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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
Marquand, John P.
1893 - 1960
The American author John Phillips Marquand was born in Wilmington, Delaware. His parents were wealthy, but they lost their...
Further reading
Whitman, Walt
1819 - 1892
Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, a village on Long Island, New York, as the second child of nine to Walter, a house...
Further reading
Nesser, Håkan
1950 -
Håkan Nesser was born in Elvesta Gård (manor) on the outskirts of Kumla. His father was a farmer, as were his family since t...
Further reading
Gogol, Nikolai
1809 - 1852
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is one of the great Russian authors of the 19th century. He was born in the village of...
Further reading