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...

    Further reading

  • 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...

    Further reading

  • 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...

    Further reading

Sample of Authors

Portrait image of Pepetela

Pepetela
1941 -

His full name is Artur Carlos Mauricio Pestana dos Santos, an Angolan author, born in the coastal town of Benguela. He took...

Further reading
Portrait image of Margery Allingham

Allingham, Margery
1904 - 1966

English crime writer born in Ealing, London, as the daughter of Herbert John Allingham and his wife and cousin Emily Jane...

Further reading
Portrait of Giles Blunt

Blunt, Giles
1952 -

Giles Blunt is a Canadian author, born in North Bay, Ontario, to English parents. He attended Scollard Hall, a Catholic...

Further reading
Portrait of John Le Carré

Le Carré, John
1931 - 2020

Born David John Moore Cornwell in Poole, county of Dorset, England, John le Carré grew up in a troubled home. While his ...

Further reading