Sathnam Sanghera for the British Library

Sathnam Sanghera (born 1976) is a British journalist and best-selling author.

Early life and education

Sathnam Sanghera was born to Indian Punjabi parents in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

in 1976. His parents had emigrated from India to the UK in 1968.Batt, David
"Sathnam Sanghera: interview"
'' Time Out'', 5 March 2008. He was raised a Punjabi boy. He attended

Wolverhampton Grammar School Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wolverhampton, England. History Initially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who ...

and graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, with a first-class degree in English Language and Literature in 1998.

Career

Before becoming a writer, Sanghera worked at a burger chain, a hospital laundry, a market research firm, a sewing factory and a literacy project in New York. As a student he worked at the ''

Express and Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publish ...

'' in Wolverhampton and dressed up as a "

news bunny News Bunny was station mascot of the short-lived UK TV Station L!VE TV, under its publicity-seeking boss Kelvin MacKenzie. Role During news bulletins an extra dressed as a giant rabbit would stand behind the news presenter, and mime actions re ...

" for

L!VE TV L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by Mirror Group Newspapers on cable television from 12 June 1995 until 5 November 1999. It was later revived for Sky from 2003. In 2006, L!VE TV's name was changed to Babeworld to r ...

. Between 1998 and 2006 he was a reporter and feature writer for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

''. He joined ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' as a columnist and feature writer in 2007. He also writes the motoring column for ''

Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on ...

'' magazine. His memoir, ''The Boy with the Topknot'' (2009) was adapted for BBC Two in 2017. His novel ''Marriage Material'', originally published in 2013, was inspired in part by Arnold Bennett's ''

The Old Wives' Tale ''The Old Wives' Tale'' is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1908. It deals with the lives of two very different sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines, following their stories from their youth, working in their mother's draper's sho ...

.'' In 2016, Sanghera was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In November 2021, his

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary series about race, ''Empire State of Mind'', got a four star review in ''

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 ...

'' from Chitra Ramaswamy.

Personal life

Sanghera lives in North London.

Publications

* ''The Boy with the Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton''. Published by Penguin, 2008, . * ''Marriage Material''. Published by Europa Editions, 2016, . * ''EmpireLand: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain''. Published by Viking, 2021, .

Awards

* Young Journalist of the Year at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of United Kingdom, British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The Sunday People, The People'' and ''Campaign (magazine), World's Press ...

, 2002. * Article of the Year in the 2005 ''

'' Writing Awards. * Newspaper Feature of the Year, Workworld Media Awards. * Journalist of the Year, Watson Wyatt Awards, 2006 and 2009. * Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, 2009 * Shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize, 2009. * Winner, Mind Book of the Year, 2009. * Honorary Doctor of Letters for services to journalism,

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...

, September 2009. * President's Medal, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010. *

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

(First Novel) shortlisted for ''Marriage Material''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanghera, Sathnam 1976 births Living people Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge British people of Indian descent British people of Punjabi descent British Sikhs English male journalists British memoirists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School People from Wolverhampton The Times people