-
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
James, Henry
1843 - 1916
Henry James was an American author born in New York to a wealthy, intellectual family of Irish and Scottish origin. His...
Further reading
Bunin, Ivan
1870 - 1953
The Russian author Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin was born to an old, noble family in Voronezh province. Having owned many serfs,...
Further reading
Westö, Kjell
1961 -
Kjell Westö is a Finland-Swedish author and journalist who writes in Swedish. He grew up in an upper middleclass family ...
Further reading
Pasternak, Boris
1890 - 1960
The Russian poet and prose writer Boris Pasternak was born in Moscow, in an art-oriented family. His mother was a concert...
Further reading