14 Facts About Henry Hitchings

Henry Hitchings was born on 11 December 1974 and is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history.

Henry Hitchings has written two books about Samuel Johnson and has served as the president of the Johnson Society of Lichfield.

Henry Hitchings was chair of the drama section of the UK's Critics' Circle from 2018 to 2020.

Henry Hitchings was a King's Scholar at Eton College, before going to Christ Church, Oxford, and then to University College London to research his PhD on Samuel Johnson.

In 2005, Hitchings published Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World, a biography of Samuel Johnson's epochal A Dictionary of the English Language.

In March 2009, on the strength of The Secret Life of Words, Henry Hitchings was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

In 2016, Henry Hitchings edited a collection of original essays about bookshops, with the title Browse: The World in Bookshops.

In June 2018, Henry Hitchings published his sixth full-length book, returning to the subject of his first, Samuel Johnson.

In May 2009, Henry Hitchings became the theatre critic on the London Evening Standard, replacing Nicholas de Jongh.

Henry Hitchings left this role in 2019, after more than ten years, following cost-cutting at the paper.

Henry Hitchings has written for Financial Times, the New Statesman, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and The Times Literary Supplement, among other publications, and has made radio, television and festival appearances.

Henry Hitchings was the writer and presenter of the documentary Birth of the British Novel, which was first broadcast on BBC Four on Monday 7 February 2011.

Henry Hitchings had previously been a featured contributor to the documentary Samuel Johnson: The Dictionary Man in 2006.

Henry Hitchings became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2015.