Ann Wroe

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

is an English author and columnist who has been the obituaries editor of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' since 2003.

Education and career

After taking a first-class degree in History, Wroe received a doctorate in medieval history from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1975. After completing her university education, she worked at the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

covering French and Italian news. Wroe began working at ''The Economist'', the weekly newspaper, in 1976. In her tenure she has held the position of Books and Arts editor, from 1988 to 1992, and US Editor, from 1992 to 2000. Since 2003, Wroe has been the Obituaries editor at ''The Economist'', which typically publishes one obituary in each print issue. Obituaries Wroe has written include subjects

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prom ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

, and

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. Wroe also writes a column in ''The Economist'' bi-monthly cultural magazine ''

1843 Events January–March * January 3 – The '' Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms'' (海國圖志, ''Hǎiguó Túzhì'') compiled by Wei Yuan and others, the first significant Chinese work on the West, is published in China. * J ...

'' and has edited ''The Economist''

style guide A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style. A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen page ...

. A collection of obituaries written by Wroe and previous Obituaries editor Keith Colquhoun was published in 2008.

Other writing

Wroe has published several non-fiction books including biographies of

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

Percy Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

, and

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would ...

. Her biography of Pilate was shortlisted for the 1999

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

. Her 2011 book on the subject of the mythological figure of

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, entitled ''Orpheus: The Song of Life'', won the London Hellenic Prize (then called the Criticos Prize), and was described by

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...

as "a book of wonders, learned, playful and passionate." In 2016, her book ''Six Facets of Light'', a collection of meditations on light as well as the observations of other writers and thinkers, was named a ''

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

'' Book of the Year. Wroe has also written book reviews for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''. English author

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...

described Wroe as one of the "most underrated" contemporary writers. Wroe became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2007. She is also a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

Publications

*''Lives, Lies, and the Iran-Contra Affair'', I.B. Tauris (New York, NY), 1991 *''A Fool and His Money: Life in a Partitioned Town in Fourteenth-Century France'', Hill & Wang (New York, NY), 1995 *''Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man'', Vintage (London, England), 2000, also published as ''Pontius Pilate'', Modern Library (New York, NY), 2000. *''Perkin: A Story of Deception'', Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2003, also published as ''The Perfect Prince: The Mystery of Perkin Warbeck and His Quest for the Throne of England'', Random House (New York, NY), 2003 *''Being Shelley: The Poet's Search for Himself'', Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 2007 *''The Economist Book of Obituaries'' (co-author with Keith Colquhoun), Profile (UK), 2008 *''Orpheus: The Song of Life'', Jonathan Cape (London), 2011 *"Resolutions, Destinations: ''Shelley's Last Year''" (book chapter) in ''The Oxford Handbook of Percy Bysshe Shelley'', eds. Michael O'Neill and Anthony Howe, Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013 *''Six Facets of Light'', Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2016 *''Francis, A Life in Songs'', Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wroe, Ann Living people The Economist people British biographers Obituary writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers English women journalists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English writers 21st-century English writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers British columnists English women columnists English women historians BBC World Service presenters Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English women biographers