(Percy) Howard Newby (1918-1997) was a writer and broadcasting administrator.
He trained as a teacher and, during the Second World War, was seconded by the army to be a lecturer in English literature at Fuad 1st University (Cairo University). It was during his time as a lecturer that his first novel, 'Journey to the Interior', was published, and in 1946 he returned to Britain to work as a freelance writer.
In 1949 he began his long career at the BBC as a talks producer. In 1958 he became controller of the BBC's Third Programme, and remained controller of its replacement, Radio 3. His appointment as director of programmes (radio) in 1971 was followed 4 years later by his promotion to managing director of BBC radio. Newby retired from the BBC in 1978 and assumed the role of chairman of the English Stage Company from 1978 to 1984. He was created a CBE in 1972.
During his career Newby wrote 23 novels. He was a recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award (1948) for his debut novel 'Journey to the Interior', and was awarded the inaugural Booker Prize for Fiction (1969) for his novel 'Something to Answer For'.
From the guide to the P. H. Newby typescripts, 1959-1994, (Special Collections and Archives, Headington Library, Oxford Brookes University)
