Charles Nicholl is an English author specializing in works of history, biography, literary detection, and travel. He has been active as a writer since the 1970s and has been publishing books since 1980. His subjects have included

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...

, Arthur Rimbaud,

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, Thomas Nashe and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. He is a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature 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, th ...

. Nicholl was educated at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. Awards include the Daily Telegraph young writer award in 1972, which gave him tickets to the Caribbean, as a result of which he visited Colombia. Since his early work he has shown an interest in

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. In 1974 he was the winner of the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...

'' Young Writer Award for his account of an LSD trip entitled 'The Ups and The Downs', and he has since written about such topics as the drug trade (for example in ''The Fruit Palace'') and the Elizabethan underworld (for example in ''The Reckoning'').'The Reckoning' concerning the life of playwright Christopher Marlowe has also recently been adapted as a BBC Radio4 drama-documentary. Besides his literary output, Nicholl has also presented documentary programmes on television. He has lectured in Britain, Italy and the United States. He also lectures on Martin Randall Travel tours.Martin Randall Travel, Expert Lecturers
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Personal life

In the 1990s he moved to Italy, living near Lucca with his wife and children. Boyd Tonkin (November 2007)
Charles Nicholl: Low life, high art
'' The Independent''

Selected works

* ''A Cup of News'' (1984) – a biography of Thomas Nashe * ''The Fruit Palace'' (1985) * ''Borderlines'' (1988) * ''The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe'' (1992 winner of the James Tait Black Prize for biography and the

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association, who have awarded the Gold Dagger fiction award since 1955. In 1978 and 1979 only there was also a silver award. From 1995 to 200 ...

) * ''Somebody Else: Arthur Rimbaud in Africa'' (1998 winner of the

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...

) * '' Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind'' (2004) * ''The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street'' (2007); published in the USA as ''The Lodger Shakespeare His Life On Silver Street'' * "Traces Remain." (2012).

References

1950 births English historians English biographers Shakespearean scholars Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English expatriates in Italy Living people James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature {{UK-writer-stub