Lucy Hughes-Hallett tonight (November 4th) won the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, for her biography The Pike, published by 4th Estate. The prize is worth £20,000.
“The Pike,” The Samuel Prize wesbite said, “is the story of the controversial life of Gabriele D’Annunzio, the debauched Italian artist who became a national hero. His evolution from idealist Romantic to radical right-wing revolutionary is a political parable. Through his ideological journey, culminating in the failure of his attempt at Fiume to establish a utopia based on his fascist and artistic ideals, readers witness the political turbulence of early 20th-century Europe and the emergence of fascism, while also following a personal story of an outrageous career.”
Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of two previous books, Cleopatra: Histories, Dreams and Distortions and Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen. She is also a critic for major British newspapers and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
4/11/2013
