Do you have a favourite English author?

Question

The English Authors subproject is under way and looking for profiles on which to place its category.  Do you have a favourite author who isn't already on the list?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:English_Authors

To be included, your author needs to have been born in England (or born abroad to English parents and therefore is a British citizen, like Rudyard Kipling).  He/she can also be a poet, or a diarist, or a travel writer. ("A poet is an author, but is an author a poet? Discuss."  Sounds like an essay you would be set at school ha ha)

Please don't suggest somebody still living.  I really don't want the English Authors category page filled up with 
[unlisted]
[unlisted]
[unlisted]

Doesn't matter if the PM is an individual, another Project, the England Project, or PPP.  I'll sort all that out as part of the subproject's inner workings.

So let me know! Genealogy at its most nostalgic...

Comments

On "is an author a poet?" I don't think so but they can be. Poets rhyme, authors don't always.

Answer 1

Lucy M Boston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_M._Boston

Kathleen Fidler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Fidler

Comments

Thanks, Christine! They're both included now.

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Added links to Hemingford Grey website to Lucy M. Boston’s profile.

Answer 2

Elinor M Brent-Dyer (Chalet School books) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Brent-Dyer

Elsie J Oxenham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_J._Oxenham

Comments

Thanks, Sheena! They're both included now.

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The chalet school books were my most favourite when I was a teenager!!

I used to dream of going to a school like that!!

Never happened of course.

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Ooh me too!!  I sill re-read some of them occasionally :-)

Answer 3

My favourite is (Dame) Ivy Compton-Burnett.

Comments

Thanks, Deborah! She's now on my "to-do" list

Answer 4

Winston Churchill wrote numerous books.

Comments

Thanks, Peggy! I have found his profile on WikiTree and added the English Authors category to include him in the subproject.

Answer 5

C. S. Lewis, author of "The Chronicles of Narnia" novels.

Comments

Unfortunately, C S Lewis was born in Belfast.  You have no idea how much I wanted to include him! Thanks anyway, J-M.

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You're welcome!  Anyway, Belfast, Ireland was part of the UK in 1898, when Lewis was born.  So like all Irishmen (and women) of the time, he was British.  And his father was Welsh.  Although I guess that doesn't count as English.

Answer 6

(Sir) Arthur Quiller-Couch, who wrote as "Q", deserves an entry I think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Quiller-Couch

 

And definitely the Trollopes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Milton_Trollope

Comments

Thanks, Deborah!

Q is now on my list, and the Trollopes both had WT profiles already - but I'll be working on them, and they are now included in the subproject.

Answer 7

Also E F Benson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Benson and less importantly his siblings Robert and Margaret.

Comments

Thanks, Deborah! He's now on my list!

Answer 8

And George and Weedon Grossmith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Grossmith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weedon_Grossmith

and Jerome K. Jerome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_K._Jerome

I'm going to try to stop thinking about this now, it's too compulsive :)

Comments

Thanks, Deborah! Both the Grossmiths were already on WT, and are now in the subproject, and Jerome is now on my list.  That's why I said "genealogy at its most nostalgic" - because once you've started, you begin remembering all the authors you read as a child, as well as the ones you are reading now! :)

Answer 9

Does E Nesbit have a profile? She wrote the Boxcar children I think and other titles that I should know but cant remember

Also Noel Streatfield?
She wrote the Ballet Shoes series and others as well. I think they are set in England.

OK IGNORE this post - they both already have profiles here and they are in the project. Sorry!!

Comments

*taps wand* I solemnly swear I am ignoring this post

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LOL Thanks Roz.

Answer 10

How about C S Forester who wrote the Horatio Hornblower novels?

He seems to have had english parents even though he was born in egypt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Forester

Comments

Yes - brilliant one! He is already here on WT, so I have included him in the subproject and will add his bibliography soon.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-90091

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I read all the Hornblower books in middle school. Loved them!

Answer 11

How about Roald Dahl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl ?

Comments

Sorry, Caryl, he was born in Wales to Norwegian parents.

Answer 12

I'll be greedy as I can't seperate May Gibbs (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gibbs-1744), Ellis Peters / Edith Pargeter (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pargeter-60), Nevil Shute (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Norway-90) and Arthur Upfield (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Upfield-36).

Answer 13

Mary Renault!

Comments

I'll have to look into her.  I don't think she's on WikiTree yet.

Answer 14

I don't see C. S. Lewis listed.  I see someone else proposed him.

Comments

Probably because he was born in Ireland of Welsh ancestry. :)

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Did you see J-M Mustchin's answer above?

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He's still my favorite author even if he is Irish-born.

Answer 15

As a child my favourites were Alison Uttley who wrote the Little Gray Rabbit series and Jane Pilgrim who wrote the Blackberry Farm series. My Grandma used to give me these as gifts when I was very young. A bit later I loved the Dr. Doolittle books by Hugh Lofting.

Comments

Yes, I always loved Little Grey Rabbit as well:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Taylor-50245

Not familiar with Jane Pilgrim, so I'll take a look at her.

Don't think Hugh Lofting is yet on WT, so I'll take a look at him as well. Dr Doolittle! :)

Answer 16

Thomas Hardy, since C.S. Lewis isn't acceptable <pouting>.

Comments

Here he is: I took him over from an unresponsive profile manager, and have yet to do things to his profile.  But he's definitely on the to-do list! :)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hardy-1197

Answer 17

Dick Francis - former Steeplechase jockey and hobby pilot he writes mystery fiction with mostly horse and sometimes flying related themes.

Comments

A wonderful writer, but I will have to think about him - he was born in Wales, after all...

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Oh! I had forgotten that!  Dang, just think of him as English and love his books

Answer 18

you can add  the following person to your category

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Palmer

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Reynolds-2177

She only wrote one book but she is one of my direct ancestors.

I am not sure when her book was written but as she died in 1794, it was certainly before then.

I am not sure if she should be added to the notable category as well.

Comments

Thanks! I have added her to English Authors and put a Notables sticker on her profile.  (She has a Wikipedia page, so she is eligible.)  A lot of my ancestry comes from Devon, so I was delighted to find her.

Answer 19

Ros, I have a couple of names for you but they may need to be added to your increasing long "to do" list as I could not find profiles for them. They are:

Barry Hines - best know for "A Kestrel for a Knave" which was made into the film "Kes"

and

Laurie Lee - the author of "Cider with Rosie"

Comments

Yes - to-do list it is! Thanks!

Answer 20

Piers Anthony Dillinghame Jacob (pen name: Piers Anthony), born in Oxford in 1934, didn't become an American citizen until after 1957. Does he count?

Comments

Well, he's still alive, and I am trying to avoid living authors, since they are Unlisted.

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Oops, sorry.