Background

Lucy Hughes-Hallett was born on December 7, 1951, in London, United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Michael Wyndham Norton Hughes-Hallett by his marriage to Penelope Ann Fairbairn. Her father was a Lieutenant in the Scots Guards.

Education

Lucy was educated at Bedford College (today Royal Holloway), University of London.

Career

Lucy worked as a features writer for Vogue magazine and later became the London Evening Standard’s television critic, where she worked for five years. She has written book reviews for all of the British broadsheet newspapers including The Sunday Times and The Guardian. Lucy has judged the WH Smith Award, The Duff Cooper Prize, The Encore Award and the RSL Jerwood Award.

Her first book, Cleopatra: Histories, Dreams and Distortions, examining the historical background and cultural myths inspired by Cleopatra, was published in 1990. Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen, was published in 2004. Her biography of Gabriele D’Annunzio, The Pike: Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War, appeared in 2013.

Hughes-Hallett's first novel, Peculiar Ground, was published in 2017. Her most recent work, Fabulous, a collection of short stories, came out in June 2019.

Achievements

• Lucy Hughes-Hallett is an award-winning author. Her best known work is The Pike, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Costa Book Award, and the Duff Cooper Prize in 2013.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Peculiar Ground

    (The Costa Award-winning author of The Pike makes her lite...)

    2018
  • Heroes: Saviors, Traitors, and Supermen: A History of Hero Worship

    (Beginning beneath the walls of Troy and culminating in 19...)

    2005
  • Fabulous

    (Not since Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber have old sto...)

    2019
  • Cleopatra: Queen, Lover, Legend

    (A fascinating account of the ways in which different gene...)

    1990
  • The Pike 2013

Connections

In 1984, Lusy married Dan Franklin and they have two daughters.

Father:

Michael Wyndham Norton Hughes-Hallett

Mother:

Penelope Ann Fairbairn Hughes-Hallett

Spouse:

Dan Franklin