Ten Years Since Christopher Hitchens Died: An Announcement
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Christopher Hitchens. I remember watching the Channel 4 news piece about his death on December 15, 2011, and feeling sad. I was 15 and, as I recall, had barely even read a word of Hitchens, but I was vaguely familiar with him from my interest in Richard Dawkins and the New Atheism stuff, so it felt like a real loss. It was only after his death, though, that I gained a real appreciation for the man, reading his actual words and watching him debate and lecture. In the years since, I have read widely and my views on a variety of things have changed and matured, but I remain an admirer, though not, of course, an uncritical one, of Hitchens (and I remain a New Atheist too, I suppose, but that’s another matter).
Elsewhere today, I appear on Iona Italia’s Areo-associated podcast Two for Tea with Ben Burgis and Matt Johnson to discuss Hitchens. And I’ve written two pieces for Areo about him, which will be published this week. My quadruple marking of this anniversary isn’t just because I’m a longtime admirer of the Hitch, but because, like Ben and Matt, I’m writing a book about him.
I say ‘like Ben and Matt’, but actually, their books are much further along than mine! Ben’s is due to be published at the end of this year and Matt’s in 2022, while my project is, if not quite embryonic, then certainly no more than fetal in its development. Like Matt’s, my book is with the excellent Pitchstone Publishing, whose patience as I continue to muddle along has been much appreciated.
So, that is the point of this post: to finally make this news public. Until now, with these words and the aforementioned podcast, I’ve kept it fairly quiet. But this seems like a good moment to break that silence. As for the nature of my project: even as the work continues, this is still in flux. My initial plan was (and still is) to write a biography but, as the months have gone by, I’ve become less certain, for various reasons, that this is feasible. If not a biography, then a narrower study, likely of Hitch and religion/atheism/antitheism, might be the end result. We shall see.
I may as well take this opportunity to put out a call—if anyone has any good contacts with people who knew Hitchens, particularly contacts relating to what we might call the ‘inner circle’, or, indeed, any advice at all, please do get in touch. I should also thank everyone who has supported me this far, in whatever capacity—from offering advice to keeping the secret to speaking to me about Hitchens.
That’s all I have to say at the moment. Going public is slightly terrifying since it means that if I fail my failure will also be public. But it also feels good. I doubt much will actually change—the work will continue, life will go on—after making this announcement, but it’s just nice to have the news out there, rather than keeping it as some sort of secret. That’s something. And even if I do eventually fail, at least I have a period of time in which to boast about having a book deal.
But let me not end on a note of pessimism. No, I have achieved something just by acquiring and pursuing this opportunity. It might take time and it might produce some tears, but I will give this book a damn good shot. For a young writer inspired by Christopher Hitchens to get into this business in the first place, writing a book about the man is quite the honour—and a tribute to his enduring power.
How to sign off? ... Of course, how else? Ladies, gentlemen, brothers, sisters, comrades,
Onwards.