Tim Lott

Tim Lott (born 23 January 1956) is a British author. After working as a music journalist and running a magazine publishing business, he graduated as a mature student, at the age of 30, from the London School of Economics in 1986 with a degree in History and Politics. He then briefly worked as the editor of the London magazine City Limits, as a TV producer and a Sunday magazine feature writer.

Life and career

Lott was born in Southall, West London. His first book, a memoir, The Scent of Dried Roses, was published in 1996 and won the PEN/J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. It is now published as a Penguin Modern Classic. His next work, and first novel, White City Blue, was published in 1999 and won that year's Whitbread Award for Best First Novel.

He was shortlisted in the 'Best Novel' category of the 2002 Whitbread Awards and the Encore Awards for best second novel for his work, 'Rumours of a Hurricane'. He has since published The Love Secrets of Don Juan, The Seymour Tapes and Fearless, a young adult novel for Walker Books, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize. He has also featured prominently in the literary magazine "Granta', appearing in their 21st anniversary edition as having authored one of the most significant pieces published in the previous 21 years.

His most recent novel (April 2012) is Under the Same Stars (Simon and Schuster). His authored documentary on the class system, 'The New Middle Classes' was broadcast on BBC Four in 2008.

He is a prolific travel journalist, an occasional op-ed writer for the Independent on Sunday and a weekly columnist for the Guardian 'Family' section. He teaches the 'Writing a Novel' six-month course at the Faber Academy in London. He lives in Kensal Green, North West London, and is married to Rachael Newberry, a lecturer in English. He has four children, all daughters, two of which are from his first marriage to Sarina Lavigna.

External links

• Official website
• Guardian newspaper articles by Tim Lott
• Independent newspaper articles by Tim Lott
• Aeon Magazine articles by Tim Lott
• "Simpatico", Sunday Times, 1 February 2009 (online text)
• Tim Lott on Twitter