{{Short description|English writer (born 1971)}} {{about|the British writer|the fictional character from "The Archers"|List of The Archers characters{{!}}List of ''The Archers'' characters}} {{confused|Jonathan Higgs}} {{infobox person | name = John Higgs | image = File:John Higgs.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = John Higgs | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1971}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Higgs |first1=John |title=The Future Starts Here: Adventures in the Twenty-First Century |date=2019 |publisher=Hachette UK |isbn=978-1474609418}} Chapter 6.</ref> | birth_place = Rugby, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Author <br>Journalist <br>Cultural Commentator | movement = | website = {{URL|https://johnhiggs.com/}} | signature = }}
'''John Higgs''' is an English writer, novelist, journalist and cultural historian. The work of Higgs has been published in the form of novels (under the pseudonym JMR Higgs), biographies and works of cultural history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Higgs/e/B0086FBMYE/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0|title=Amazon.co.uk: John Higgs: Books, Biography, Blogs, Audiobooks, Kindle|website=www.amazon.co.uk|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref>
In particular, Higgs has written about the 1960s counterculture, exemplified by writers, artists and activists such as Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Alan Moore and The KLF.
==Career== Higgs began as a director of children’s television and was BAFTA-nominated for pre-school animation<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0383548/|title=John Higgs|website=IMDb|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> before going on to create and produce the BBC Radio 4 quiz ''X Marks the Spot''. At Climax Group studios he was videogame producer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,167536/|title=John Higgs Video Game Credits and Biography|website=MobyGames|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> for games that appeared on Xbox, PS2 and GameCube<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363404/|title=ATV: Quad Power Racing 2|access-date=8 January 2019|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> including ''Crash 'n' Burn''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/crash-n-burn__|title=Crash 'N' Burn for PlayStation 2 (2004)|website=MobyGames|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> and ''ATV Quad Power Racing''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/atv-quad-power-racing-2|title=ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 for GameCube (2003)|website=MobyGames|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref>
Higgs has written for ''The Guardian'',<ref>{{cite web |title=John Higgs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/john-higgs |access-date=8 January 2019 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> ''The Independent'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/was-marcel-duchamps-fountain-actually-created-by-a-long-forgotten-pioneering-feminist-10491953.html|title=Who actually created Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain'?|date=8 September 2015|website=The Independent|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> ''The Daily Mirror''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/channel4-ultimate-ukip-tv-trolling-516659|title=The Daily Mirror|website=mirror.co.uk|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> and ''Mojo'' magazine.
As an author, Higgs has written the novels ''The First Church on the Moon'' and ''The Brandy of the Damned''; biographies of Timothy Leary and the KLF; and works of history and cultural analysis.<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Higgs/e/B0086FBMYE/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 Amazon: John Higgs]</ref> His book ''The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds'' was named one of the best music books of 2013 by ''The Guardian''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lynskey |first=Dorian |date=2013-12-04 |title=The best music books of 2013 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/04/best-music-books-of-2013 |access-date=2023-09-12}}</ref>
In 2023, Higgs collaborated with musician Ian Broudie on Broudie's memoir ''Tomorrow's Here Today''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tomorrow's Here Today |last=Higgs |first=John |url=https://johnhiggs.com/tomorrows-here-today/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=johnhiggs.com}}</ref> In 2024 he co-founded the East Sussex Psychedelic Film Club with Richard Norris and Andy Starke.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/espfc23/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref>
Higgs' latest book is ''Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who'', published in April 2025.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/john-higgs/exterminateregenerate/9781399614771/ |title=Exterminate/Regenerate |date=2025-02-19 |isbn=978-1-3996-1477-1 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Born in Rugby, Higgs grew up in Buckley, North Wales and now lives with his family in Brighton.
==Robert Anton Wilson, ''Illuminatus!'' and ''Cosmic Trigger''== In his 2013 book, ''KLF'', Higgs’s interest in the American counter culture writer Robert Anton Wilson led to him writing about the stage play version of Wilson's ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' books as directed by Ken Campbell and which were performed at the National Theatre in 1977. During Higgs’s research, he interviewed Campbell’s wife, the actress Prunella Gee, and learned that their daughter, Daisy Eris Campbell, was at the time thinking about staging a theatrical version of Wilson's ''Cosmic Trigger''. Higgs supported and championed the production of the play with various talks around the country and the play was eventually staged in Liverpool and London in 2014<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/illuminatus-director-s-daughter-returns-to-play-that-gave-her-life-9862365.html|title='Illuminatus!' director's daughter returns to play that gave her|date=14 November 2014|website=The Independent|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cosmictriggerplay.com/the-play/|title=The Play - Cosmic Trigger|website=cosmictriggerplay.com|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://confidentials.com/liverpool/review-cosmic-trigger-liverpool|title=Review: Cosmic Trigger|website=Confidentials|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> and staged again at The Cockpit Theatre in London in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/may/10/cosmic-trigger-ken-campbell-daughter-illuminatus-cockpit-theatre-robert-anton-wilson|title=Cosmic Trigger: Ken Campbell's daughter captures Illuminatus! spirit in trippy epic|first=Michael|last=Coveney|newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 May 2017|access-date=8 January 2019|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/daisy-campbell-my-father-was-an-overpowering-goading-godlike-being-in-my-life-lxs9rnt6v|title=Daisy Campbell: 'My father was an overpowering, goading godlike being in my life'|first=Dominic|last=Maxwell|date=5 May 2017|access-date=8 January 2019|via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecockpit.org.uk/cosmictrigger|title=Cosmic Trigger - The Cockpit|website=thecockpit.org.uk|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref>
Higgs involvement in the ''Cosmic Trigger'' play led to Robert Anton Wilson's estate – the Robert Anton Wilson Trust – to ask him to write an introduction for a new edition of ''Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati'', published by the Wilson estate's new imprint, Hilaritas Press, in 2016.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Trigger-Final-Secret-Illuminati/dp/0692513973/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Amazon:Cosmic Trigger]</ref>
==Books== ===Biographies and history===
* ''I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary'' (The Friday Project, 2006)<ref>{{cite book|title=I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary: Amazon.co.uk: John Higgs: 9781905548255: Books|id={{ASIN|1905548257|country=uk}}}}</ref> * ''The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013)<ref>{{cite book|title=The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds: Amazon.co.uk: John Higgs: 9781780226552: Books|id={{ASIN|1780226551|country=uk}}}}</ref> * ''2000TC: Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On'' (2014), in a limited edition of 111 copies<ref>{{cite web |url=https://johnhiggs.com/books/2000-tc/ |website=John Higgs.com |access-date=1 August 2020|title=2000 TC – John Higgs }}</ref> * ''Our Pet Queen: A New Perspective on Monarchy'' (Signal, 2014)<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Pet-Queen-Perspective-Monarchy-ebook/dp/B00MKZBV7Y/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500816416&sr=1-5 Amazon: Our Pet Queen]</ref> * ''Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Stranger-Than-We-Can-Imagine-Twentieth-Century/1780226578/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500816416&sr=1-3|title=Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century: Amazon.co.uk: John Higgs: 9781780226576: Books|website=www.amazon.co.uk|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> * ''Watling Street: Travels Through Britain and Its Ever-Present Past'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2017)<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Watling-Street-Travels-Through-Ever-Present/dp/1474603475/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?linkCode=w00&linkId=7c474fd708a7da7c517f328fcde075d9&creativeASIN=1474603475 Amazon]</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/OrionPublishingGroup/books/detail.page?isbn=9781474603492|title=John Higgs - Watling Street|date=13 July 2018 |isbn=9781474603492 |access-date=8 January 2019|via=www.orionbooks.co.uk|last1=Higgs |first1=John }}</ref> * ''The Future Starts Here: Adventures in the Twenty-First Century'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2019) * ''William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever'' (Hachette UK, 2019)<ref>{{cite book |title=William Blake Now by John Higgs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=93WeDwAAQBAJ |isbn = 9781474614344|access-date=12 September 2019|last1 = Higgs|first1 = John|date = 5 September 2019| publisher=Orion }}</ref> * ''William Blake vs the World'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glynn |first1=Paul |title=William Blake: Biography offers glimpse into artist and poet's visionary mind |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57419544 |website=BBC News |access-date=26 June 2021 |date=2021-06-26}}</ref> * ''Love and Let Die: Bond, The Beatles and the British Psyche'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisz |first=Matthew |date=2022-09-05 |title=Love and Let Die by John Higgs review – Fab Four plus 007 doesn't quite add up |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/05/love-and-let-die-by-john-higgs-review-the-beatles-james-bond |access-date=2023-09-12 |issn=}}</ref> (Pegasus Books, 2023)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weingarten |first=Marc |date=2023-02-07 |title=Forget the Stones: Beatles vs. Bond was the real British rivalry, per a new book |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2023-02-07/review-beatles-vs-bond-book-love-and-let-die |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> * ''Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2025) * ''Lynchian: The Spell of David Lynch'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2025)
===Fictional works as JMR Higgs===
* ''The Brandy of the Damned'' (The Big Hand Books, 2012)<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brandy-Damned-JMR-Higgs/dp/0956416357/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500817581&sr=1-1&keywords=jmr+higgs Amazon: The Brandy of the Damned]</ref> * ''The First Church on the Moon'' (The Big Hand Books, 2013)<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Church-Moon-Jmr-Higgs-x/dp/0956416330/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MGP6S3P8GN89RZDZTV2H Amazon: The First Church on the Moon]</ref>
===Contributor===
* ''Cosmic Trigger - The Final Secret of the Illuminati'' - Introduction by John Higgs (Hilaritas Press, 2016) * ''Who Killed the KLF?'' (Documentary)
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== * [https://johnhiggs.com// Website] * [https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/authors/detail.page?id=ORrIia934aXXb8w804tmLGlBcb8SJLQlJpNeoEV1bBL0-4x0GttPu7o_ John Higgs] at Orion Publishing Group * [https://www.wnblog.co.uk/tag/john-higgs/ John Higgs] at Weidenfeld & Nicolson * [http://www.superweirdsubstance.com/john-higgs-stranger-than-we-can-imagine/ Interview with John Higgs] * [http://thequietus.com/articles/20482-john-higgs-interview-robert-anton-wilson-illuminatus-burroughs-agnosticism Interview by The Quietus] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04ttR280xa8 Video interview on The Agenda] * [http://www.thebookseller.com/profile/john-higgs-its-book-about-being-delighted-be-british-558666 Interview by The Bookseller about Watling Street] * [https://vimeo.com/193971407 Presentation at the University of Kent on the legacy of Timothy Leary] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpajFQECzAk Video of Alan Moore and John Higgs in conversation] * [http://thequietus.com/articles/11275-klf-chaos-magic-music-money-review KLF: Chaos, Magic, Music, Money review by The Quietus]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgs, John}} Category:1974 births Category:English male journalists Category:English columnists Category:English sceptics Category:Living people Category:The Guardian journalists