-
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...
-
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...
-
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
Bernhard, Thomas
1931 - 1989
Thomas Bernhard was born near Maastricht in the Netherlands and grew up in Henndorf, Austria. He never knew his father, who...
Further reading
Tzara, Tristan
1896 - 1963
Tristan Tzara was a French-Romanian poet born in the city of Moinesti, Romania, as Samuel Rosenstock. He began to use the...
Further reading
Delany, Samuel R.
1942 -
American science fiction author born in Harlem, New York. Samuel Ray Delany Jr. grew up above his father's funeral parlour....
Further reading
Maalouf, Amin
1949 -
The Lebanese-born author Amin Maalouf was born in Beirut. He is the second of four children. His family history is complex...
Further reading