Nationality: Australian. Born: Nowra, New South Wales, 1938. Education: The University of Queensland, 1959-61. Military Service: Served in the Australian Army and Reserves, 1957-59. Career: Journalist, Sydney Telegraph, 1956-59; editor, Lockhart Review, New South Wales, 1960, and Australian Worker, Sydney, 1962; assistant secretary, Workers' Educational Association, Sydney, 1963-65; union o…
Nationality: American. Born: Chloe Anthony Wofford, Lorain, Ohio, 1931. Education: Howard University, Washington, D.C., B.A. 1953; Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, M.A. 1955. Career: Instructor in English, Texas Southern University, Houston, 1955-57, and Howard University, 1957-64; senior editor, Random House, publishers, New York, 1965-84; associate professor, State University of New York, P…
Nationality: British. Born: Hampstead, London, 1923. Education: Harrow School, Middlesex, 1937-40; Brasenose College, Oxford, 1940-42, B.A. 1947; called to the bar, 1948; Queen's Counsel, 1966; Master of the Bench, Inner Temple, 1975. Military Service: Served with the Crown Film Units as scriptwriter during World War II. Career: drama critic, New Statesman, Evening Standard, and Observer, 1…
Nationality: British. Born: Lord Ravensdale in London, 1923; eldest son of Sir Oswald Mosley; became 3rd Baron Ravensdale, 1966; succeeded to the baronetcy of his father, 1980. Education: Eton College, Berkshire, 1937-42; Ballio College, Oxford, 1946-47. Military Service: Served in the Rifle Brigade, 1942-46; Captain; Military Cross, 1944. Awards: Whitbread Book of the Year award, 1990. Made a pee…
Nationality: American. Born: Los Angeles, California, 1952. Education: Attended Goddard College; received degree from Johnson State College; attended City College of the City University of New York, beginning 1985. Career: Formerly a computer programmer; writer. Lives in New York. Awards: Shamus Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 1990. Agent: c/o W. W. Norton, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New …
Also writes as Colin Johnson and Mudrooroo Narogin. Nationality: Australian. Born: East Cubbaling, Western Australia, 1938. Education: Brought up in a Roman Catholic orphanage. Career: Lived in India for 6 years, three as a Buddhist monk. Holds the Chair of Aboriginal Studies at Murdech University, Perth. Awards: Wieckhard prize, 1979; Western Australia Literary award, 1989; WA Premier's Bo…
Nationality: Canadian. Born: Calcutta, India, 1940; became Canadian citizen, 1972. Education: Loreto Convent School, Calcutta; University of Calcutta, B.A. (honors) in English 1959; University of Baroda, Gujarat, M.A. 1961; University of Iowa, Iowa City, M.F.A. 1963; Ph.D. 1969. Career: Instructor in English, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1964-65, and University of Wisconsin, Madison…
Nationality: Irish. Born: Dublin, Ireland, 1925. Career: Associate editor, The Bell, 1952-54; weekly columnist, Evening Press, until 1983; writer in residence, Mayo County Council, 1988; novelist, journalist, lecturer, and teacher of creative writing. Awards: A.I.B. Prize for literature, 1984. Val Mulkerns, born in 1925, has had what amounts to two separate publishing careers. In the 1950s, some …
Nationality: Nigerian. Born: Akokwa, 1929. Education: Christ the King College, Onitsha, 1943-47; University College, Ibadan, 1948-52, B.A. in classics and history 1952; Institute of Education, University of London, 1952-53, Cert. Ed. 1953. Career: Education Officer, 1954-57, and Provincial Education Officer and Inspector of Education, 1958-70, Nigerian Ministry of Education; Principal, Advanced Te…
Nationality: Canadian. Born: Alice Anne Laidlaw, Wingham, Ontario, 1931. Education: Wingham public schools; University of Western Ontario, London, 1949-51. Career: Writerin-residence, University of Western Ontario, 1974-75, and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1980. Awards: Governor-General's award, 1969, 1978, 1987; B.C. Library Association Outstanding Fiction Writer's awa…
Nationality: Australian. Born: Melbourne, Victoria, in 1939. Education: The University of Melbourne, B.A. 1969. Career: Currently lecturer in creative writing, Victoria College, Melbourne. Gerald Murnane began as a writer of confessedly autobiographical fiction of a talented but fairly conventional kind, but developed eventually into a writer who has been variously classified as postmodernist or …
Nationality: American. Born: Nokomis, Alabama, 1916. Education: Tuskegee Institute, B.S. 1939; New York University, M.A. 1948; postgraduate work at University of Michigan, 1940, Northwestern University, 1941, and University of Paris, 1950. Military Service: U.S. Air Force, 1943-62, including service during World War II; retired as major. Career: Instructor, Tuskegee Institute, 1940-43, 1946-51, di…
Nationality: Indian. Born: Sialkot (now in Pakistan), 1927. Education: The University of Delhi, M.A. in English 1948; University of Nottingham (British Council scholar), 1959-61, Ph.D. in English 1961. Career: Lecturer at universities in India, 1949-62; reader in English, Rajasthan University, Jaipur, 1962-63; reader in English, 1963-80, and professor of English, University of Delhi, 1980-92; visi…
Nationality: Trinidadian. Born: Trinidad, 1932; brother of the writer Shiva Naipaul. Education: Tranquillity Boys School, 1939-42; Queen's Royal College, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 1943-49; University College, Oxford, 1950-54, B.A. (honors) in English 1953. Career: Editor, "Caribbean Voices," BBC, London, 1954-56; fiction reviewer, New Statesman, London, 1957-61; contributor to …
Nationality: Indian. Born: Madras, 1906. Education: Collegiate High School, Mysore; Maharaja's College, Mysore, graduated 1930. Career: Teacher, then journalist, early 1930s; owner, Indian Thought Publications, Mysore. Awards: Sahitya Academy award, 1961; Padma Bhushan, India, 1964; National Association of Independent Schools award (U.S.A.), 1965; English-Speaking Union award, 1975; Royal S…
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1950. Education: Brooklyn College, New York, B.A. in English 1981; Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1981-83, M.A. in Afro-American Studies 1983. Career: Missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses, New York, North Carolina, and Florida, 1968-75; telephone operator, New York City hotels, 1975-81. Writer-in-residence, Cummington Community of the …
Nationality: South African. Born: Ladysmith, Natal Province, South Africa, 1913. Education: St. Peter's High School, Resettenvelle, Johannesburg, 1929-31; Amanzimtoti (Adams') College, 1933-34, earned teaching certificate; University of Witwatersrand, A.B. in Zulu language and political science 1948. Career: Assistant teacher, Khaiso Secondary School, 1935-45; assistant teacher, Mad…
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1938. Education: Columbia University, New York, B.A. 1959 (Phi Beta Kappa); Indiana University, Bloomington, M.A. 1963. Career: Junior executive trainee, General Motors Corporation, Indianapolis, 1960; English teacher, Saddle River Country Day School, New Jersey, 1961-62; teacher, New York City public high and junior high schools, 1963-66; preceptor in E…
Formerly wrote as James T. Ngugi. Nationality: Kenyan. Born: Kamiriithu, near Limuru, Kiambu District, 1938. Education: Kamaandũra School, Limuru; Karing'a School, Maanguũ; Alliance High School, Kikuyu; University College, Kampala, Uganda (editor, Penpoint), 1959-63, B.A. 1963; Leeds University, Yorkshire, 1964-67, B.A. 1964. Career: Columnist ("As I See It"), ea…
Also writes as Elizabeth O'Hara. Nationality: Irish. Born: Eilis Deeney in Walkinstown, Dublin, 1954. Education: University College Dublin, Ireland, B.A. 1974, M. Phil. 1976, Ph.D. 1982. Career: Folklore collector, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 1978-80; assistant keeper, National Library, 1980-95; folklore lecturer, People's College, 1986-92; writer of books for childre…
Nationality: British. Born: 1963. Lawrence Norfolk's formidable reputation rests upon a small collection of works. The success of Lemprière's Dictionary, an erudite, intricately designed, and densely textured novel, derives chiefly from its pastiche of literary forms and sensibilities even more varied than its range of geographical and temporal settings (from England to India, f…
Nationality: American. Born: Toledo, Ohio, 1949. Education: Graduated form Western Michigan University; graduate study at the Folklore Institute of Indiana University. Career: Worked variously as a translator for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, as a member of a fire crew in Manitoba, Canada, and as a field naturalist; instructor in Native American literature, University of Marylan…
Nationality: British. Born: London, 1939. Education: Dormans Land, Surrey; Hamlet Court, Westcliff, Essex; Southend High School, Essex. Career: Since 1961 freelance writer: since 1967 poetry editor, the Scotsman, Edinburgh; since 1971 poetry critic, the Times, London. Writer-in-residence, University of Edinburgh, 1976-77. Awards: Eric Gregory award, 1963; Scottish Arts Council bursary, 1970, 1973,…
Pseudonym: Rosamond Smith. Nationality: American. Born: Millersport, New York, 1938. Education: Syracuse University, New York, 1956-60, B.A. in English 1960 (Phi Beta Kappa); University of Wisconsin, Madison, M.A. in English 1961; Rice University, Houston, 1961. Career: Instructor, 1961-65, and assistant professor of English, 1965-67, University of Detroit; member of the Department of English, Uni…
Nationality: Irish. Born: Tuamgraney, County Clare, 1932. Education: National School, Scariff; Convent of Mercy, Loughrea; Pharmaceutical College of Dublin: licentiate, Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. Career: practiced pharmacy briefly; novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Awards: Kingsley Amis award, 1962; Yorkshire Post award, 1971. Agent: Robert Lescher, 155 East 71st St., New York, NY 10…
Nationality: American. Born: William Timothy O'Brien in Austin, Minnesota, 1946. Education: Macalaster College, St. Paul, Minnesota, B.A. in political science (summa cum laude) 1968; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970-76. Military Service: Served in the United States Army during the Vietnam war; discharged wounded 1970: Purple Heart. Career: Reporter, Washington Post, 1971-7…
Nationality: Irish. Born: Dublin, Ireland, 1963. Education: University College, Dublin, B.A. 1986; briefly attended Oxford University. Career: Worked with British Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, 1980s; journalist, screenwriter, writer for television, and author. Lives in Dublin. Awards: Sunday Tribune First Fiction Award, 1989; New Irish Writer of the Year Award, 1989; Time Out Magazine Writing Pri…
Nationality: Irish. Born: London, England, 1932; daughter of the writer Sean O'Faolain. Education: The Sacred Heart Convent, Dublin; University College, Dublin, B.A. in French and Italian 1952, M.A. 1953; University of Rome; the Sorbonne, Paris. Career: Translator for Council of Europe, and worked as supply teacher and cook in London, 1955-57; instructor in French, Reed College, Portland, O…
Nationality: Scottish. Born: Glasgow, Scotland, 1969. Career: Former assistant editor, London Review of Books; writes for London Daily Telegraph. Lives in London. With one novel and one nonfiction book to his credit, Andrew O'Hagan has already established himself as a writer of some achievement and considerable promise. O'Hagan had begun to make a name for himself as a journalist and…
Nationality: Nigerian. Born: Minna, 1959. Education: In Nigeria; at University of Essex, Colchester, B.A. in comparative literature. Career: Broadcaster, "Network Africa," BBC World Service, 1984-85; poetry editor, West Africa, 1981-87. Full-time writer and reviewer for the Guardian, the Observer, and the New Statesman, all London. Awards: Commonwealth Prize for Africa, 1987; Paris R…
Nationality: American. Born: Tillie Lerner, Omaha, Nebraska, 1912 or 1913. Education: Some high school. Career: Has worked in the service, warehouse, and food processing industries, and as an office typist. Writer-in-residence, Amherst College, Massachusetts, 1969-70; visiting professor, Stanford University, California, Spring 1971; writer-in-residence, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambr…
Nationality: American. Born: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1961. Education: Boston University, B.S. 1983; Cornell University, M.F.A. 1992. Career: Test engineer, Grummann Aerospace Corporation, Bethpage, New York, 1984-88; writer. Awards: Ascent Fiction prize, 1988; Columbia Fiction award, 1989; Drue Heinz Prize for Literature, 1993; William Faulkner prize, 1993; named one of America's Best You…
Nationality: Canadian. Born: Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), 1943. Education: St. Thomas' College, Colombo; Dulwich College, London; Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec, 1962-64; University of Toronto, B.A. 1965; Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, M.A. 1967. Career: Taught at the University of Western Ontario, London, 1967-71. Since 1971 member of the Department of E…
Nationality: New Zealander. Born: Auckland, 1937. Education: University of Auckland, M.A. 1959; Lincoln College, Oxford, B. Litt. 1962. Career: Editor, Comment, Wellington, 1963-66; lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington; senior lecturer, Waikato University, Hamilton. Literary editor, New Zealand Listener, 1978-79. Awards: Commonwealth scholarship, 1960; Macmillan Brown prize, 1961; Jessie Ma…
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1928. Education: New York University, B.A. (cum laude) in English 1949 (Phi Beta Kappa); Ohio State University, Columbus, M.A. 1951. Career: Instructor in English, New York University, 1964-65; Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, City University, New York, 1982; Phi Beta Kappa Orator, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985. Lives in New Rochel…