Nigel Farndale (born 1964) is a British author and journalist, known for his broadsheet interviews and his bestselling novel ''The Blasphemer''. He has written seven books: four novels, two biographies and a collection of interviews. His latest novel is ''The Dictator's Muse''. ''The Blasphemer'' was shortlisted for the 2010

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

His biography ''Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce'' was published in 2005 and shortlisted for that year's

Whitbread Prize The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

and

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

. As a journalist he has written for various magazines and newspapers including ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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 foun ...

'' and ''

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''. He is currently a senior editor at ''

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'', a paper for which he also writes columns and interviews. He has won a British Press Award for his interviews and was the joint subject of a programme about interviewing on Radio 4 when he and

Lynn Barber Lynn Barber (born 22 May 1944) is a British journalist who has worked for many publications, including ''The Sunday Times''. Early life Barber was born in Bagshot and attended Lady Eleanor Holles School in southwest London. While she was stud ...

compared notes on ''Between Ourselves''. His interview subjects have included

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and

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. Before becoming a writer, Farndale read philosophy for a master’s degree at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. While there he wrote an acerbic letter to

Auberon Waugh Auberon Alexander Waugh ( ; 17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was a British journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at Downsid ...

, who then asked him to write for ''

Literary Review ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years b ...

''."The season's grievings"
''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

'', Nigel Farndale, 31 December 2006 After spells on '' Punch'' magazine and '' Country Life'' magazine he moved to the ''

'', where he remained for twenty years as a feature writer and columnist. He is married with three sons and lives on the border between Hampshire and Sussex.

Publications

* ''The Dictator's Muse''. London, 2021. * ''The Road Between Us''. London, 2013. * ''The Blasphemer''. London, 2010. * ''Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce''. London, 2005. * ''Flirtation, Seduction, Betrayal: Interviews with Heroes and Villains''. London, 2002. * ''Last Action Hero of the British Empire: Commander John Kerans 1915–1985''. London, 2001. * ''A Sympathetic Hanging''. London, 2000. * ''Lives Less Ordinary: Times obituaries of the Eccentric, Unique and Undefinable''. (Editor.) London, 2022. * ''Lives Behind the Music: Times obituaries of rock and pop icons.'' (Editor.) London, 2024.

References

External links

Official website

''Sunday Telegraph''

Journalisted — Articles by Nigel Farndale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farndale, Nigel British male journalists 1964 births Living people People educated at Barnard Castle School People from Ripon Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society