In 1958 Mr. Aldiss was voted as Most Promising New Author at the Word Science Fiction Convention.

Herman Melville (1 August, 1819 – 28 September, 1891) was an American writer and poet, and writer of short stories. Melville is best known for his whaling novel Moby-Dick , published in 1851.

Elias Canetti (25 July, 1905 – 14 August, 1994) was a novelist, non-fiction writer, memoirist and playwright. Mr. Elias was born in Bulgaria, but is known as a Swiss and British novelist. Image from russianroulettehitscannes.wordpress.com Books by Elias Canetti The ancestors of Mr. Canetti were Sephardi Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492. Canetti came from Cañete, named after Cañete, Cuenca, a village in Spain Mr. Canetti wrote in German In 1981 Mr. Canetti won the Nobel Prize in Literature “for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power”. Mr. Canetti studied Chemistry at the University of Vienna. He graduated in 1929 but never worked as a chemist. As a student, Mr. Canetti witnessed the July Revolt of 1927 (a.k.a. the Vienna Palace of Justice fire). The riot left a deep impression on the future writer, especially the burning of books. Canetti married Venetiana Taubner-Calderon in 1934, she was his muse and literary assistant. He was open to relationships with other women. Canetti immigrated to England, in 1938, devoting his time to research on mass psychology and the allure of fascism. Even though he was a British citizen, Mr. Mr. Canetti lived mostly in…

In “Animal Farm” Orwell criticized the Russian Government and communism.

White did not underestimate his young audience, in fact he told the Paris review that “You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth.”

Among her many awards and honors, Mrs. Rollins was the first African-American to receive an honorary life membership in the ALA (1972). The children’s room at the Hall Branch Library was named in Rollins’ honor. The Charlemae Hill Rollins Colloquium is held twice a year at North Carolina Central University, where attendees discuss how to improve library services for children.

William Butler Yeats (13 June, 1865- 28 January, 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer. He is considered one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century.

Pushkin’s great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal, was born in Northern Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the 1690s. Abram was kidnapped from Ethiopia when he was eight years old by a “Frenchman collecting animals and other curiosities for Louis XIV” of France. Shipped to Istanbul, he was placed in the Sultan’s seraglio where the Russian ambassador found him and sent him back to Russia as a present to Peter the Great.
Peter was so taken by Abram that he baptized the child and became his godfather.

Alfred Austin (30 May, 1835 – 2 June, 1913) was the Poet Laureate of England in 1896. Mr. Austin was a barrister by profession, but left the law to be a poet. While being a Forreign Affairs Correspondent with the English Standard he was granted an audience with German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. According to his biography, Mr. Austin saw a picture a young lady in a friend’s photo album, wrote a letter of introduction and married her a short time later. After a few failures, Mr. Austin made a noteworthy appearance as a writer with The Season: a Satire. When Alfred, Lord Tennyson, died as England’s Poet Laureate it took several years until he was replaced. During his lifetime, Mr. Austin did not get much respect as a poet from his peers, in fact they called him a “Banjo Byron”. Mr. Austin got the job only after William Morris declined it. It is thought that Austin got the position due to his friendship with Prime Minister Lord Salisbury, his influence as editor and lead writer as well as his willingness to support the government using his poetry. Austin’s powers are known for their genuine love of nature. Flodden Field,…

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (16 May, 1804 – 3 January, 1894) was an author and an education pioneer, especially for kids six and younger.