Edgar Allan Poe:

American writer and poet

Born: January 19, 1809, USA

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Died: October 7, 1849, USA

1809 - 1849
 Life History
• Edgar Allen Poe, son of actors, was taken to his
godfather(presumably) and foster mother after his
biological mother died in Richmond, Virginia
USA(1911).
Education:
• In Scotland and England(1815-20),
• In Richmond USA(1820-26)
• University of Virginia(1826-27)
Career:
• Started writing stories in Baltimore
• Was editor of the ‘Southern Literary Messenger’
by 1835, where he made his name as a critical
reviewer
• Dismissed from his job for drinking
• Became coeditor of Burton’s Gentleman’s
Magazine in Philadelphia in 1839
• Became subeditor of the New York Mirror in 1845
 Popular Works and Achievements
The most famous work of Edgar Allan Poe is ‘The Raven’, which gave him instant national fame.

Poe is also famous for writing the first modern detective story ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’.

Other notable works include his story ‘The Gold Bug’, which won a prize of 100 dollars from the
Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper; ‘MS Found in a Bottle’, which won a prize of 50 dollars from a Baltimore
weekly; and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’.

Poe did not win awards of any kind except for money prizes from newspaper agencies.
J.K. Rowling:
English author

Born July 31, 1965, England

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 Life History
J.K. Rowling was born Joanne Rowling on July 31, 1965 in England. She adopted her pen name, J.K.,
incorporating her grandmother’s name Kathleen for the latter initial(hence Rowling doesn’t have a middle
name). A graduate of the University of Exeter, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There,
she met and married the Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes. The couple's daughter, Jessica, was born in
1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live near her
younger sister, Dianne. While struggling to support her daughter Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling
worked on her first book in the Harry Potter series. The idea for the book reportedly occurred to her while
she was traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990.
 The most famous work of J.K. Rowling is the Harry
Potter children’s book series, selling more 500
million copies worldwide and each book having
been adapted into a blockbuster film. The Harry
Popular Works Potter series is the best-selling book series in
history.
Other notable works include ‘Fantastic Beasts &
Where to Find Them’, ‘Quidditch Through the Ages’,
‘The Cursed Child’, ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’,
and ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’.
 Achievements
• In 2004, Forbes named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books.
• Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter, the University of Aberdeen
and Harvard University.
Some of the many awards she has won are:
• British Children’s Book of the Year(1998) for ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’
• National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year(1998) for ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’
• British Book Awards(2000) for ‘Author of the Year’
• Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award
Rudyard Kipling:
British author and poet

Born: 30 December 1865, India

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Died: 18 January 1936, England
 Life History
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on 30th December 1865 in Bombay(now Mumbai), India. He was the
son of John Lockwood Kipling and Alice MacDonald. Kipling was taken to England by his parents at the
age of six and was left for five years at a foster home. He went to the United Services College in North
Devon, England. Kipling returned to India in 1882 and worked for seven years as a journalist. There, his
literary career began with the short story ‘Department Ditties’. When Kipling returned to England in 1889,
his reputation quickly increased, and within a year he was acclaimed as one of the most brilliant prose
writers of his time. In 1892 Kipling married Caroline Balestier. That year the couple moved to the United
States but returned to England in 1896. In 1902 Rudyard Kipling bought a house in Sussex, England and
remained there until his death in 18th January 1936.
 Rudyard Kipling’s most famous works
include a novel named ‘Kim’, the well-

Popular Works known collection of short stories ‘The

Jungle Book’, and short stories such as
‘The Man Who Would Be King’. His
poems include ‘Mandalay’, ‘Gunga Din’,
‘The White Man’s Burden’, and ‘If’.
 Achievements

In 1907 Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the first
English language writer to do so and the youngest person ever to receive the prize.
He was offered the British Poet Laureateship and knighthood, both of which he
declined. In 1926 Kipling received the Gold Medal of the Society of Literature.
Robert Louis
Stevenson:
Scottish writer and poet

Born: 13 November 1850, Scotland

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Died: 3 December 1894, Samoa
 Life History
• Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850, to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson
• Enrolled at Edinburgh University at the age of 17 to study engineering, with the goal of following his
father in the family business
• Began to study law instead, due to his dislike of engineering
• Travelled to France during his summer vacations to be around young artists, both writers and painters
• Emerged from law school in 1875 but did not practice, as, by this point, he felt that his calling was to be
a writer.
• Published his first volume of work,’ An Inland Voyage’ in 1878.
 Life History Continued
• Met Fanny Osbourne(who would later become his wife) in September 1876
• Married Fanny Osbourne in 1880, and they remained together until Stevenson's death.
• Stevenson suffered from haemorrhaging lungs (likely caused by undiagnosed tuberculosis). While in this
bedridden state, he wrote some of his most popular fiction stories.
• Set sail with his family from California to travel the islands of the Pacific Ocean in June 1888, stopping
for stays at the Hawaiian Islands.
• Arrived in the Samoan islands in 1889, where they decided to build a house and settle.
• Died of a stroke on December 3, 1894, at his home in Vailima, Samoa.
• Buried at the top of Mount Vaea, overlooking the sea.
 Popular Works and Achievements
Robert Louis Stevenson was probably best known for ‘Treasure Island’, ‘A Child’s
Garden of Verses’, ‘Kidnapped’ and ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’.
‘Treasure Island’ is one of the most famous adventure stories in English literature,
while ‘Kidnapped’ is one of Stevenson’s most enduringly popular novels.
Stevenson was not appreciated in his time as he is now, that is why many
recognitions such as having several schools and memorials named after him and
much more came after his death.