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It is 125 years today since Yasunari Kawabata was born.
Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer born in Osaka. He came from an educated, wealthy family, but he lost his parents at an early age and his only sibling, a sister, died when he was nine years old. These childhood traumas came to inform his writing. After growing up with his maternal grandfather in the countryside, Kawabata read English and Japanese literature at...
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It is 113 years today since Victor Canning was born.
Victor Canning was a British author of humorous adventure stories and thrillers. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. At the outbreak of the First World War, while his father was doing his military service, he went with his mother and siblings to live with his uncle in Calstock, a few miles north of Plymouth. This was where Canning fell in love with the English countryside, which features prominently...
Sample of Authors
Thackeray, William
1811 - 1863
William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta. His ancestors had made a fortune in the East India Company, and after his...
Further reading
Quasimodo, Salvatore
1901 - 1968
Salvatore Quasimodo was an Italian poet born in Modica, near Syracuse on Sicily. He was the second of four children. His...
Further reading
Dunant, Sarah
1950 -
The writer, broadcaster and critic Sarah Dunant was born in London. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School and Newnham...
Further reading
Houellebecq, Michel
1956 -
French author, born as Michel Thomas on the colonial island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. His parents fairly soon lost ...
Further reading