Susie Dent

Susie Dent is the resident word expert on Channel 4’s Countdown programme. She contributes regularly to radio and television discussions of words in the news and on topical language issues and has made guest appearances on many programmes including This Morning, Richard and Judy, Woman’s Hour, Word of Mouth, Never Mind The Full Stops and Test The Nation. Susie also contributes a weekly column, Dictionary Corner, to the Radio Times in which she explains the origins of familiar words and phrases.

Susie studied Modern Languages at Oxford before doing an MA in German Studies at Princeton. She lived in New York for several years before moving back to the UK where she ran a language publishing programme at the same time as becoming part of the Countdown team.

Susie has written several books on language change, including a regular survey of language trends and new words – The Language Report – published by the Oxford University Press. The fifth edition came out in 2007 and in October 2008 OUP published Susie Dent's Words of the Year.

In 2006 Susie contributed to the BBC’s Voices project and was a judge in the Novel category of the Costa Book Awards. She is currently working on a new book about dialects which will be published in Spring 2009.

In her spare time Susie is a keen runner, likes cookery, dining out, wine, walking and doing crosswords. She lives in Oxford.

 

July 2010