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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
Williams, Tennessee
1911 - 1983
American playwright born in Columbus, Mississippi as Thomas Lanier Williams. His father was a travelling shoe salesman, and...
Further reading
Sartre, Jean-Paul
1905 - 1980
The French author and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris. His father, who was a naval officer, died when Sartre...
Further reading
Kihlgård, Peter
1954 -
Swedish author and playwright. He was born in Örebro and grew up in Umeå and Sundsvall. His father Gösta "Stockis" Kihlgård w...
Further reading
Becker, Jurek
1937 - 1997
The German author Jurek Becker was born as Jerzy Bekker in Lódz, Poland. Because all documents were destroyed in the war, ...
Further reading