Charlie Connelly (born 22 August 1970,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England) is an author of popular non-fiction books. In addition to being a writer, Connelly also appears as a presenter on radio and television shows.

Overview

Connelly's writing exhibits a self-deprecating humour and love of eccentricity that echoes the style of

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has be ...

. Similarly, Connelly shares with several other writers a fascination with subject-matter that had not previously been a feature of traditional

travel writing The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a ...

. Connelly began his career as a writer of books relating to sporting events, most commonly football. His breakthrough 2002 book, ''Stamping Grounds'', was his fifth, and followed the

Liechtenstein national football team The Liechtenstein national football team () is the national Association football, football team of the Principality of Liechtenstein and is controlled by the Liechtenstein Football Association. The organisation is known as the ''Liechtenstein ...

in their unsuccessful campaign to qualify for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. His 2004 follow-up, ''Attention All Shipping'', which was his first to deviate from football as its topic, has been listed as a best-seller and selected as ''

Book of the Week ''Book of the Week'' is a long-running BBC Radio 4 series, first broadcast in 1998. It features daily readings from an abridged version of a selected book read over five or occasionally ten weekday episodes. Each episode is approximately 15 min ...

'' by the UK radio station

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. ''Attention All Shipping'' was Connelly's first book not to take football as its central subject: again seeking out unusual destinations, he travels to each area mentioned in the

Shipping Forecast The ''Shipping Forecast'' is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The for ...

made famous on BBC Radio 4. In 2007, Connelly released his seventh book, ''In Search of Elvis'', which again focused on travel and the impression left by entertainer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Connelly's eighth book, ''And Did Those Feet: Walking Through 2000 Years Of British And Irish History'', followed in 2008 in which Connelly undertook some notable journeys from history on foot and was again a BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week", read by

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most ...

. ''Our Man in Hibernia'', published in 2010, detailed Connelly's move to Ireland and his search for his Irish roots. His tenth book, ''Bring Me Sunshine'', which examines the history of the weather and weather forecasting, appeared in September 2012. ''Bring Me Sunshine'' was also a BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week", read by the actor

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is a British actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in '' Green Wing'', Dan Moody in '' I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in ''Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postma ...

. On the '' Radcliffe & Maconie'' show on BBC 6 Music in December 2013, Bernard Sumner announced that he had engaged Connelly to co-write his autobiography. In 2016, Connelly collaborated with the twenty-times champion jockey Tony McCoy on his autobiography ''Winner: My Racing Life'', which was shortlisted for Autobiography of the Year at the 2016 British Sports Book Awards. Connelly's work has also appeared in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', the ''

Scotsman Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (o ...

'' and the ''

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...

''. Since May 2017, he has been the literary correspondent of ''

The New European ''The New World'' is a British pan-European weekly political and cultural newspaper and website. Launched in July 2016 as a response to the United Kingdom's 2016 EU referendum, its readership is aimed at those who voted to remain within the ...

''. Connelly was also a presenter on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

television programme ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'' and has lectured at the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He co-presented the first three series of the

programme ''Traveller's Tree'' with

Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British journalist and presenter who currently hosts a two hour show for Times Radio and the Off Air podcast, for ''The Times''. Before joining ''The Times'' in October 2022, Glover w ...

, has appeared on '' Excess Baggage'' and '' Loose Ends'' and has made documentaries for BBC Radio 4 on subjects ranging from the poetry of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

to the cricket coach Alfred Gover. In August 2008, ''Attention All Shipping'' was voted the second greatest audiobook in a public vote organised by ''

'' newspaper and

Waterstone's Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

bookshops, finishing behind ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

''. In October 2014, Connelly premiered a one-man show based on ''Attention All Shipping'' with a sold-out performance at the

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, at the end of a long period of desig ...

Studio Theatre.

Bibliography

* 1998 – ''I Just Can't Help Believing: The Relegation Experience'' * 1999 – ''London Fields: A Journey Through Football's Metroland'' * 2000 – ''Spirit High and Passion Pure: A Journey Through European Football'' * 2001 – ''Many Miles... a Season in the Life of Charlton Athletic'' * 2002 – ''Stamping Grounds: Liechtenstein's Quest for the World Cup'' * 2004 – ''Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast'' * 2007 – ''In Search of Elvis: A Journey to Find the Man Beneath the Jumpsuit'' * 2009 – ''And Did Those Feet: Walking Through 2000 Years Of British And Irish History'' * 2010 – ''Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me'' * 2012 – ''Bring Me Sunshine: A Windswept, Rain-Soaked, Sun-Kissed, Snow-Capped Guide To Our Weather'' * 2014 – ''Chapter and Verse: Joy Division, New Order and Me'' by Bernard Sumner (co-writer) * 2014 – ''The Forgotten Soldier'' * 2014 – ''Elk Stopped Play, And Other Tales From Wisden's Cricket Round The World'' (Editor) * 2015 - ''Constance Street'' * 2016 - ''Gilbert: The Last Years of W.G. Grace'' * 2016 - ''Winner: My Racing Life'' by Tony McCoy (co-writer) * 2019 - ''Last Train to Hilversum: A journey in search of the magic of radio'' * 2020 - ''The Channel''

References

External links

Charlie Connelly.com
– Official website
Biography page on literary agency website

Essex Book Festival Interview

Interview for ''The Creative Life''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Charlie 1970 births Living people Alumni of the University of Essex British sportswriters British ukulele players English humorists English people of Irish descent English radio presenters English television presenters English travel writers People educated at Eltham College