Charlie Connelly (born 22 August 1970,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England) is an author of popular non-fiction books. In addition to being a writer, Connelly also appears as a presenter on radio and television shows.

Overview

Connelly's writing exhibits a self-deprecating humour and love of eccentricity that echoes the style of

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

. Similarly, Connelly shares with several other writers a fascination with subject-matter that had not previously been a feature of traditional

travel writing Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel ...

. Connelly began his career as a writer of books relating to sporting events, most commonly football. His breakthrough 2002 book, ''Stamping Grounds'', was his fifth, and followed the Liechtenstein national football team in their unsuccessful campaign to qualify for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. His 2004 follow-up, ''Attention All Shipping'', which was his first to deviate from football as its topic, has been listed as a best-seller and selected as ''

Book of the Week ''Book of the Week'' is a BBC Radio 4 series that is broadcast daily on week days. Each week, extracts from the selected book, usually a non-fiction work, are read over five episodes; each fifteen-minute episode is broadcast in the morning (9:45a ...

'' by the UK radio station

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's ...

. ''Attention All Shipping'' was Connelly's first book not to take football as its central subject: again seeking out unusual destinations, he travels to each area mentioned in the

Shipping Forecast The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...

made famous on BBC Radio 4. In 2007, Connelly released his seventh book, ''In Search of Elvis'', which again focused on travel and the impression left by entertainer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

. Connelly's eighth book, ''And Did Those Feet: Walking Through 2000 Years Of British And Irish History'', followed in 2008 in which Connelly undertook some notable journeys from history on foot and was again a BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week", read by

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

. ''Our Man in Hibernia'', published in 2010, detailed Connelly's move to Ireland and his search for his Irish roots. His tenth book, ''Bring Me Sunshine'', which examines the history of the weather and weather forecasting, appeared in September 2012. ''Bring Me Sunshine'' was also a BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week", read by the actor

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in ''Green Wing'', Dan Moody in ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in '' Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postm ...

. On the ''

Radcliffe & Maconie ''Radcliffe & Maconie'' is a weekend radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music in the United Kingdom and via the internet. It runs from 8-10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and is presented by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie. The show origin ...

'' show on

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available only ...

in December 2013,

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the po ...

announced that he had engaged Connelly to co-write his autobiography. In 2016, Connelly collaborated with the twenty-times champion jockey

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

on his autobiography ''Winner: My Racing Life'', which was shortlisted for Autobiography of the Year at the 2016

British Sports Book Awards The Sports Book Awards (previously National Sporting Club Book Awards then Telegraph Sports Book Awards) is a British literary award for sports writing. It was first awarded in 2003 as part of the National Sporting Club. Awards are presented in ...

. Connelly's work has also appeared 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 ...

'', ''

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 f ...

'', ''

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'' ( ...

'', the ''

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who fou ...

'' and the ''

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

''. Since May 2017, he has been the literary correspondent of ''

The New European ''The New European'' is a British pan-European weekly political and cultural newspaper and website. Launched in July 2016 as a response to the United Kingdom's 2016 EU referendum, its readership is aimed at those who voted to remain within t ...

''. Connelly was also a presenter on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

television programme ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

'' and has lectured at the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He co-presented the first three series of the

programme ''Traveller's Tree'' with

Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British BBC journalist and presenter who formerly presented the ''Fortunately'' podcast, '' The Listening Project'' for BBC Radio 4 and ''My Perfect Country'' for the BBC World Ser ...

, has appeared on '' Excess Baggage'' and '' Loose Ends'' and has made documentaries for BBC Radio 4 on subjects ranging from the poetry of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

to the cricket coach Alfred Gover. In August 2008, ''Attention All Shipping'' was voted the second greatest audiobook in a public vote organised by ''

'' newspaper and

Waterstone's Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

bookshops, finishing behind ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...

''. In October 2014, Connelly premiered a one-man show based on ''Attention All Shipping'' with a sold-out performance at the

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...

Studio Theatre.

Bibliography

* 1998 – ''I Just Can't Help Believing: The Relegation Experience'' * 1999 – ''London Fields: A Journey Through Football's Metroland'' * 2000 – ''Spirit High and Passion Pure: A Journey Through European Football'' * 2001 – ''Many Miles... a Season in the Life of Charlton Athletic'' * 2002 – ''Stamping Grounds: Liechtenstein's Quest for the World Cup'' * 2004 – ''Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast'' * 2007 – ''In Search of Elvis: A Journey to Find the Man Beneath the Jumpsuit'' * 2009 – ''And Did Those Feet: Walking Through 2000 Years Of British And Irish History'' * 2010 – ''Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me'' * 2012 – ''Bring Me Sunshine: A Windswept, Rain-Soaked, Sun-Kissed, Snow-Capped Guide To Our Weather'' * 2014 – ''Chapter and Verse: Joy Division, New Order and Me'' by

(co-writer) * 2014 – ''The Forgotten Soldier'' * 2014 – ''Elk Stopped Play, And Other Tales From Wisden's Cricket Round The World'' (Editor) * 2015 - ''Constance Street'' * 2016 - ''Gilbert: The Last Years of W.G. Grace'' * 2016 - ''Winner: My Racing Life'' by

(co-writer) * 2019 - ''Last Train to Hilversum: A journey in search of the magic of radio'' * 2020 - ''The Channel''

References

External links

Charlie Connelly.com
– Official website
Biography page on literary agency website

Essex Book Festival Interview

Interview for ''The Creative Life''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Charlie 1970 births Alumni of the University of Essex British sportswriters British ukulele players English humorists English people of Irish descent English radio presenters English television presenters English travel writers Living people People educated at Eltham College