Search the Directory
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Leila Aboulela
- Born
- Cairo, Egypt
- Genres
- Short Stories, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing plc, Polygon
Leila Aboulela was born in 1964 in Cairo and grew up in Khartoum. She studied for a degree in Economics at Khartoum University, then moved to England to obtain a masters degree in Statistics at the London School of…
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Updated: Dannie Abse
- Born
- Cardiff, Wales
- Genres
- Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Hutchinson Books Ltd
Poet Dannie Abse was born on 22 September 1923 in Cardiff to Jewish parents. He studied Medicine in Wales and at King's College, London, qualifying as a doctor in 1950. His first collection of poetry, After Every Green…
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Chinua Achebe
- Born
- Nigeria
- Genres
- Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Children
- Publisher
- Penguin Group (UK)
Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He was raised in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centres of Anglican missionary work in Eastern Nigeria, and is a graduate of University College, Ibadan. His…
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Updated: Peter Ackroyd
- Born
- London
- Genres
- Short Stories, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Chatto & Windus, Dorling Kindersley
Novelist, biographer and poet Peter Ackroyd was born in London on 5 October 1949. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, and studied at Yale University as a Mellon Fellow, where he completed Notes for a New…
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Diran Adebayo
- Born
- London
- Genres
- Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
Diran Adebayo was born in London in 1968 to Nigerian parents. He read Law at Oxford University and worked as a journalist on the London newspaper The Voice, before working in television as a researcher and assistant…
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Born
- Nigeria
- Genres
- Fiction, Short Stories
- Publisher
- Fourth Estate
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria then moved to the US to study communications and political science at Eastern Connecticut State…
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Updated: Naomi Alderman
- Born
- London, England
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction
- Publisher
- Penguin Group (UK)
Naomi Alderman was born in London in 1974 and grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community. Her father is Geoffrey Alderman, a well-known Jewish historian and journalist. After attaining a BA in Philosophy, Politics and…
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Updated: Brian Aldiss
- Born
- Norfolk, England
- Genres
- Short Stories, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
Poet, playwright, critic, fiction and science-fiction writer Brian W(ilson) Aldiss was born on 18 August 1925 in Dereham, Norfolk, and is the author of more than 75 books. He was educated at Framlingham College,…
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Updated: Monica Ali
- Born
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Doubleday (UK)
Monica Ali is the daughter of English and Bangladeshi parents. She came to England aged three years, her first home being Bolton in Greater Manchester, and later studied at Oxford University. Her first novel, Brick…
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Tariq Ali
- Born
- Lahore, India
- Genres
- Non-Fiction, Fiction
- Publisher
- Verso Ltd
Writer, journalist and film-maker Tariq Ali was born in Lahore in 1943. He was educated at Oxford University, where he became involved in student politics, in particular with the movement against the war in Vietnam. On…
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Updated: Martin Amis
- Born
- Oxford, England
- Genres
- Short Stories, Non-Fiction, Fiction
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape Ltd
Martin Amis was born in Oxford in 1949, the son of the writer Kingsley Amis. He was educated in schools in Britain, Spain and the USA, and graduated from Exeter College, Oxford, with First Class Honours in English. He…
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New: Tahmima Anam
- Born
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Canongate Books Ltd
Tahmima Anam is the author of the Bengal Trilogy, which chronicles three generations of the Haque family from the Bangladesh war of independence to the present day. Her debut novel, A Golden Age, was awarded the…
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New: Philip Ardagh
- Born
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Genres
- Fiction, Children
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd, Scholastic Ltd
Philip Ardagh is a prolific writer of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. He was born in 1961 and worked in advertising and in the library service, before becoming a writer. His novels for adults include The…
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Simon Armitage
- Born
- Huddersfield, England
- Genres
- Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd, Viking
Poet and novelist Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in Huddersfield, England. After studying Geography at Portsmouth Polytechnic, he worked with young offenders before gaining a postgraduate qualification in social work…
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Updated: Jake Arnott
- Born
- Huddersfield, England
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Sceptre
Jake Arnott was born in Buckinghamshire, England in 1961. His novel, The Long Firm, the story of the charismatic gangster Harry Starks, was published in 1999 to critical acclaim and commercial success and was…
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Sherry Ashworth
- Born
- London
- Genres
- Fiction, Non-Fiction,
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers
Sherry Ashworth was born in 1953 and grew up in London, studying English Literature at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and Medieval Studies at the University of York. In 1977 she moved to Manchester, and taught English in…
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Nadeem Aslam
- Born
- Pakistan
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber Ltd
Nadeem Aslam was born in Pakistan in 1966 and moved to the UK as a teenager, his family settling in Huddersfield. He studied Biochemistry at the University of Manchester, but left to become a writer. His first novel,…
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Updated: Kate Atkinson
- Born
- York, England
- Genres
- Short Stories, Fiction, Drama
- Publisher
- Doubleday (UK)
Kate Atkinson was born in York in 1951 and studied English Literature at Dundee University. After graduating in 1974, she researched a postgraduate doctorate on American Literature. She later taught at Dundee and began…
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Updated: Margaret Atwood
- Born
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Genres
- Short Stories, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Drama, Children
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing plc
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1939. She is the daughter of a forest entomologist, and spent part of her early years in the bush of North Quebec. She moved, at the age of seven, to Toronto. She studied…
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Tash Aw
- Born
- Taiwan
- Genres
- Fiction
- Publisher
- Fourth Estate
Tash Aw was born in Taiwan to Malaysian parents and grew up in Kuala Lumpar. He moved to England in his teens, and studied Law at the Universities of Cambridge and Warwick. He moved to London and undertook various jobs,…
