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 of Philip Kerr

Kerr, Philip
1956 - 2018

Philip Kerr was a Scottish author born in Edinburgh. His family were Baptists. Kerr read law and philosophy at the...

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Portrait of Bernhard Schlink

Schlink, Bernhard
1944 -

The German lawyer and author Bernhard Schlink was born in Grossdornberg (now part of the city of Bielefeld) and grew up in...

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Portrait image of Deon Meyer

Meyer, Deon
1958 -

Deon Meyer is something of a rarity in that he is a South African crime writer who has had his crime novels, written in...

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Portrait of Patricia Highsmith

Highsmith, Patricia
1921 - 1995

Patricia Highsmith was an American author born in Fort Worth, Texas, as Mary Patricia Plangman. Both parents were artists...

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