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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
Mendoza, Eduardo
1943 -
Eduardo Mendoza Garriga is a Spanish author who lives in Barcelona. His father was a lawyer and his mother a housewife. He...
Further reading
Jelinek, Elfriede
1946 -
The Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek was born in Mürzzuschlag in the federal state of Steiermark, where Jelinek spent her ...
Further reading
McBain, Ed
1926 - 2005
Ed McBain is the best-known pen name for Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Alberto Lombino, a versatile and prolific American...
Further reading
Freeman, R. Austin
1862 - 1943
English author born in London as the youngest of five siblings. His father was an innkeeper who later trained as a tailor....
Further reading