Kathryn Hughes (born 1959) is a British academic, journalist and biographer. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

(UEA); her doctorate in

Victorian history In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian era, Georgian period and preceded ...

''The Guardian''
Full Profile was developed into her first book, ''The Victorian Governess''. She is the Director of Creative Non-Fiction at the University of East Anglia, Hughes' book ''George Eliot: The Last Victorian'' was awarded the 1999

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, Uni ...

for biography, and her 2005 biography of

Isabella Beeton Isabella Mary Beeton ( Mayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly associated with her first book, the 1861 work '' Mrs Beeton's Book of Household ...

, ''The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton'' was also well-received, and made the long list for the

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

. (Hughes's UEA website stated that the book had made the shortlist, but this turned out not to be true). Reviewing Mrs Beeton in the UK daily newspaper ''

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 publish ...

'',

Frances Spalding Frances Spalding (née Crabtree, born 16 July 1950) is a British art historian, writer and a former editor of ''The Burlington Magazine''. Life Frances Crabtree studied at the University of Nottingham and gained her PhD for a study of Roger Fr ...

wrote: "There is seemingly no aspect of Victorian life that Kathryn Hughes cannot assimilate and understand from the inside. This is living history, in which massive research and impeccable scholarship is handled with invigorating panache". Hughes has also reviewed and written for ''

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 Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' and ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. An occasional presenter of ''Open Book'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, she also contributes to the same network's '' Saturday Review''. She is a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

and the Royal Society of Literature.

Bibliography

Books

* (Bloomsbury pbk ) * * *

Critical studies and reviews of Hughes' work

;''Victorians undone'' *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Kathryn 1959 births Living people Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Alumni of the University of East Anglia BBC Radio 4 presenters British journalists British women journalists Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients British women historians British radio presenters British women radio presenters