Sathnam Sanghera

Sathnam Sanghera
FRSL
Sanghera in 2021
Born1976 (age 49–50)
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
EducationWolverhampton Grammar School
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge
OccupationsJournalist and author
Notable workThe Boy with the Topknot (2009)
Websitesathnam.com

Sathnam Sanghera FRSL (born 1976) is a British journalist and best-selling author.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and education

Sathnam Sanghera was born to Punjabi parents in Wolverhampton in 1976.[2][5][6] His parents had emigrated from India to the United Kingdom in 1968.[7][8] He was raised Sikh.[8] He attended Wolverhampton Grammar School,[9] having passed the eleven-plus examination[10] and been funded by the UK government's Assisted Places Scheme.[11] He graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge,[12] with a first-class degree in English Language and Literature[13] in 1998.[6][2][14]

Career

Before becoming a writer, Sanghera worked for a burger chain, a hospital laundry, a market research firm, a sewing factory, and a literacy project in New York.[6][15][16] As a student, he worked at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton and dressed up as News Bunny for L!VE TV.[17]

Between 1998 and 2006, he was a reporter and feature writer for the Financial Times.[6][14]Sanghera joined The Times as a columnist and feature writer in 2007.[6][18] He also writes the motoring column for Management Today magazine.[6]

His memoir, The Boy with the Topknot (2009), originally published in 2008 as If You Don't Know Me By Now, was adapted for BBC Two in 2017.[5] In 2009, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his contribution to journalism by the University of Wolverhampton.[19]

His novel Marriage Material (2013),[20] about a Sikh family in Wolverhampton, was inspired in part by Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale.[21] It was adapted for theatre in 2025.[22]

In 2016, Sanghera was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).[1][14]

His books Empireland and Empireworld both focus on the history of British imperialism.[23] In November 2021, his Channel 4 documentary series about race, Empire State of Mind, received a four-star review in The Guardian from Chitra Ramaswamy.[24]

Personal life

Sanghera lives in North London.[6][25]

Publications

  • Sanghera, Sathnam (2008). If you don't know me by now: a memoir of love, secrets and lies in Wolverhampton. Viking. ISBN 9780670916702.
    • —— (2009). The boy with the topknot: a memoir of love, secrets and lies in Wolverhampton. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-102859-0.
  • —— (2013). Marriage material. Random House India. ISBN 978-81-8400-482-3.
  • —— (2021). Empireland: how imperialism has shaped modern Britain. Viking. ISBN 978-0-241-44529-7.
  • —— (2023). Stolen history: the truth about the British empire and how it shaped us. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-241-62343-5.
  • —— (2024). Empireworld: how British imperialism has shaped the globe. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-241-60041-2.
  • —— (2026). Tonight the music seems so loud: the meaning of George Michael. Picador. ISBN 978-1-035-06387-1.

Awards

Year Nominated work Awards Category Result Ref.
2002 The Press Awards Young Journalist of the Year Won [26]
2008 If You Don’t Know Me By Now Costa Book Awards Biography Shortlisted [27]
2009 The Boy with the Topknot PEN/Ackerley Prize [28]
Mind Book of the Year Award Won [29]
2013 Marriage Material Costa Book Awards First Novel Shorlisted [30]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Onwuemezi, Natasha (7 June 2017). "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "'I did something difficult and courageous in writing the book'". BPS. 24 November 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "My Writing Living with Sathnam Sanghera". ALCS. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Wild, Stephi (9 April 2025). "Cast & Creatives Set For MARRIAGE MATERIAL at Lyric Hammersmith". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 Saner, Emine (5 November 2017). "Sathnam Sanghera on The Boy with the Topknot: 'Mum cried while she told our story. I cried as I wrote it'". The Observer. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Biog". Sathnam Sanghera. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Perkins, Roger (9 March 2008). "Loves, secrets and lies in Wolverhampton". The Telegraph.
  8. 1 2 Batt, David (5 March 2008). "Sathnam Sanghera: interview". Time Out. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008.
  9. ↑ "Award winning Sanghera supports home city literature festival". City Of Wolverhampton Council. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Sanghera, Sathnam. "How having rich friends helped me". The Times. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Denny, Sophie (3 May 2024). "'Cambridge makes me feel exactly how I felt as a student': author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera". Varsity Online. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Empireland: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain. Sathnam Sanghera in conversation with Duncan Bell". Christs College Cambridge. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Sathnam Sanghera Books". Waterstones. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Sanghera, Sathnam". Royal Society of Literature. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  15. ↑ Roller, Matthew (8 June 2018). "Sathnam Sanghera: 'We've got to go through this painful process'". Cherwell.
  16. ↑ Richardson, Andy (3 April 2021). "The best-selling author inspired by his childhood". Express and Star. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Profile: Sathnam Sanghera, from bunny to columnist". Asians in Media. 27 August 2007. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Sanghera, Sathnam Singh", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2017, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u281909, retrieved 2 July 2026
  19. ↑ "Honorary award for author and journalist". The Asian Today Online. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Sathnam Sanghera on his theatre debut: 'I find myself close to tears'". The Times. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Drabble, Margaret (19 September 2013). "Another Old Wives' Tale". The Spectator Australia. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Davis, Clive. "Marriage Material review — Sathnam Sanghera's novel makes for a sparky play". The Times. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  23. ↑ Esler, Gavin. "Sathnam Sanghera". Perspective. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Ramaswamy, Chitra (20 November 2021). "Empire State of Mind review – 'Within moments, I am crying on to my laptop'". The Guardian.
  25. ↑ O'Hara, Mary (19 August 2009). "Interview| Home truths". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  26. ↑ "British Press Awards: Past winners". Press Gazette. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 October 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Costa Books Awards shortlists announced". RTÉ. 19 November 2008.
  28. ↑ Ransley, Lettie (13 August 2009). "Ackerley Prize 2009". English PEN. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Sundari (26 May 2009). "Sikh Author Wins Mind Book of the Year Award". The Langar Hall. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  30. ↑ Brown, Mark (26 November 2013). "Costa book awards 2013: late author on all-female fiction shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
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