Meny
  • It is 72 years today since Orhan Pamuk was born.

    Turkish author, born and grew up in Istanbul, Nisantasi, in an affluent middle-class family. The father was a civil engineer, as was Orhan’s grandfather, who laid the foundations for the family’s fortune. After graduating from school – the secular American Robert College – Pamuk studied Architecture and Journalism. Until he was 22, he devoted himself to painting and dreamt of becoming an artist. T...

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  • It is 67 years today since Fred Vargas was born.

    Fred Vargas is a pseudonym used by the French historian, archaeologist and crime writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau. "Vargas" was a character played by Ava Gardener in The Barefoot Contessa; the name was first used by Audoin-Rouzeau’s twin sister Joëlle, the visual artist Jo Vargas. Their father, Philippe Audoin-Rouzeau, was a journalist and a famous figure in surrealist circles. He was very part...

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  • It is 158 years today since E.W. Hornung was born.

    The English teacher and journalist Ernest William Hornung (Willie to his family) was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s brother-in-law. If Sir Arthur was the father of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous fictional detective in the world, you could say that Hornung created the most famous crook, the gentleman thief A.J. Raffles. Like Holmes, Raffles has occasionally turned up in books by other authors.
    H...

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Sample of Authors

Portrait image of Pierre Boileau

Boileau, Pierre
1906 - 1989

Pierre Boileau was one half of the partnership (and the brand) Boileau-Narcejac, which can best be described as French...

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Portrait of Desmond Bagley

Bagley, Desmond
1923 - 1983

British author of thrillers born in Kendal, Cumbria (formerly Westmorland), in northwest England, an area known as the Lake...

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Portrait of Tana French

French, Tana
1973 -

Crime writer and actress Tana French was born in Burlington, Vermont, USA. Her father was an economist and worked all...

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Portrait image of Dashiell Hammett

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...

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