Colin Thubron

Colin Thubron is an acclaimed travel writer and novelist. His first books were about the Middle East, then in 1982 he travelled by car into the Soviet Union, a journey described in Among the Russians. From these early experiences developed his classic travel books: Behind the Wall (winner of the Hawthornden Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Award), describing a journey through China still struggling with the legacy of the Cultural Revolution; The Lost Heart of Asia, a traveler’s study of the emergent states of Central Asia; In Siberia (Prix Bouvier); Shadow of the Silk Road, a 7,000-mile journey from China to the Mediterranean; To a Mountain in Tibet and The Amur River (Stanford Dolman Prize). Among many awards he has won the Ness Award of the RGS and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. In 2007 he was created a CBE, and between 2008-2017 served as President of the Royal Society of Literature.