Colin Gerald Dryden Thubron (born 14 June 1939) is a British travel writer and novelist. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' ranked him among the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to ''The

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, between 2009 and 2017, was President of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

Early years

Thubron is the son of Brigadier Gerald Thubron and of Evelyn (née Dryden), a

collateral descendant A lineal or direct descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in a person's direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate b ...

of the poet

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

and of

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of a Electrical telegraph#Morse ...

, inventor of the

Morse Code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

. He was born in London and educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. Before becoming a writer he worked for five years in publishing in London and New York City, and made independent documentary films that were shown on

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

. He is married to the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...

scholar Margreta de Grazia.

The Middle East

Thubron's first travel book, ''Mirror to Damascus'', was published in 1967, the first such book on the city for a century. It was followed the next year by ''The Hills of Adonis: A Quest in Lebanon'', a lyrical account of a journey through the country, pre-civil war, and the next year by ''Jerusalem.'' While starting a parallel career as a novelist, he completed a travel book on Cyprus, ''Journey into Cyprus'', in 1974, just before Turkey invaded the island.

Russia and the Far East

In 1981, during the Brezhnev era, Thubron broke with his earlier work (on cities and small countries) and travelled by car into the Soviet Union, a journey recorded in ''Among the Russians''. This was followed in 1987 by ''Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China ''(winner of the

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award given annually to a British, Irish or British-based author for a work of "imaginative literature" – including poetry, novels, history, biography and creative non-fiction – published in the pre ...

Hawthornden Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award), Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and in 1994 by ''The Lost Heart of Asia'', the record of a journey through the newly independent nations of Central Asia. In 1999 his book '' In Siberia''
In Siberia (Prix Bouvier, France), an exploration of the farthest reaches of the ex-Soviet Union, was published. In an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Bookclub (radio), Bookclub'' in 2018, Thubron discussed the book with the presenter James Naughtie and answered questions from the audience. His book, ''Shadow of the Silk Road'' (2007), describes a 7,000-mile journey from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to the Mediterranean encompassing cultures in which Thubron has been particularly interested: Islam, China, the former Soviet Union, Central Asia,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

.
(Prix Bouvier, France), Independent review: Shadow of the Silk Road.. His latest work is '' The Amur River: Between Russia and China'' (2021).

Writing

Most of Thubron's novels are notably different from his travel books. Several describe settings of enforced immobility: a psychiatric hospital, a prison, an amnesiac's mind. Notable among them are ''Emperor'' (1978), a study of the conversion of Constantine, ''A Cruel Madness'' (winner of the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award),
Silver Pen Award. and ''Falling'' (1989). Others, however, use travel or a fictional abroad: ''Turning Back the Sun'' (1991) and an imaginary journey to

Vilcabamba, Peru Vilcabamba (in Hispanicized spelling) or Willkapampa (Aymara language, Aymara and Quechua language, Quechua), often called the Lost City of the Incas, is a lost city in the Echarate District of La Convención Province in the Cuzco Region of Peru. ...

in ''To the Last City ''(2002), long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. It has been described as a "''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgium, Belgian company in the African interior. Th ...

'' narrative" in a " Marquezian setting". His most recent novel, ''Night of Fire'', is his most ambitious: a multi-layered study of time and memory, which several reviewers named his masterpiece. Thubron says that he was influenced by ''

Palgrave's Golden Treasury The ''Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics'' is a popular anthology of English poetry, originally selected for publication by Francis Turner Palgrave in 1861. It was considerably revised, with input from Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennys ...

'' as a schoolboy, and was initially inspired by the travel writing of

Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greate ...

, Jan Morris and Freya Stark. He admires the English novelist

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), Golding published another 12 volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 19 ...

and chose

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...

's anthology '' A Year of Grace'' as his book for ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''.Desert Island Discs archive
BBC Radio – Desert Island Discs microsite

Travel Writing

*''Mirror to Damascus'' – Heinemann, 1967 *''The Hills of Adonis: A Quest in Lebanon'' – Heinemann, 1968 *''Jerusalem'' – Heinemann, 1969 *''Journey into Cyprus'' – Heinemann, 1975 *''Jerusalem'' –

Time-Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and Direct marketing, direct ...

, 1976 *''Istanbul'' – Time-Life, 1978 *''The Venetians'' – Time-Life, 1980 *''The Ancient Mariners'' – Time-Life, 1981 *''The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden'' –

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...

, 1982 *''Among the Russians'' – Heinemann, 1983 *''Where Nights Are Longest: Travels by Car Through Western Russia'' – Atlantic Monthly Press, 1984 *''Behind the Wall: A Journey through China'' – Heinemann, 1987 *
The Silk Road: Beyond the Celestial Kingdom
' –

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, 1989 *''The Lost Heart of Asia'' – Heinemann, 1994 *'' In Siberia'' –

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

, 1999 *''Shadow of the Silk Road'', Chatto & Windus, 2006 *'' To a Mountain in Tibet'', Chatto & Windus, 2011 *'' The Amur River: Between Russia and China'', Chatto & Windus, 2021 Forewords: *''Views from Abroad: The Spectator Book of Travel Writing'', edited by Philip Marsden-Smedley & Jeffrey Klinke – Grafton, 1988 *''The Lycian Shore'' by Freya Stark – John Murray, 2002 *'' The Road to Oxiana'' by Robert Byron – Penguin, 2007 *''Stalin's Nose'' – by

Rory MacLean Rory MacLean Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (born 5 November 1954) is a Great Britain, British-Canadian historian and travel writer who lives and works in Berlin and the United Kingdom. His best known works are ''Stalin’s Nose'' ...

– Tauris Parke, 2008 *''The Travels of Marco Polo'' – Everyman, 2008 *''Art, Life and Everything'' - by Julie Umerle - Susak Press, 2019

Novels

*''The God in the Mountain ''- Heinemann, 1977 *''Emperor'' – Heinemann, 1978 *''A Cruel Madness'' – Heinemann, 1984 *''Falling'' – Heinemann, 1989 *''Turning Back the Sun'' – Heinemann, 1991 *''Distance'' – Heinemann, 1996 *''To the Last City'' – Chatto & Windus, 2002 *'' Night of Fire'' - Chatto & Windus, 2016

Radio adaptations, stage and television

*''Emperor'' - BBC Radio 4, September 1984, with Martin Jarvis as Constantine and

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Le ...

as Fausta. *''Great Journeys: The Silk Road'' – BBC 2 Television, presenter, 1989 *''The Prince of the Pagodas'' - ballet scenario, the Royal Opera House, 1989, choreographed by

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

*''A Cruel Madness'' – BBC Radio 4, May 1992, with Robert Glenister as Pashley and Harriet Walter as Sophia *''The South Bank Show – Time seen as a Road'', on Colin Thubron, ITV television, 1992

Prizes and awards

*1967 Book Society Choice, ''Mirror to Damascus'' *1969 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature *1985 PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, ''A Cruel Madness'' *1988

, ''Behind the Wall: A journey through China'' *1988 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, ''Behind the Wall: A Journey through China'' *1991 Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society *2000 Mungo Park Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Royal Scottish Geographical Society. *2001 Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs
Royal Society for Asian Affairs. *2002 Hon.D Lit

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

Warwick University *2003-9 Vice-President, The Royal Society of Literature *2007

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE), New Year's Honours *2008 Society of Authors Travel Award *2009–2017 President, The Royal Society of Literature *2010

Prix Bouvier Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

, France, ''In Siberia''
Prix Nicholas Bouvier *2011 Ness Award of the Royal Geographical Society *2014 International Prize, Spanish Geographical Society *2019 Edward Stanford Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing Award *2020 RSL Companion of Literature *2021 Lifetime Achievement Award, Premio Chatwin, Italy *2021 Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year: ''The Amur River'' *2023 Travel Book of the Year, Premio Chatwin, Italy: ''The Amur River''

References

External links

Thubron author page and archive
from ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' * Susan Bassnett: ''Interview with Colin Thubron, ''Studies in Travel Writing, No 3, 1999 *Interview: ''The Guardian'': https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/sep/23/travel.travelbooks *Overview:

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

: https://web.archive.org/web/20131113194125/http://literature.britishcouncil.org/colin-thubron *Interview: ''The Independent'': https://web.archive.org/web/20121105020336/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5039074.html *Interview:http://www.bookrags.com/ColinThubron – United States *''The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing'' ed. Hulme and Youngs, CUP, 2002, pp. 95–6 *Interview: ''The Sunday Times'': http://www.accessinterviews.com/interviews/detail/colin-thubron/4256 *''The New York Review of Books: The Amazing Wanderer'': http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2007/dec/20/the-amazing-wanderer/ *Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/books/review/Adams.html *''The Times''

*Interview: 'The Geographical Magazine'': https://web.archive.org/web/20100201172301/http://www.geographical.co.uk/Magazine/People/Colin_Thubron_-_May_2007.html
Debrett's People of Today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thubron, Colin 1939 births Writers from London Living people People educated at Eton College 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English travel writers Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Presidents of the Royal Society of Literature Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers The New York Review of Books people