-
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
Seifert, Jaroslav
1901 - 1986
The Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert was born in the deprived working class district of Zizkov in Prague. He joined the...
Further reading
Vachss, Andrew H.
1942 - 2021
Andrew Henry Vachss was an American author of crime fiction. He was born in Manhattan, New York, and grew up on Long...
Further reading
Isaksson, Ulla
1916 - 2000
Ulla Isaksson was born in Stockholm as Ulla Margareta Lundberg in a family of comfortable means. She attended a secondary...
Further reading
Blok, Aleksandr
1880 - 1921
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok is one of the great masters of Russian symbolism. He combined the early Russian literary...
Further reading