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/books/review-john-aubrey-my-own-life-ruth-scurr.html
In the Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/finally-a-biography-of-the-man-who-invented-biography/2016/09/07/da517caa-7063-11e6-9705-23e51a2f424d_story.html
And in the New Yorker -
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/the-nix-the-lesser-bohemians-the-book-of-human-emotions-and-john-aubrey-my-own-life
In the New York Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/books/review-john-aubrey-my-own-life-ruth-scurr.html
In the Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/finally-a-biography-of-the-man-who-invented-biography/2016/09/07/da517caa-7063-11e6-9705-23e51a2f424d_story.html
And in the New Yorker -
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/the-nix-the-lesser-bohemians-the-book-of-human-emotions-and-john-aubrey-my-own-life

My visit to the offices of the New York Review of Books

A photo from my trip to Canada promoting Aubrey, thanks to Ben McNally's bookstore

Absolutely delighted that the US edition of John Aubrey: My Own Life is on this list of 'The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2016':
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/71042-the-most-anticipated-books-of-fall-2016.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/71042-the-most-anticipated-books-of-fall-2016.html

My blog for TLS about Svetlana Alexievich at the Cambridge Union, with thanks to Cambridge Literary Festival and English PEN:
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2016/06/svetlana-alexievich-at-the-cambridge-union.html
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2016/06/svetlana-alexievich-at-the-cambridge-union.html
John Aubrey: My Own Life has been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Biography Prize: http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2016/literary-voices-vie-for-the-uk-s-oldest-book-prize
My paperback in Waterstones and a link to my Waterstones blog: https://www.waterstones.com/blog/john-aubrey-my-own-life

My blog for TLS about judging the Observer/Anthony Burgess Arts Journalism Award:
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2016/03/observeranthony-burgess-prize-for-arts-journalism.html
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2016/03/observeranthony-burgess-prize-for-arts-journalism.html
Here is the cover for Aubrey in America, forthcoming in September from New York Review Books
Out in paperback from Vintage Books in April

Thank you William Boyd, AS Byatt and Stuart Kelly for choosing John Aubrey: My Own Life in TLS Books of the Year:
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1637188.ece
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1637188.ece
Wonderful to find John Aubrey: My Own Life recommended in The Guardian, The Financial Times, the Glasgow Herald and the Sunday Times this weekend:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2015/nov/28/best-books-of-2015-part-one
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dbbe9112-940a-11e5-b190-291e94b77c8f.html
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14109747.Scotland_s_most_influential_people_on_the_best_books_they_ve_read_in_20
http://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2015/nov/28/best-books-of-2015-part-one
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dbbe9112-940a-11e5-b190-291e94b77c8f.html
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14109747.Scotland_s_most_influential_people_on_the_best_books_they_ve_read_in_20
John Aubrey: My Own Life is the Telegraph's No.1 Christmas Book!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-100-books-for-christmas/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-100-books-for-christmas/
Delighted John Aubrey: My Own Life has been short listed for the Costa Biography Prize - he loved coffee shops so much!
In celebration of Michael Holroyd's 80th birthday at the British Library: http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2015/10/michael-holroyd-at-80.html
Looking forward very much to talking about history books and writing with Mary Beard and Peter Stothard at the Cheltenham Literary Festival. Our event is sponsored by TLS: http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2015/rewriting-history/
Very pleased to be talking at the Budleigh Salterton Festival in September: http://www.budlitfest.org.uk/ruth-scurr-budleigh-salterton-literary-festival-devon/
Looking forward to the Edinburgh Festival on 17th August: https://www.festmag.co.uk/shows/16665-ruth_scurr
Lovely blog about Portuguese Brazilian edition of Fatal Purity:
http://cafe-musain.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/retrato-de-um-revolucionario.html
http://cafe-musain.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/retrato-de-um-revolucionario.html
AS Byatt and Philip Pullman chose Aubrey for their summer reading: so thrilled!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/11/best-holiday-reads-2015
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/11/best-holiday-reads-2015
Proud to be included in the Telegraph's Summer Books:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11712854/Best-books-for-summer-2015-what-to-read.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11712854/Best-books-for-summer-2015-what-to-read.html
Proud to be included in the FT's Summer Books:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bd4a767c-1b99-11e5-8201-cbdb03d71480.html
Looking forward to two festivals in June:
http://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2015/talks/biography-of-a-biographer/
http://programme.cvhf.org.uk/speaker/ruth-scurr/
http://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2015/talks/biography-of-a-biographer/
http://programme.cvhf.org.uk/speaker/ruth-scurr/
Very pleased to be doing two events at the Hay Festival this year:
Ruth Scurr talks to Peter Stothard: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-9630-ruth-scurr-talks-to-peter-stothard.aspx
and
Peter Hennessy, Ruth Scurr, Leanne Wood, Rosie Boycott: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-9597-peter-hennessy-ruth-scurr-leanne-wood-rosie-boycott.aspx
Ruth Scurr talks to Peter Stothard: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-9630-ruth-scurr-talks-to-peter-stothard.aspx
and
Peter Hennessy, Ruth Scurr, Leanne Wood, Rosie Boycott: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-9597-peter-hennessy-ruth-scurr-leanne-wood-rosie-boycott.aspx
Ruth Scurr with Erica Wagner John Aubrey: My Own Life
John Aubrey redefined the art of biography. In his Brief Lives we meet Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton and Thomas Hobbes; see the stones of Stonehenge and the stained glass of long-forgotten churches. Yet he is all but forgotten.
Now, in an act of scholarly imagination, the historian Ruth Scurr has resurrected Aubrey as a potent spirit for our own time, drawing on Aubrey’s own words to reveal the dry wit and irreverence of a literary trailblazer. In conversation with the author and critic Erica Wagner, she discusses her book and the life of one of the pioneers of modern writing.
Wed 6 May, 8pm: Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Delighted to have become an honorary patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival:
http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/about-the-festival/festival-patrons/
This year I will be talking about Aubrey with Julia Blackburn and Anna Whitelock:
http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/speaker/ruth-scurr-julia-blackburn/
Talking to Sandra Smith about Irène Némirovsky:
http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/speaker/sandra-smith/
Talking to Antonia Fraser about her memoir My History:
http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/events/antonia-fraser/
Looking forward to talking about Aubrey with Erica Wagner at the Brighton Festival 6 May:
http://brightondome.org/whats_on/words/

Book Launch: 12th March 2015.
Happy 389th Birthday John Aubrey: born and reborn on this day!
Happy 389th Birthday John Aubrey: born and reborn on this day!
Delighted to be David Aaronovitch's Desert Island Book in the Times today:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/books/non-fiction/article4372014.ece
My Guardian Podcast with Karl Ove Knausgaard and Alexandra Fuller on Life Writing:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2015/mar/06/karl-ove-knausgaard-alexandra-fuller-ruth-scurr-life-writing-podcast
http://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2015/mar/06/karl-ove-knausgaard-alexandra-fuller-ruth-scurr-life-writing-podcast
My article in the Guardian on Aubrey and Our Golden Age of Life Writing:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/28/john-aubrey-and-our-golden-age-life-writing-biography?CMP=share_btn_tw
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/28/john-aubrey-and-our-golden-age-life-writing-biography?CMP=share_btn_tw

Absolutely delighted with first review of John Aubrey: My Own Life
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1523401.ece
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1523401.ece

My article for History Today: A Diary Imagined
www.historytoday.com/john-aubrey/diary-imagined
Very pleased to be a judge of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize alongside Tom Holland and David Horspool:
http://www.englishpen.org/prizes/pen-hessell-tiltman-prize-2015-judging-panel-announced/
Photos of the judges from the Samuel Johnson 2014 prize-giving. We were delighted to award the prize to Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk.
Here is a link to the Guardian review of our Samuel Johnson Shortlist...
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/09/samuel-johnson-prize-2014-shortlist-announced-memoirs |
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![]() The fifteen titles on the longlist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2014, celebrating the best in non-fiction writing, are announced today, Tuesday 2 September. The fifteen titles on this year’s longlist are: • John Campbell, Roy Jenkins, Jonathan Cape • John Carey, The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life, Faber & Faber • Jessie Childs, God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England, Bodley Head • Marion Coutts, The Iceberg: A Memoir, Atlantic • Nick Davies, Hack Attack, Random House • Atul Gawande, Being Mortal, Profile Books • Greg Grandin, The Empire of Necessity, Oneworld • Alison Light, Common People, Fig Tree • Helen Macdonald, H is for Hawk, Jonathan Cape • Henry Marsh, Do No Harm, Weidenfeld & Nicolson • Jonathan Meades, An Encyclopaedia of Myself, 4th Estate • Caroline Moorehead, Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France, Chatto & Windus • Adam Nicolson, The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters, William Collins • Jenny Uglow, In These Times, Faber & Faber • Ben Watt, Romany and Tom: A Memoir, Bloomsbury |
My Samuel Johnson Prize blog before the long listing: http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/node/352
My interview about Finella for Gilded Birds: http://gildedbirds.com/tag/finella/