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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...
Sample of Authors
Stout, Rex
1886 - 1975
The American author Rex Todhunter Stout was born in Noblesville, Indiana, as the sixth of nine children to John and Lucetta...
Further reading
Sigurðardóttir, Yrsa
1963 -
The Icelandic author and civil engineer Yrsa Sigurðardóttir grew up in Reykjavik. She now lives in the suburb of S...
Further reading
Doctorow, E.L.
1931 - 2015
American author of Russian-Jewish descent who grew up in the Bronx where his father owned a record store and his mother was...
Further reading
Child, Lee
1954 -
Lee Child is the pen name of the British author and television producer Jim Grant. He was born in Coventry as one of four...
Further reading