Our Authors

Jean Aicard was born in France in 1848, the son of a famous journalist. But, strangely, he never knew his mother. When his father died, Jean went to live with...

Juhani Aho is the pen name of the first professional and most famous writer from Finland. He was born in 1861 and wrote short stories and novels. In 1880 Aho...

Kate Chopin was born in 1851 in the southern US state of Missouri to an Irish immigrant father and a mother of Canadian descent. She married at twenty after a...

Katherine Mansfield was born in New Zealand in 1888, the third child of a wealthy businessman. Mansfield’s earliest stories were published in her school magazine, but she was not sure...

Leo Tolstoy was born into a rich and aristocratic family in Russia in 1828. His parents died when he was young and Tolstoy lived with relatives until he started a...

Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Clemens, who was born in Florida in 1835 but grew up in Missouri, where his most famous novels, ‘The Adventures of Tom...

Alexei Peshkov was born in Russia in 1868. His parents died when he was eleven and he lived with his grandmother, who was very poor and could not read or...

Netta Syrett was born in England in 1865 and trained as a teacher in London and Cambridge. In her day, it was not possible for women to attend university or...

O. Henry is the pen name of William Sidney Porter, who was born in the USA in 1862. He had only a basic education and worked as a pharmacist, bank...

Oscar Wilde was born in the 1850s in Ireland to an aristocratic family which supported Irish independence from Britain. His parents’ home was always full of artists. While at Cambridge...