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It is 184 years today since Thomas Hardy was born.
The English author Thomas Hardy was born in Stinsford near Dorchester in Dorset, the son of a stonemason and local builder. Hardy trained as an architect before moving to London when he was twenty-two years old. He returned to Dorset where he began to write his first novel. Hardy was interested in the writings of Charles Darwin and in naturalism. During his long life he became famous for his...
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It is 111 years today since Barbara Pym was born.
Barbara Mary Crampton Pym was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, near the Welsh border where she grew up with her younger sister Hilary. Her father was a lawyer and her mother the organist in the local church. Many of the vicars and lay clergy that visited their home later turned up in Pym's books. She was privately educated, first at a girl's school and later at boarding school. After reading...
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It is 75 years today since Ingrid Hedström was born.
TThe Swedish journalist and author Ingrid Hedström were born in Söderhamn in the central Swedish province of Hälsingland, and then moved to Avesta in nearby Dalarna when she was five years old. She is said to be one of the 1960’s so-called "welfare-state princesses", meaning that she was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She completed her final exam at Avesta Grammar School in...
Sample of Authors
Carpentier, Alejo
1904 - 1980
Cuban author, who was born in Lausanne in Switzerland but moved with his parents to Havana when newly born. His father was...
Further reading
Austen, Jane
1775 - 1817
The English author Jane Austen was born in in Steventon, Hampshire as the second last of seven children. Her father was a...
Further reading
Oe, Kenzaburo
1935 - 2023
Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe was born in the village of Ose on the island of Shikoku where his family has lived for...
Further reading
Hamsun, Knut
1859 - 1952
The Norwegian author Knut Hamsun was born as Knut Pedersen at Lom in the Gudbrandsdalen valley, but from 1862 he was...
Further reading