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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
Davies, Robertson
1913 - 1995
The Canadian author Roberson Davies was born in Thamesville, Ontario. His father, William Davies, had moved to Canada from...
Further reading
Tournier, Michel
1924 - 2016
Michel Edouard Tournier was born in Paris. His parents met at the Sorbonne, where they both studied German. For this...
Further reading
Hermanson, Marie
1956 -
Marie Hermanson was born and grew up in Sävedalen outside Gothenburg. Her parents were teachers. After completing her ...
Further reading
Rankin, Ian
1960 -
The Scottish crime writer Ian James Rankin was born in the coal mining town of Cardenden, Fife, where his father owned a...
Further reading