As a lover of literature, you may think you know everything there is to know about Shakespeare. After all, no other author can really claim to have influenced language and storytelling the way he has. Even if Shakespeare’s works aren’t your favorite beach read, his writing and life demand respect from anyone who loves a good book. Since your high school English classes probably missed a few turn when reviewing his biography, here are eleven facts that may surprise you!
Charlotte Brontë, the oldest of the legendary Brontë sisters, is best known for her classic novel Jane Eyre. Celebrate her birthday this week by testing your knowledge about her life and works.
Kingsley Amis knew how to get a laugh out of his readers. He wrote many novels that depicted modern British life in a humorous manner, and it was these comedies that earned him his fame – but humor wasn’t his only forte. Amis dabbled in many genres, from poetry to science fiction. The Times listed him as one of the top 50 British writers in 2008.
Poet Seamus Heaney was born April 13, 1939 in a town located in Northern Ireland. The oldest of nine children, Heaney was raised by a father with a deep rural background of farming and herding cattle and a mother from an urban family with a history of working in textile mills. Heaney attended St. Columb’s College, a Catholic boarding school, on scholarship. While he was away, his four year old brother, Christopher was killed by a car. His young death would inspire numerous poems including “Mid-Term Break” (1966) and “The Blackbird of Glanmore” (2006).
The friendship between writers Washington Irving and Charles Dickens began in 1840, after the publication of Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop. Irving wrote a letter to Dickens complimenting him on the novel, and Dickens replied enthusiastically. The two continued to correspond until Dickens arrived in America in January 1842.
The two writers finally met in person when Dickens traveled to New York. At a party celebrating his visit, Dickens gave a speech in honor of his friend, Irving:
It is a world of sheer magic where fairies caper, pirates menace, and mermaids beguile. For visiting children, the danger of adulthood is cast away and replaced with adventures and marvels. Since its invention over a century ago, Neverland, created by Sir James Matthew Barrie in Peter Pan, has captured the imagination of children and adults alike. Although Neverland and its occupants seem entirely fanciful, Barrie was inspired by a number of true people and events.
This week we celebrate the birthday of Amy Tan, author of the acclaimed novel, The Joy Luck Club. Tan was born on February 19, 1952 to Chinese immigrants in Oakland, California. America was a place of refuge for her family; her mother fled to America to escape her abusive first husband and Tan’s father immigrated to avoid the Chinese Civil War.
As a girl, Tan rejected her Chinese heritage. She disliked her Asian appearance and even slept with a clothespin on her nose to narrow its shape. “I felt ashamed of being different and ashamed of feeling that way,” she later commented. Instead, she embraced everything American.
Russian poet, novelist, and translator, Boris Pasternak was born in Moscow, Russia on February 10, 1890. His father, Leonid Pasternak was a post-impressionist painter and professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture; his mother, Rosa Kaufman was a concert pianist. Growing up in a household rich with artistic influence, it is only natural that he would follow in his parent’s footsteps. In 1904, Pasternak took up musical composition. However, he abandoned these studies to attend the University of Marburg, Germany and focus on a career in philosophy.
World traveler and prolific writer Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay on December 30, 1865. As a boy, he happily listened to the stories of his Indian attendant and Portuguese nanny. The author's upbringing would often manifest in his works.
She wrote her first formal work at 18 years old and lived until 42, but Jane Austen made the literary impact of much more prolific writers in only six published novels. With universally appealing works such as Pride & Prejudice (1813) and Sense & Sensibility (1811), Austen has amassed an impressive following the world over, and her works have been adapted into plays, TV series, and modern movies as varied as the film "Pride & Prejudice" and the American comedy "Clueless."
