David John Taylor (born 1960) is a British critic, novelist and biographer. After attending school in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, he read

Modern History The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, and has received the 2003 Whitbread Biography Award for his biography of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

. His novel ''Derby Day'' was longlisted for the 2011

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

. He was previously a member of the

Norwich Writers' Circle Norwich Writers' Circle was established in 1943 in Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and e ...

. He lives in Norwich and contributes to ''

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

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'', ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' and ''

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 by v ...

'' among other publications.

Works

*''Great Eastern Land: from the notebooks of David Castell'' (1986), novel *''A Vain Conceit: British Fiction in the 1980s'' (1989) *''Other People: Portraits From The 90's'' (1990), with

Marcus Berkmann Marcus Berkmann (born 14 July 1960) is a journalist and author. Life Berkmann was educated at Highgate School and Worcester College, Oxford. His younger brother is the DJ Justin Berkmann. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contribut ...

*''Real Life'' (1992), novel *''After the War: The Novel and England since 1945'' (1993) *''English Settlement'' (1996), novel *''After Bathing at Baxter’s'' (1997), short stories *''Trespass'' (1998), novel *''Thackeray'' (1999), biography *''The Comedy Man'' (2002), novel *''Pretext 6: Punk of Me'' (2002), guest editor *''Orwell'' (2003), biography *''Kept'' (2006), novel *''On The Corinthian Spirit: The Decline of Amateurism In Sport'' (2006) *''Bright Young People: The Rise and Fall of a Generation 1918–1940'' (2007) *''Ask Alice'' (2009), novel *''At the Chime of a City Clock'' (2010), novel *''Derby Day'' (2011), novel *''Secondhand Daylight'' (2012), novel *''The Windsor Faction'' (2013), novel *''Wrote for Luck'' (2015), stories. Galley Beggar Press * ' The New Book of Snobs' (2016) *''The Prose Factory: Literary Life in England since 1918'' (2016) *''Rock and Roll is Life'' (2018), novel *''Lost Girls: Love, War and Literature, 1939–1951'' (2019), collective biography

Prizes and honours

*1998: Longlisted for Booker Prize for his novel ''Trespass'' *1999: Winner of a Grinzane Cavour Prize for ''L'accordo Inglese'', the Italian translation of his novel ''English Settlement'' *2003: Winner of the Whitbread Prize for Biography for ''Orwell: The Life'' *2011: Longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, for his novel ''Derby Day''. *2014: ''The Windsor Faction'' winner of the

Sidewise Award The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in wh ...

(tied with

Bryce Zabel Bryce H. Zabel (born May 17, 1954) is an American television producer, director, writer, and occasional actor. With hundreds of hours of produced film and television credits, Zabel has scripted a trio of mini-series which aired in the U.S. market ...

's ''Surrounded by Enemies: What If Kennedy Survived Dallas?'').

References

External links

Official website
1960 births Living people 20th-century biographers 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Alumni of St John's College, Oxford British biographers British literary critics British male novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature George Orwell People educated at Norwich School Private Eye contributors Sidewise Award winners Male biographers {{UK-nonfiction-writer-stub