The Times named Gavin a ‘leading cultural historian’. Known for his work on Central Europe, his writing, broadcasting and lecturing projects nonetheless span various periods and disciplines.

Gavin’s first book, A Home for All Seasons, called ‘a tender and illuminating history of an overlooked world’ by Horatio Clare, was published by Atlantic Books in 2022, with a dual launch at the Hay Festival and Wigmore Hall. It has been widely acclaimed. ‘What starts out as a straightforward house history’, according to Literary Review, ‘morphs into something else, a wide-ranging meditation on place and past, taking in climate change, rural depopulation, the Reformation and folklore.’ Country Life described it as ‘a richly textured book, replete with illuminating discoveries and observations’. Click here to listen to Gavin featured on Meet the Writers on Monocle 24, discussing his life and the writing of A Home for All Seasons. The paperback will be published in May 2023.

You can also find Gavin’s work in newspapers and magazines, as well as opera and concert programmes, around the world. He appears frequently on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and Monocle 24.

Gavin lectures widely and has recently given talks for the Royal Philharmonic Society, the National Trust, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the National Theatre, the National Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, the British Museum, Tate, the BBC Proms, the Oxford Lieder Festival, Wigmore Hall (including his Inside the Score series and presenting Live Streams), the Royal Opera House, the Philharmonia and the CBSO, in addition to being an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society.

Born in Dundee in 1981, Gavin is half-Welsh, half-English. He studied at Keble College, Oxford and began his career at Covent Garden immediately after graduating. After a decade in the theatre industry, Gavin became a freelance writer. He lives in Herefordshire with his husband and their dog.

Discover more about Gavin and his ‘Life in Art’ by clicking here.
And for a Q+A with Gavin, click here.

You can also follow Gavin on Instagram and on Twitter.

Text © Gavin Plumley, 2023.
Photographs © Theresa Pewal, 2017.