Craig Brown

Here’s a detailed profile of Craig Brown (English critic & satirist) with citations:

Craig Brown – Life, Career, and Distinctive Voice

Craig Brown (born May 23, 1957) is an English critic, satirist, columnist, and biographer celebrated for his wit, parody, and unconventional takes on culture and public figures.

Introduction

Craig Edward Moncrieff Brown (born 23 May 1957) is a prominent English critic, satirist, and writer. He is best known for his sharp parodies, satirical diaries in Private Eye, and his genre-bending biographies of figures such as Princess Margaret and The Beatles.

Brown’s writing blends humor, cultural critique, and a playful style that often reframes familiar subjects in unexpected ways. He continues to influence British journalism, biography, and satire.

Early Life & Education

• Craig Brown was born in Hayes, West London, on 23 May 1957.

• He was educated at Eton College and later at the University of Bristol.

• After university, he began working as a freelance journalist in London, contributing to magazines and newspapers.

Career & Achievements

Journalism, Satire & Columns

• Brown wrote for a broad array of publications, including Tatler, The Spectator, The Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, Evening Standard, The Times, The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, among others.

• He is noted especially for his parody diaries and satirical sketches in Private Eye, where he invents voices or personas to lampoon public figures.

• Under pseudonyms he created recurring fictional characters like “Bel Littlejohn” (a trendy New Labour commentator) and “Wallace Arnold” (a reactionary conservative figure).

• In 2001 he succeeded Auberon Waugh’s column “Way of the World” in The Daily Telegraph.

• He also has a longstanding presence as a restaurant critic, book reviewer, and television critic.

Radio, Television & Broadcast Work

• Brown’s radio show This Is Craig Brown aired on BBC Radio 4 and featured a blend of monologues, satirical segments, and dramatizations.

• He has appeared as a critic on television (e.g., BBC Two’s Late Review) and in documentaries about writers and artists.

Biographies & Literary Works

• Brown’s Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret (2017) is a lightly structured, fragmentary biography of Princess Margaret. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

• His book One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time (2020) won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.

• Most recently, his A Voyage Around the Queen (2024) is a biography of Queen Elizabeth II, published in a style combining vignettes, anecdotes, and commentary.

• He also wrote The Tony Years, a satirical narrative of Tony Blair’s years in office.

Style & Influence

• Brown’s work tends to eschew strict chronological narratives; instead he embraces a mosaic or vignette style—small episodes, lists, diary fragments—that capture impressions over time.

• His satire is sharp yet often affectionate; he aims to expose absurdities and human foibles, including of his subjects, cultural institutions, and public figures.

• He is considered one of Britain’s foremost modern satirists and critics, with an influence across journalism, humor, and creative biography.

Personal Life

• Brown is married to Frances Welch, who is a writer.

• They have two children.

• Frances Welch is related (by family) to Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine).

Notable Quotes & Perspectives

Craig Brown’s voice shows through in many interviews and writings. Here are a few excerpts and paraphrases:

“You have to have some prickle in you to get going.”

On his approach to biography:

“[It] is not strictly chronological, lots of small chapters […] lots of chapters about people’s idea of the person.”

On satire’s purpose:

“If you don’t want to mention Princess Margaret’s great-great grandparents, you just don’t.” (on Ma’am Darling)

These reflect Brown’s playful flexibility, his sensitivity to tone, and his willingness to leave out the conventional in favor of the revealing.