Robert Mannyng of Brunne, sometimes referred to as Robert de Brunne, was one of those vital scribes who lived during medieval times and did history the great service of chronicling the events around them and, sometimes, from much further afield. He belonged to the Gilbertine order of monks and was a poet. Most of what is known about this man comes from ...
Robert Underwood Johnson was an American poet, naturalist and diplomat. His diplomatic activities were intense during the First World War and up to the early 1920s. He worked tirelessly on American-Italian relations and these efforts led to him being decorated by the Italian government. He also had an interest in American copyright laws, probably inspired by his friendship with an inventor called Nikola ...
Robert Wace was a 12th century French poet and holy man who eventually became the Canon of Bayeux. He is often referred to simply as Wace although there have been a number of variations on that name throughout history. Depending on where you come from it could be pronounced or written as Wasso, Gace, Vace or Vacce. Details of his life are, understandably, ...
Richard Monckton Milnes, also known as the 1st Baron Houghton, was an English poet and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He also spent time in politics and was a well-known patron of English literature, encouraging many new writers to take up the pen. He was born on the 19th June 1809 in London, the son of a Yorkshire Member of Parliament. His mother ...
Roland Robinson was a 20th century Australian writer of Irish origin who was honoured with the prestigious Order of Australia for his literary efforts. As well as enjoying a great reputation as a poet he was also an accomplished story teller, often relating Aboriginal tales and captivating his audiences in the area of Lake Macquarie which is where he lived out ...
Rolf Boldrewood was the pseudonym sometimes used by the Australian poet and novelist Thomas Alexander Browne. His most famous book, Robbery Under Arms, which was published using the name Boldrewood, was a story set in 19th century Australia about renegade bushrangers who go about their business stealing cattle and committing armed robbery. It has been described by critics as one of the ...
Ronald Allison Kells Mason was a 20th century New Zealand poet who usually abbreviated his long name, for the purposes of identifying his work, to R A K Mason. Fellow poet, and also journalist, Allen Curnow gave Mason the accolade of: “New Zealand"s first wholly original, unmistakably gifted poet”. He was born on the 10th January 1905 in Penrose, Auckland. His father, who made perfume, met an untimely ...
Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon was a 19th century Canadian poet and novelist who was one of the first Anglo-Canadian writers to become successful both amongst the English and French speaking elements of her country. She was born Rosanna Eleanor Mullins on the 12th January 1829 in Montreal. Her upbringing was comfortable, being the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Irish-Catholic origin. She was sent to be ...
Rose Hawthorne Lathrop was an American poet and social worker who dedicated her life to the Catholic church, becoming a nun and then calling herself Mother Mary Alphonsa. For her achievements in the care of cancer sufferers she received a number of awards and, in 2003, she was canonised by the Cardinal Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. From then on she ...
Roderic Quinn was an Australian poet and newspaper editor who modestly described himself as “a pleasant minor poet”. He was known for his genuine courtesy and deference to his fellow man. Fellow writer Norman Lindsay said of him: “….he was a kindly man, for I never heard him say anything depreciative of others, either their works of their personalities”. He never married throughout ...
