Literary Fact

Literary Fact of the Day

Thursday 1st May.

220px-Catch22

Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22 was born on this day in 1923. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. His book, Catch-22 was published by Simon & Schuster in 1961.

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Henry Fielding

Henry_Fielding22nd April.

Henry Fielding was born on this day in 1707. Born in Somerset, England, he was educated at Eton College. He was an english novelist and his works included Tom Jones and Amelia.

His sister Sarah was also a successful writer and John, his brother, was a magistrate.

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Friday 7th February

DickensOn this day in…

1812, Charles Dickens was born to John and Elizabeth in Landport, Portsmouth. He was an English writer and social critic and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.

He has created some of the most memorable and beloved characters in fiction including, Oliver Twist, Fagan, The Artful Dodger, Pip and Ebenezer Scrooge. After publishing a series of sketches under the pseudonym, Boz, Continue reading

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First Impressions

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813

In January 1813…

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published on in 1813. She first started writing in 1796 and had originally titled, First Impressions it’s now one of the most popular classics in literature and has one of the most famous opening lines, ‘“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” It has also been the basis of many adaptations including the BBC version with Colin Firth, Bridget Jones’ Diary and it was even given the Bollywood treatment with Bride and Prejudice. 

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Monday 27th January 2014

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

On this day in…

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was born on this day in 1832 in Cheshire, England. Alice Liddell, the daughter of a friend, asked Carroll to complete a story he’d started telling her on a boat trip. These eventually became, Alice Adventures Underground which was then renamed Wonderland.

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Wednesday 22nd January 2014

On this day in 1788…

Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron was born on this day in 1788.

He was an English Poet and a leading figure in the romantic movement. His works included Don Juan and She Walks in Beauty.

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Tuesday 21st January

George Orwell

George Orwell

George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair, died on this day in 1950. He died in London at aged forty-six. He was known for works like Animal Farm (1945) and 1984, which was published in 1949.

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14th November 2013

pippipippipippiSwedish author, Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking was born on this day in 1907. Pippi was named by Lindgren’s nine year odl daughter, Karin who had requested a get well soon story frpippiom her mother.

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Literary Fact: Stephen King

stephen king

In 2007, Stephen King started signing some of his own books in an Alice Springs bookstore. The staff thought he was a vandal as they didn’t initially realise that he was signing his own books. 

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25th October 2013

220px-Geoffrey_Chaucer_(17th_century)Geoffrey Chaucer died on this day in 1400. He is widely considered to be the father of English Literature. Some of his works were adapted by the BBC. The series was called The Canterbury Tales.

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Monday 14th October 2013

eecummings

American writer, EE Cummings was born on this day in 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of his most famous poems was ‘I Carry Your Heart With Me.’ 

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26th September 2013

eliot

T.S Eliot (Thomas Stearns Eliot) was born on this day in 1888. He was born in the United States but became a British citizen in 1927. 

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25th September 2013

William_Faulkner_1949

William Faulkner was born on this day in 1987. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 

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23rd September 2013

Hobbit_cover

J.R.R Tolkien was marking students papers when he got inspired to write the first line of one of his famous books. 

‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.’ 

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20th September 2013

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Author, George. R. R. Martin was born in this day in 1948. He wrote the Fire & Ice series which was adapted for HBO’s Game of Thrones.

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17th September 2013

OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest

American author, Ken Kesey was born on this day in 1935. His most famous novel was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

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16th September 2013

the-lost-symbolAt the time of it’s release, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown had a printing of 6.5 million (the largest in Doubleday’s history up to that point,) and it was also the fastest selling adult novel, selling one million on its first day. 

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11th September 2013

220px-DH_Lawrence_1906David Herbert Lawrence, known as D.H Lawrence was born on this day in 1885 in the town of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

He was a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter. His novels include The Rainbow, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

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6th September 2013

Anna Karenin

Anna Karenina is over 800 pages long but it was originally published in serialised form. 

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5th September 2013

Viking Press, 1957

Viking Press, 1957

Jack Kerouac’s novel, On The Road was published by Viking Press on this day in 1957. Kerouac originally finished it 1951 but it took until 1957 to find a publisher.

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3rd September 2013

200px-OfMiceAndMenJohn Steinbeck wrote the novel, Of Mice and Men. Apparently, an early draft of this book was eaten by Steinbeck’s dog, Max. Oh dear!

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30th August 2013.

200px-RothwellMaryShelley

Mary Shelly, whose most famous novel was Frankenstein, was born on this day in 1797. Her most famous work was originally published anonymously. 

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29th August 2013

John Locke

John Locke

Philosopher and Physician, John Locke was born on this day in 1632. 

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Tuesday 27th August 2013

lewis_tolkien

The protagonist in C.S Lewis’ Science Fiction novel were very loosely based on his friend and fellow author, J.R.R Tolkien.

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16th August 2013

Charles

Poet, novelist and short story writer, Charles Bukowski was born on this day in 1920

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15th August 2013

wizard-of-oz-dvdcover

On this day in 1939, the film adaptation of L Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wizard of Oz had its Hollywood Premiere at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

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13th August

princess bride

On this day in 1931, Novelist and screenwriter William Goldman is born. He wrote the novel and screenplay for one of my favourite films, The Princess Bride. 

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12th August 2013

Ian Fleming, the creator of 007 Spy James Bond, died on this day in 1964.

fleming-chitty-bang-first-edition

As well as writing the Bond novels, Fleming also wrote the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang novel.

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31st July 2013

JK

Today, 31st July, is Harry Potter’s birthday as well as his creator, JK Rowling. 

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5th July 2013

Henrik-Ibsen

 

 

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, author of A Doll’s House, kept a live pet scorpion in an empty beer glass on his desk while writing for inspiration. Yikes, rather him than me. 

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Tuesday 2nd July 2013

Hitchhikers_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_bookcover

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams was originally a radio comedy which first broadcast on 1978 on BBC Radio Four. 

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Friday 28th June 2013.

pooh

 

A.A. Milne, the author of the Winnie the Pooh series, used his son as inspiration for the character Christopher Robin. However, when Christopher Robin was born, Milne and his wife had wanted to call him Billy but then decided it would be too informal. 

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Thursday 27th June 2013

Shakespeare is credited for creating many phrases. 

william-shakespeare-portrait

If you use the phrases, “vanished into thin air,” be that as it may,” and “the truth will out,” then you are quoting Shakespeare. 

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26th June 2013

Harper Voyager, Special Edition, 2013.

Harper Voyager, Special Edition, 2013.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury started off as a novella called ‘The Fireman.’ 

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25th June 2013

Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone was sent to a number of Publishers prior to publication. Reports say between eight to twelve Publishers rejected the manuscript. 

Bloomsbury 1997. C. JK Rowling.

Bloomsbury 1997. C. JK Rowling.

It took a year before Bloomsbury offered to publish it and now it’s one of the most successful book series having first been published in June 1997. 

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Monday 24th June 2013.

library

It’s claimed that the earliest Public Library in England was the London Guildhall and was established in 1425 whereas Charleston’s St Philip’s Church Parsonage in the US had a Parish Library in 1698. 

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Friday 21st June 2013.

Everyman, 1998.

Everyman, 1998.

Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, liked to write naked. It was said to help with writer’s block.

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Daily Fact….19th June 2013

1011_peterpan_crop-500x333

J.M Barrie (Sir James Matthew Barrie) died on this day in 1937. Great Ormond Street Hospital in London owns the copyright to Peter Pan.

 

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