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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
Tranströmer, Tomas
1931 - 2015
Swedish poet, born and raised on Söder in Stockholm. Tomas Tranströmer grew up with his mother, who was a teacher. His f...
Further reading
Voltaire
1694 - 1778
French author, the son of a notary, born as François-Marie Arouet in Paris. When he was ten years old, he was admitted to ...
Further reading
Skagen, Fredrik
1936 - 2017
Fredrik Skagen is one of Norway’s most popular award-winning crime writers. He was born in Trondheim where he lived all his l...
Further reading
Alvtegen, Karin
1965 -
Karin Alvtegen was born in Huskvarna in the Swedish province of Småland. Her parents were teachers. She specialised in ...
Further reading