The greatest ambition of the prominent poet, Du Fu, was to serve China as a civil servant. The 755 ‘An Lushan Rebellion’ prevented this from happening, by causing much devastation to the country - with more than a decade of constant unrest to follow. Du Fu took to poetry with a natural, almost extraordinary, talent and since his first published ...
American poet and novelist, Kenneth Patchen, was largely self-taught and never seemed to gain widespread recognition from the prominent literary critics or university professors of his generation. One review regarding Patchen, from the New York Times Book Review said that whilst some critics are inclined to dismiss the work of Kenneth Patchen as naive, capricious, romantic and concerned with many ...
Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist, writer, editorialist and poet. Best known today for his short story ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ and his sardonic view of human nature, which strongly contributed to his nickname ’Bitter Bierce’. The style of writing owned by Bierce was distinctive; full of dark imagination, impossible events, vague references to time and a recurring ...
This son of a French father and English mother was born near Paris in July 1870 but grew up in England, in West Sussex. His father died when Belloc was only two years old, thus prompting his mother to relocate the family to England. Christened Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc he made become a naturalised British subject in 1902 and enjoyed a ...
Mention Edward Lear and most people with a love of poetry will think of limericks and nonsense prose that bring a smile to the lips. Born in 1812 near London, Lear was the youngest of 21 children and was brought up by his sister Ann who acted as his mother for most of their lives. He was not the healthiest of individuals, ...
