Roddy Doyle is an amazing writer and is seen by his friends as a studious-looking and down-to-earth kind of guy. He is one of the new breed of young Irish artists who came of age in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Roddy Doyle was born in May of 1958 in the northern Dublin suburb of Kilbarrack, Ireland. From Roddy Doyle’s point of view, he seemed to have had a happy childhood, especially when he told an interviewer, “ There are memories of my own childhood, running through a field and seeing pheasants fly up, balls of dust under the kitchen table, and my parents happily married.” He also said talking about his childhood that “The place was mine, and the time was mine.” He was raised in a middle-class family, quite different from the gritty, working-class characters in his books. He attended St. Fintan’s Christian Brothers School in Sutton and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued his education at University College, Dublin, where he achieved a Bachelors degree in English and geography. He undertook teacher training at Greendale Community School, in Kilbarrack, and after getting certified, he became a member of that school’s faculty. He taught fourteen years at Greendale, where he was known to his students as “Punk” Doyle because of the earring and the Doc Martens boots he wore. Doyle is currently married to Belinda Doyle and has two sons, Rory and Jack Doyle. Since 1993, Doyle has been dedicated to writing full time.
Doyle’s first novel came in the 1980’s. The novel was titled Your Granny’s a Hunger Striker; Doyle said it was “brilliant,” but after that it went completely downhill. Later in the 80’s, approximately 1986, he published the first successful novel of his writing career. The name of it was The Commitments, which, with the help of a friend, he published himself under the “King Farouk” imprint, and sold himself. One copy of his book landed at William Heinemann, a London-based publishing house. Heinemann enjoyed the book so much he decided to publish it himself in 1987. Two years later, Random House published the book in the United States. This was Doyle’s big start. After his success he wrote two more novels, The Snapper, and The Van. The Van was such a well written novel that it was a finalist for the 1991 Booker Prize Award. Finally in 1993, success struck again.
Roberts was born in 1905 to a working class family in a Salford slum. He took a position as an engineering apprentice following his completion of school. Following his apprenticeship, he was unemployed for three years, utilizing this time to study languages. After becoming a teacher, Roberts wrote many award winning stories, plays, and scripts. Roberts became a farmer for sixteen years before beginning a career teaching in prisons. Roberts...
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
Robert Newton Peck was born in the late 1930’s in Vermont. Haven Peck, his father was a “quiet and gentle man whose work was killing pigs.” (dedication of novel). Peck grew up on a farm and worked as a lumberjack, in a paper mill, and in a slaughterhouse before he wrote his first book. He was first inspired to write by his first through sixth grade teacher, Miss Kelly, a well-loved lady who filled Peck with dreams about what he could do, if he wanted to. Peck was also inspired by an incident at a cocktail party. “ I watched people ram goose liver into their maws and then announce how opposed they were to violence.” Peck went on to serve in World War II for two years, and afterwards, graduated from Rollins College and went to study at Cornell University.
In her book, Bacon speaks of E.B. White who “strongly cautions against writing that calls attention to itself” (Bacon 9). But, she thinks the opposite of this. She believes that “the best writers also seek pleasure, perhaps for themselves as they write and certainly for us as we read” (10). Seeking pleasure from writing can come in multiple forms. At Boston University, Doyle read multiple stories, all of which are true, that he felt pleasure from and a connection with. To Doyle, a story shows so much more than just what meets the eye. A story should make you feel a connection. In “Joyas Volardores,” Doyle writes with much emotion, saying in it that “So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment” (Doyle). From his guest lecture at Boston University, one can conclude that Doyle enjoys writing for the purpose of telling an enjoyable
Hugh Wheeler was born on March 19, 1912 to parents, Harold, who was a civil servant in the Office of the Public Trustee and Florence Wheeler, whose parents were in truck manufacturing. He was born in Northwood, Middlesex, England, (Obituary) and lived there until he was 22 years old. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London in 1932 (Gale). After receiving his degree, he decided to move to the United States and pursue his love of writing. He served in the American armed forces in World War II. He also became a naturalized American citizen in 1942. He remained in the United States until his death in 1987 (Obituary). There are few details of Wheeler’s personal life except that he never married and lived privately (Document). He was well respected in the literary world, in which he accumulated a variety of awards.
Crichton wrote his first bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, while studying medicine at Harvard. “He later worked full time on film and writing. One of the most popular writers in the world, he has sold over 200 million books. His books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and thirteen have been made into films” (Constant). Other books such as: Five Patients, Terminal Man, Westworld, Great Train Robbery, Eaters of the Dead, Jasper Johns, Coma, Congo, Looker, Electronic Life, Runaway, Sphere, Travels, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure, ER, Lost World, Twister, Prey, State of Fear, Next, Pirate Latitudes, Micro, and Overview (Constant). He also published work under the pseudonyms John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas (FamousAuthors 1).
When he was fifteen years old his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career. He had the knowledge of philosophy and psychology. He attempted to write when he was a youth, but he made a choice to pursue a literary career in 1919. After he published Cane he became part of New York literary circles. He objected both rivalries that prevailed in the fraternity of writers and to attempts to promote him as a black writer (Clay...
Personal experiences always have a different impact on the readers as well as the writers. Kate Chopin and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing styles derive from their personal experiences. For example, some of Chopin’s personal experiences include her growing up surrounded by intelligent and independent women, her being widowed at the age of thirty-two and
Ballet is one of the world's oldest and newest forms of dance. One man that created new audiences for ballet and mastered the dance to its fullest was none other than George Balanchine. He brought the standard ballet to levels no one has ever seen before. In the world of dance, there have been many wonderful and talented choreographers but Balanchine's work affected the dance world so much that he was a legend long before his death. Not only was he legendary worldwide but also his influenced American Ballet. George Balanchine's unique style of dance created the "American style" of Ballet.
life during the time an author writes a literary work; to find the cause of why it’s written. Arthur
As a first example, the author’s attendance at Phillips Exeter Academy during his formative years parallels the main characters’ enrollment at Devon School. Literary critic Zia Hasan confirms Knowles’ presence at Exeter during “a special summer wartime session, join[ing] a group called the Suicide Society [where]
James Joyce was born in Ireland to a borderline destitute/middle-class family. After his graduation from the University College, he moved to Paris to study medicine only to be called back to Dublin to care for his mother during her last days (O’Conner). He remained in his home country for a year, publishing short stories in “The Irish Homestead” newspaper (O’Conner). Joyce was a failure at many different occupations: teaching, journalism, and accounting; however, he is one of the few authors to have known success in his own lifetime (Bulson 17). Living in the 1910s era, which found pride in formal diction and savvy language, Joyce found many publishers were wary of his work, which pushed the social limits with bitter language and brash subjects (Bulson 18). Bulson quotes Joyce’s argument with publishers as he refused to grant their wishes of revision, “I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished mirror” (33). This was his attitude towards the eventually published collection of short stories, Dubliners, confirming the beginning of modern literature.
...e made enough money he decided to write for a living. Despite all of his experiences in life he manage to become one the bestselling authors of modern British literature and provided historical true events in his books.
He starts off his books by asking questions that interest him or pique his curiosity: “Why are we so interested in leaving a legacy? Can we construct meaning in a world that is so profoundly apathetic towards us? Is it possible to have a full life without having a long life?” (John Green). With these great questions as well as characters, he is able to create stories that touch his readers. He has written the books: Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars. Along with this, he is a coauthor with David Levithan in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and he wrote a short story “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” with Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson in the book Let it Snow. Around eight years ago, John met a teen girl online named Esther Grace Earl (Talbot). She was one of his biggest nerdfighters and had thyroid cancer (Talbot). They became close, but she died in 2010 when she was sixteen, and John said that he “couldn’t have written it (the book) without her” (Talbot). After she died he helped her parents publish a book filled with her essays and drawings through Dutton (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies!”). The Fault in our Stars is easily Green’s most popular book. Before it was even finished or published, it reached the top spot on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites (“Teen Beat”). This happened because he announced that he would be signing the entire first printing (around 150,000
Kate DiCamillo was born on March 25,1964 in Philadelphia-Pennsylvania. However, due to her chronic pneumonia, Kate DiCamillo’s family move to Florida. Kate DiCamillo was the youngest daughter of a teacher (mom) and an orthodontist (dad). Nonetheless, her dad abandoned the family when they came to Florida with the promise that he will arrive later. Naturally, Kate spent most of her days on bed due to her chronic pneumonia. She learnt to love reading, for it was a good way to keep herself entertain. As Kate states in Scholastic.com, “I learned early on to entertain myself by reading. I learned to rely on stories as a way of understanding the world”