-
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
Oksanen, Sofi
1977 -
The Finnish author and playwright Sofi Oksanen had a major impact on the literary scene in the first decade of the 21st...
Further reading
Amis, Martin
1949 - 2023
Martin Amis was the son of author Kingsley Amis and his wife Hilary. He had a younger sister, Sally, and an older brother,...
Further reading
Hammett, Dashiell
1894 - 1961
American detective writer, born in St. Mary's County in Maryland. He grew up in Baltimore where his family moved when he...
Further reading
Erpenbeck, Jenny
1967 -
The German author and theatre director Jenny Erpenbeck grew up in central East Berlin where she still lives. Erpenbeck's...
Further reading