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Nick Laird
- Born
- Dungannon, Northern Ireland
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction, Poetry
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd, Fourth Estate
Nick Laird is a lawyer, poet, novelist and critic from Northern Ireland. His essays, reviews and poems have appeared in various journals in Britain and America, including The London Review of Books, The Times Literary…
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Elizabeth Laird
- Born
- New Zealand
- Genres
- Children
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press
Elizabeth Laird was born in New Zealand of Scottish parents, but grew up in London. Before studying French and German at university, she taught at a girls’ school in Malaysia. During her twenties she lived and worked…
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John Lanchester
- Born
- Hamburg, Germany
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd
John Lanchester was born in Hamburg in 1962. He grew up in the Far East, but was educated in England. A former editor at the publishers Penguin, he is a member of the editorial board of the London Review of Books, and…
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Lee Langley
- Born
- Calcutta, India
- Genres
- Drama, Fiction
- Publisher
- Chatto & Windus
Lee Langley was born in Calcutta, India. She is the author of several novels, including Changes of Address (1987), a largely autobiographical account of her childhood in India and the first in a loose trilogy of novels…
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James Lasdun
- Born
- London
- Genres
- Poetry, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape Ltd
James Lasdun was born in London and now lives in the US. He is a poet, fiction and screen writer, and has taught poetry and fiction writing at Princeton, New York and Columbia Universities. His first book of short…
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Updated: John le Carré
- Born
- Dorset
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton
John le Carré (aka David Cornwell) was born in Dorset in 1931, and was educated at Sherborne School and the University of Berne, before reading modern languages at Oxford University. He taught at Eton from 1956-58,…
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Norman Lebrecht
- Born
- London, England
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction
- Publisher
- Review, Simon & Schuster
Norman Lebrecht writes on music and cultural affairs. He is currently Assistant Editor and columnist for the Evening Standard, after a decade as music columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He presents BBC Radio 3's…
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Hermione Lee
- Born
- Winchester, England
- Genres
- Non-Fiction
- Publisher
- Chatto & Windus
Critic and biographer Hermione Lee was born in Winchester, England in 1948 and grew up in London. After graduating from Oxford University, she lectured in America and taught at the Universities of Liverpool and York.…
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Gordon Legge
- Born
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Genres
- Fiction, Short Stories
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape Ltd
Gordon Legge was born in Falkirk and brought up in Grangemouth. His first novel, The Shoe, was published in 1989. His collection of short stories, In Between Talking about the Football (1991), won a Scottish Arts…
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Mike Leigh
- Born
- Salford
- Genres
- Drama
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd
Mike Leigh is an award-winning screen-writer and playwright who was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1943. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and at Camberwell and Central Art Schools and the London Film…
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Doris Lessing
- Born
- Persia
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction, Libretto, Short Stories
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
Doris Lessing was born in Persia (present-day Iran) to British parents in 1919. Her family moved to Southern Africa where she spent her childhood on her father's farm in what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).…
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New: Frances Leviston
- Born
- Edinburgh
- Genres
- Poetry
- Publisher
- Picador
Frances Leviston was born in Edinburgh in 1982 and grew up in Sheffield. She studied English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and for an MA in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. Her poetry has appeared in…
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Andrea Levy
- Born
- London, England
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Headline Book Publishing Ltd
Andrea Levy was born in London, England in 1956 to Jamaican parents. She is the author of five novels, each of which explore - from different perspectives - the problems faced by black British-born children of…
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Updated: Deborah Levy
- Born
- South Africa
- Genres
- Short Stories, Poetry, Libretto, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Methuen Publishing Ltd
Playwright, novelist and poet Deborah Levy was born in 1959 in South Africa. She moved to Britain with her family and studied theatre at Dartington College of Arts. She was a Creative Arts Fellow at Trinity College,…
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Updated: Gwyneth Lewis
- Born
- Cardiff, Wales
- Genres
- Poetry, Non-Fiction
- Publisher
- Flamingo
Poet Gwyneth Lewis was born in 1959 in Cardiff, Wales. She attended a bilingual school in Pontypridd and studied English at Cambridge University. She studied at Harvard and Columbia, was a Harkness Fellow and worked as…
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Updated: Marina Lewycka
- Born
- Germany
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction
- Publisher
- Fig Tree Press, Viking
Marina Lewycka is of Ukrainian origin and was born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany, during World War II. She studied at Keele University, and has written a number of books of practical advice for carers of the…
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Nell Leyshon
- Born
- Glastonbury
- Genres
- Drama, Fiction
- Publisher
- Oberon Books, Picador
Nell Leyshon is a novelist and playwright, and currently Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton. Her first stage play, The Farm (2002), was runner-up for the 2003 Meyer-Whitworth Award, and her second, Comfort…
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Joan Lingard
- Born
- Edinburgh
- Genres
- Children, Fiction,
- Publisher
- Allison & Busby Ltd., Orchard Books
Joan Lingard was born in Edinburgh and spent her formative years in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She now lives again in Edinburgh, and is married to a Latvian-Canadian. She is the prolific author of many books for both…
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Updated: Toby Litt
- Born
- Ampthill, England
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Hamish Hamilton Ltd
Toby Litt was born in Bedfordshire, England, in 1968. He read English at Worcester College, Oxford, and studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia where he was taught by Malcolm Bradbury, winning the…
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Penelope Lively
- Born
- Cairo, Egypt
- Genres
- Short Stories, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama, Children
- Publisher
- Viking
Novelist and children's writer Penelope Lively was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1933 and brought up there. She came to England in 1945, went to school in Sussex, and read Modern History at St Ann's College, Oxford.Her many…
