Alan Coren

Alan Coren

Alan Coren was born into an orthodox Jewish family in East Barnet, Herts. In his later life he distanced himself from his Jewish heritage. Coren published about twenty books during his life, many of which were collections of his newspaper columns.

About Alan Coren in brief

Summary Alan CorenAlan Coren was born into an orthodox Jewish family in East Barnet, Herts. Coren considered an academic career but instead decided to become a writer and journalist. In his later life he distanced himself from his Jewish heritage, stating in an interview with The Independent, ‘I haven’t been Jewish for years!’ Coren published about twenty books during his life, many of which were collections of his newspaper columns, such as Golfing for Cats and The Cricklewood Diet. One of his most successful books, The Collected Bulletins of Idi Amin, was rejected for publication in the United States on the grounds of racial sensitivity.

He died from the effects of necrotising fasciitis in 2007 at his home in north London. He was survived by his wife Anne, a consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital, whom he married in 1976, and their two children, Giles and Victoria, who are both journalists. He is buried at St Andrews University in St Andrews, Scotland, where he was a professor of English.