George Gissing

The prolific author of more than twenty novels, George Gissing (1857-1903) is today best remembered for novels such as New Grub Street, The Odd Women and The Nether World, which make him one of the finest satirists and social commentators of his time.

Dylan Thomas

Noted for his original rhythmic style and inventive use of words and imagery, the Welsh poet dylan thomas (1914–53) is remembered today for a large body of poems – among them ‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’ and ‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’ – a play for voices (Under Milk Wood) and a collection of short stories (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog).

Anna Currey

Anna Currey was brought up in rural Ireland. Her parents, being rather alternative, didn’t believe in formal education, so while her chemistry and algebra lessons were rather scanty, her absorption in drawing animals and people was allowed full rein. This fascination carried through until adulthood and suitably enough resulted in a career in children’s books. Over the years she has illustrated many books for many publishers including One Ted fell out of Bed by Julia Donaldson. She also wrote and illustrated The Christmas Unicorn for Oxford children’s Books. She now lives in England near to very wonderful city of Bath.

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter (1866–1943) was a children’s writer and illustrator. Hugely successful in her lifetime, her books continue to be immensely popular among young readers of today.

Henry Fielding

One of the progenitors of the English novel,  Henry Fielding (1707–54) is remembered today for the bawdy picaresque Tom Jones and other works such as the comic novel Joseph Andrews and his travelogue Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon.

Albert Maltz

Albert Maltz (1908–85) was a prizewinning American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. His novel The Cross and the Arrow, about the German resistance to the Nazi regime, was distributed to 150,000 American soldiers during the Second World War. He worked on a number of films, including Casablanca, until he was blacklisted during the period of Cold War anti-Communist hysteria. He is best remembered today for his novels A Tale of One January and The Journey of Simon McKeever.

Find out more about award-winning short story writer Albert Maltz

H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen

After serving as a soldier in the Thirty Years War, H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen (1621-76), devoted himself to literature, penning various satires and gallant novels, although he is chiefly remembered for his picaresque masterpiece, Simplicius Simplicissimus.

Sinclair Lewis

The American novelist and playwright Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) is best remembered for Main Street and Babbitt, two satirical novels criticizing the complacency of American society and the excesses of capitalism during the interwar period.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

A political firebrand and an unorthodox thinker during his lifetime, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) was the author of a large body of poetical works that left a deep mark in his own and later generations of writers.

Heinrich von Kleist

The author of celebrated plays, stories and novellas, Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811) led a short, troubled life, famously cut short by suicide.