Percy Howard Newby

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(25 June 1918 – 6 September 1997) was an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and broadcasting administrator. He was the first winner of the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

, his novel ''

Something to Answer For ''Something to Answer For'' is a 1968 novel by the English writer P. H. Newby. Its chief claim to fame is that in 1969 it won the inaugural Booker Prize, which would go on to become one of the major literary awards in the English-speaking world ...

'' having received the inaugural award in 1969.

Early life

Newby was born in

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England, on 25 June 1918 and was educated at

Hanley Castle Grammar School Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub o ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, and St Paul's College of Education in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

. In October 1939 he was sent to France to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a private in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

. His unit was one of the last to be evacuated. Afterwards he was sent to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and served in the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian desert.

Career

Newby was released from military service in December 1942, and then taught

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at King Fouad University in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

until 1946. One of his students was the Egyptian editor

Mursi Saad El-Din Mursi may refer to: People Mursi is an Arabic ''Nisba (onomastics), nisba'' meaning "from Murcia". It may refer to: Surname *Abdullah Morsi (1994–2019), son of former President Mohamed Morsi *Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi (1219–1287), Sufi saint *Ah ...

. From 1949 to 1978, Newby was employed by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, beginning as a radio producer and going on to become successively Controller of the Third Programme and Radio Three, Director of Programmes (Radio), and finally managing director, BBC Radio. While at Radio 3, Newby is credited with increasing the amount of Classical music on the station without the need for controversial changes to schedules. His first novel, ''A Journey into the Interior'', was published in 1946. He then returned to England to write. In the same year he was given an Atlantic Award in literature, and two years thence he received the

Somerset Maugham Prize The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his pl ...

. In 1947, John Lehmann published Newby's boys' adventure story "The Spirit of Jem" with 41-line drawings and a colour dust wrap by

Keith Vaughan John Keith Vaughan (23 August 1912 – 4 November 1977), was a British painter. His work is held in the collections of the Government Art Collection, National Galleries Scotland, National Portrait Gallery, Tate and Victoria and Albert Museum in t ...

. In 1972, Newby was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) for his work as managing director of

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. In his obituary author, friend and colleague

Anthony Thwaite Anthony Simon Thwaite OBE (23 June 1930 – 22 April 2021) was an English poet and critic, widely known as the editor of his friend Philip Larkin's collected poems and letters. Early years and education Born in Chester, England, to Yorkshir ...

states: "P. H. Newby was one of the best English novelists of the second half of the century."

Works

Novels

* ''A Journey to the Interior'' (1945) * ''The Spirit of Jem'' (1947) * ''Agents and Witnesses'' (1947) * ''Mariner Dances'' (1948) * ''The Loot Runners'' (1949) * ''The Snow Pasture'' (1949) * ''The Young May Moon'' (1950) * ''A Season in England'' (1951) * ''A Step to Silence'' (1952) * ''The Retreat'' (1953) * '' Picnic at Sakkara'' (1955) first novel in the Anglo-Egyptian comic trilogy. * ''Revolution and Roses'' (1957) second novel in the Anglo-Egyptian comic trilogy. * ''Ten Miles From Anywhere'' (1958) * ''A Guest and His Going'' (1960) third novel in the Anglo-Egyptian comic trilogy. * ''The Barbary Light'' (1962) * ''One of the Founders'' (1965) * ''

'' (1968) * ''A Lot to Ask'' (1973) * ''Kith'' (1977) * ''Feelings Have Changed'' (1981) * ''Leaning in the Wind'' (1986) * ''Coming in with the Tide'' (1991) * ''Something About Women'' (1995)

Non-fiction

* ''Maria Edgeworth'' (1950) * ''The Novel, 1945-1950'' (1951) * ''The Uses of Broadcasting'' (1978) * ''The Egypt Story'' (1979) * ''Warrior Pharaohs'' (1980) * ''Saladin in His Time'' (1983)

References

External links

Information site for P.H. Newby

"Memories of the First Booker Prize"
P.H. Newby Literary Estate. {{DEFAULTSORT:Newby, P. H. 1918 births 1997 deaths 20th-century English novelists Academic staff of Cairo University Alumni of the University of Gloucestershire Newby, Howard Booker Prize winners British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Hanley Castle High School People from Crowborough Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Military personnel from East Sussex Writers from Sussex