Nicholas Grimald was a 16th century English poet, playwright and man of the church whose allegiances swung from Protestant to Catholic to suit his circumstances. His name is sometimes written as Grimoald, or Grimaldi, and many of his pieces of work were in the form of songs or sonnets. Nicholas Grimald was born sometime during the year 1519, or possibly in 1520, in Leighton ...
Nicholas Udall was a 16th century writer, cleric and schoolmaster. He served as headmaster at the exclusive Eton public school for seven years, although he left that position under a cloud following scandals that were enough to earn him a spell in Marshalsea prison. As a writer he was sometimes known by variations of his name, Uvedale or Udal being two of them. ...
Nina Murdoch was an Australian poet, broadcaster and journalist. She was born Madoline Murdoch in Melbourne in October 1890. The family soon relocated to Woodburn, which is situated in New South Wales where she enjoyed her early years. Her poetry writing really began during her teenage years at Sydney Girls' between the years 1904-1907 and much of her work was of the lyrical ...
Nikolay Zabolotsky was a Russian poet who was a member of a Futurist group of writers known as “Oberiu”. These were men who dabbled in the avant-garde and the absurd in their writings, often seeking to banish the old style of literature to history in favour of themes that embraced the ever-increasing industrialisation in their country. They often strayed into dangerous waters though, ...
Nguyễn Trãi was a Vietnamese poet, Confucian scholar and great military strategist who made a good reputation for himself in 15th century Vietnam. He served his king and government in many capacities and was so well regarded that many of the common people believed that he was capable of performing miracles. He had a close relationship with the king who was struggling to ...
Pontus de Tyard, the French Renaissance poet and catholic priest, was heavily involved with a group known as La Pléiade. These were writers of the 16th century who favoured Greek and Roman poetic forms. It is believed that Tyard was one of the earliest writers of French language sonnets, and also that he was responsible for the introduction of the Provençal form of fixed verse ...
Moina Michael was an American poet, humanitarian and university professor whose main claim to fame was that, having read John McCrae’s evocative poem about Flanders Fields she conceived the idea of making the poppy an everlasting symbol of remembrance for the millions of lives lost in World War I. Her career as a teacher began at the tender age of fifteen at various locations in Georgia. She ...
Pavlo Tychyna was a multi-award winning Ukrainian poet and academic of the 20th century who served his country well as a statesman and public activist. He also acted as an interpreter having mastered several languages. He was born Pavlo Hryhorovych Tychyna on the 11th January 1891 in the northern Ukrainian town of Pisky. His mother, a teacher, produced ten children for her husband, a deacon, ...
David Atwood Wasson was a 19th century American Congregational minister, poet and writer of essays. He was a great believer in the Transcendentalist movement and wrote many pieces on this theme. He took inspiration from the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Carlyle though it is believed that Carlyle’s influenced became less during his later years. He was born in May 1823 in West Brooksville, ...
Daniil Ivánovich Kharms was a 20th century Russian poet and dramatist whose poetry is usually categorised as absurdist or surrealist. He was born Daniil Ivánovich Yuvatchov on the 30th December 1905 in St. Petersburg into a family constantly at odds with the government. His father, Ivan, was a member of “The People’s Will” which was a subversive, revolutionary group whose activities included acting against the ruling ...
