Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is an English writer and lyricist known for exploring music, sport and relationships. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and the novels High Fidelity (1995) and About a Boy (1998), all of which were made into films. Hornby has sold over five million books worldwide and has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his screenplays An Education (2009) and Brooklyn (2015).

Nick Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, and was the son of Sir Derek Hornby and Margaret Audrey Withers. He grew up in Maidenhead and attended Maidenhead Grammar School before studying English at Jesus College, Cambridge. The divorce of his parents when Nick was 11 was a formative experience. Before becoming a writer, he taught English in secondary schools.

Hornby's literary career began with Contemporary American Fiction (1992), a collection of essays. The same year, he published Fever Pitch, an autobiographical account of his devotion to Arsenal Football Club, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. High Fidelity, his first novel, followed in 1995.

The book, about a neurotic record store owner, became a cult classic and inspired a film (2000), a Broadway musical (2006) and a Hulu series (2020). His second novel, About a Boy, explored the unlikely friendship between the awkward son of a single mother and a self-absorbed bachelor. The 2002 film adaptation starred Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult.

Hornby's 2001 novel, How to Be Good, explored modern morality and marriage and won the W.H. Smith Literary Award. In 2005, he published A Long Way Down, shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award and made into a film in 2014. Slam (2007), his first novel for young adults, explores teenage pregnancy from the perspective of a 16-year-old skateboarder.

In addition to fiction, Hornby’s non-fiction includes 31 Songs (2003), reflecting music’s emotional impact. His screenwriting credits include Brooklyn, hailed as “his strongest work ever” by The Daily Telegraph. Hornby co-founded the Ministry of Stories in 2010, a charity helping young writers.

His 2022 book Dickens and Prince explores parallels between the iconic author and musician, reflecting Hornby’s lifelong passion for both.

Nick Hornby resides in the Highbury area of North London, near the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club.

Photo credit: FB @nickhornby.uk