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 Mika Waltari

Waltari, Mika
1908 - 1979

The Finnish author Mika Waltari is considered one of the foremost Nordic authors of the 20th century. Many of his books are...

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Portrait of Janet Evanovich

Evanovich, Janet
1943 -

An American writer, born as Janet Schneider in South River, New Jersey. As a child, she preferred drawing over writing, and...

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Portrait of Stella Rimington

Rimington, Stella
1935 -

Dame Stella Rimington is a British author of spy novels. She is a former intelligence officer, she was the first female...

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Portrait image of Hammond Innes

Innes, Hammond
1913 - 1998

Pseudonym used by the British novelist Ralph Hammond-Innes who was born in Horsham, Sussex, to Scottish parents. He...

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