Oliver Soden is a writer and broadcaster, and the critically-acclaimed author of Michael Tippett: The Biography (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2019) and Jeoffry: The Poet's Cat (The History Press, 2020). He is currently working on a biography, the first in nearly three decades, of Noël Coward, with the full authorisation of the Coward Estate and unrestricted archival access.
Michael Tippett: The Biography was hailed by Philip Pullman as a "delight to read"; by the Spectator as "an exceptional piece of work"; and by Gramophone as "nothing short of miraculous". Chosen as "Book of the Year" in the Spectator and Times Literary Supplement, and among “2019’s Best Classical Music” selections for the Observer, it was read (by the author) for BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week, with Sir Derek Jacobi playing Tippett. The book won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Storytelling; was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography; and longlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown – a unique quartet of recognition from award panels literary, musical, and historical.
Jeoffry: The Poet's Cat, a semi-fictionalised biography of Christopher Smart's cat Jeoffry, was acclaimed as "inspired and original" by Hilary Mantel, and as "the most beautiful and haunting book of recent times" by Alexander McCall Smith. "Book of the Year" in the Times Literary Supplement, it was championed as "a little classic" by Dame Eileen Atkins on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read.
Oliver's essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including the Guardian, Spectator, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, Gramophone, The Art Newspaper, and BBC Music Magazine. He has appeared as a guest on the Six O'Clock News (BBC Radio 4), and on Proms Plus, Twenty Minutes, Music Matters, Composer of the Week, In Tune and Live in Concert (BBC Radio 3). In wide demand for pre-performance talks and interviews, he has spoken at literary and music festivals such as Bath, Hay, and Presteigne.
For his research on Michael Tippett he was awarded a Fellowship in the Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin, and he serves as a trustee of the Michael Tippett Musical Foundation. Oliver has worked as assistant producer for a number of award-winning television documentaries, including George III: The Genius of the Mad King and Janet Baker: In Her Own Words (Crux productions); he is part of the team behind BBC Radio 3's long-running programme Private Passions. When literary assistant to the Royal Shakespeare Company's founder-director John Barton, he edited Barton's ten-play Greek epic, Tantalus, for publication (Oberon Books, 2014).
Oliver was educated at Lancing College in Sussex, and at Clare College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English. Born in 1990, he grew up in Bath and Sussex, and lives in London.
Michael Tippett: The Biography was hailed by Philip Pullman as a "delight to read"; by the Spectator as "an exceptional piece of work"; and by Gramophone as "nothing short of miraculous". Chosen as "Book of the Year" in the Spectator and Times Literary Supplement, and among “2019’s Best Classical Music” selections for the Observer, it was read (by the author) for BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week, with Sir Derek Jacobi playing Tippett. The book won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Storytelling; was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography; and longlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown – a unique quartet of recognition from award panels literary, musical, and historical.
Jeoffry: The Poet's Cat, a semi-fictionalised biography of Christopher Smart's cat Jeoffry, was acclaimed as "inspired and original" by Hilary Mantel, and as "the most beautiful and haunting book of recent times" by Alexander McCall Smith. "Book of the Year" in the Times Literary Supplement, it was championed as "a little classic" by Dame Eileen Atkins on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read.
Oliver's essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including the Guardian, Spectator, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, Gramophone, The Art Newspaper, and BBC Music Magazine. He has appeared as a guest on the Six O'Clock News (BBC Radio 4), and on Proms Plus, Twenty Minutes, Music Matters, Composer of the Week, In Tune and Live in Concert (BBC Radio 3). In wide demand for pre-performance talks and interviews, he has spoken at literary and music festivals such as Bath, Hay, and Presteigne.
For his research on Michael Tippett he was awarded a Fellowship in the Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin, and he serves as a trustee of the Michael Tippett Musical Foundation. Oliver has worked as assistant producer for a number of award-winning television documentaries, including George III: The Genius of the Mad King and Janet Baker: In Her Own Words (Crux productions); he is part of the team behind BBC Radio 3's long-running programme Private Passions. When literary assistant to the Royal Shakespeare Company's founder-director John Barton, he edited Barton's ten-play Greek epic, Tantalus, for publication (Oberon Books, 2014).
Oliver was educated at Lancing College in Sussex, and at Clare College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English. Born in 1990, he grew up in Bath and Sussex, and lives in London.
