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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
Valéry, Paul
1871 - 1945
French author born and grown up in the southern French port of Sète, where his father was a customs officer. Through his ...
Further reading
Milton, John
1608 - 1674
The English poet John Milton was born in London as the son of a wealthy Catholic burgher. He attended Christ's College,...
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Andersson, Lena
1970 -
Swedish author, journalist and playwright who grew up in the Stockholm suburb of Tensta in a family belonging to what she...
Further reading
Walser, Martin
1927 - 2023
The German author Martin Walser was born in Wasserburg am Bodensee on Lake Constance where his father owned a restaurant....
Further reading