Bruce Chatwin

Charles Bruce Chatwin 13 May 1940 18 January 1989 was an English travel writer novelist and journalist His first book In Patagonia 1977 established Chatwin as a travel writer although he considered himself instead a storyteller interested in bringing to light unusual tales He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill 1982 while his novel Utz 1988 was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize In 2008 The Times ranked Chatwin as number 46 on their list of 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945 Chatwin was born in Sheffield England After completing his secondary education at Marlborough College he went to work at the age of 18 at Sothebys in London where he gained an extensive knowledge of art and eventually ran the auction houses Antiquities and Impressionist Art departments In 1966 he left Sothebys to read archaeology at the University of Edinburgh but he abandoned his studies after two years to pursue a career as a writer The Sunday Times Magazine hired Chatwin in 1972 He travelled the world for work and interviewed figures such as the politicians Indira Gandhi and André Malraux He left the magazine in 1974 to visit Patagonia Argentina a trip that inspired his first book He wrote five other books including The Songlines 1987 about Australia which was a bestseller His work is credited with reviving the genre of travel writing and his works influenced other writers such as William Dalrymple Claudio Magris Philip Marsden Luis Sepúlveda and Rory Stewart Description above from the Wikipedia article Bruce Chatwin licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia