George Moore: Pioneer of Realism and Irish Literary Revival

George Augustus Moore, born on February 24, 1852, in Ballyglass, County Mayo, Ireland, was a pioneering figure in modern literature, renowned for his contributions as a novelist, short story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist, and dramatist. Raised in a Roman Catholic landed family, Moore initially aspired to become a painter, moving to Paris in the 1870s to study art. In Paris, he immersed himself in the city’s vibrant artistic community, forming friendships with notable artists and writers, including Edgar Degas and Émile Zola. This experience exposed Moore to French Naturalism, a literary style focused on depicting life with gritty realism and objectivity, which profoundly shaped his later works.

Moore’s early novels, such as A Modern Lover (1883) and A Mummer's Wife (1885), were instrumental in introducing French Naturalism to English literature. These works, which explored controversial themes like class, morality, and individualism, were met with both acclaim and scandal, marking Moore as a daring and original voice in Victorian literature. His novel Esther Waters (1894), often considered his masterpiece, tells the story of a servant girl confronting poverty, social stigma, and the challenges of single motherhood. Its empathetic portrayal of a working-class protagonist broke new ground in English literature, demonstrating Moore’s skill at blending realism with emotional depth.

Returning to Ireland in the early 20th century, Moore became a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, a cultural movement aimed at fostering Irish identity and literature. Collaborating with literary icons like W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, he contributed to the development of the Abbey Theatre, Ireland's national theater. His short story collection The Untilled Field (1903) addressed themes of rural Irish life and emigration, resonating deeply with Irish audiences. Meanwhile, his satirical trilogy, Hail and Farewell (1911-1914), offered a sharp critique of Irish society and culture, further solidifying his place in Irish literary history.

Moore’s innovative blending of French realism with insights into human psychology influenced a generation of writers, laying the groundwork for the modernist movement. He died on January 21, 1933, in London, but his legacy endures, inspiring writers and readers alike to explore the depths of human experience with empathy and realism.
George Moore: Pioneer of Realism and Irish Literary Revival

Ayn Rand - writer and philosopher

Ayn Rand was born as Alisa Rosenbaum (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was born in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. As a young child, Alisa loved books. She began to write her own stories when she was only seven years old.

In February of 1917, Ayn Rand witnessed the first shots of the Russian Revolution, and later that year she witnessed the Bolshevik Revolution as well. In order to escape the fighting, her family went to the Crimea, where Rand finished high school.

When Rand and her family returned from the Crimea, she became a student of the Leningrad State University.

As a student at Leningrad State University, she studied history and became acquainted with the works of Plato and Aristotle. She took classes in politics, history, law, and writing. After graduating in 1924, she enrolled in the State Institute for Cinematography, hoping to become a screenwriter.

In 1926, she traveled to the United States to visit family members and headed for Hollywood to work as a movie extra and junior screenwriter. Later she changed her name to Ayn Rand.

Rand’s first and most autobiographical novel, We the Living (1936), set in the Soviet Union, was published only after many rejections, owing to widespread sympathy for the Soviet “experiment” among the intellectuals of the day.

In 1943, Rand’s famous book "The Fountainhead" was published. It took her seven years to write the novel. From the 1960's on, she increasingly devoted herself to expounding her views more directly, in such books as ''The Virtue of Selfishness'' (1965) and ''Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal'' (1966).

Ayn Rand argues that capitalism is a necessary good: It is the only social system in which human beings can survive, prosper, and enjoy their lives.

She also served as editor of The Objectivist, a monthly journal, from 1962 to 1971 and wrote The Ayn Rand Letter from 1971 to 1976.
Ayn Rand - writer and philosopher

George Orwell – a novelist, journalist, essayist and critic

George Orwell was born Eric Blair in Motihari, Bengal, India, in June 25, 1903, to a family which he described in The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) as ‘lower-upper middle class’: ‘upper-middle class without money’. His father was a minor British official in the Indian civil service; his mother, of French extraction, was the daughter of an unsuccessful teak merchant in Burma

He was educated in England and, after he left Eton, in 1921 he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, then a British colony. He resigned in 1927 and decided to become a writer.

In 1928, he moved to Paris where lack of success as a writer forced him into a series of menial jobs. Orwell took up writing at an early age, reportedly composing his first poem around age four. His first book, the non-fictional Down and Out in Paris and London, appeared in 1933 as the work of George Orwell (the surname he derived from the beautiful River Orwell in East Anglia) and was based on his experiences after he left the police.

In 1936, he was commissioned to write an account of poverty among unemployed miners in northern England, which resulted in 'The Road to Wigan Pier' (1937). Late in 1936, Orwell travelled to Spain to fight for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalists.

George Orwell was most famous for his novels 'Animal Farm' (1945) and 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949). Orwell died of tuberculosis in London, England on 21 January 1950.
George Orwell – a novelist, journalist, essayist and critic

John Ray Grisham

John Ray Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on February 8, 1955. The second-oldest of five siblings, he developed a love for books early on. Grisham and his family moved around for a while, due to job opportunities for his father, who worked in construction, eventually settling in Southaven, Mississippi.

He was educated at Southaven High School, DeSoto County, Mississippi (where he would later practice criminal and civil law for a decade), and continued on to earn a BS degree at Mississippi State University in 1977 and a JD degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981.

Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi, law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.

His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published modestly in 1988, but by the time his second novel, The Firm, was published it became the best-selling novel, of 1991 followed by another success, The Pelican Brief, in 1992.

He is not only an author but is also a well-known American lawyer and a politician. His books which are basically thrillers have achieved so much fame that they have been translated in to forty two languages.
John Ray Grisham

Jeffrey Howard Archer

Jeffrey Howard Archer is the successful author of a number of popular novels, a convicted perjurer and former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and a former M.P.

The son of a printer, Jeffrey Howard Archer was born in 1940 London and brought up in Somerset. He was educated at Wellington School, and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he excelled in sports and was president of the Athletic Club.

He became a familiar figure in campus when, as a captain of the Oxford track and field team, he broke the record of 9.6 seconds in the 100 yard dash and was chosen to be a member of the British track team that competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

He was a Member of Parliament and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, and became a life peer in 1992. His political career, having suffered several controversies, ended after a conviction for perverting the course of justice and his subsequent imprisonment. He is married to Mary Archer, a scientist specializing in solar power. Outside politics, he is a novelist, playwright and short story writer.

Archer’s books are peppered with heroic feats and crime elements. His first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, was published in both the United States and England in 1976 and was an instant success.

His second novel, Shall We Tell the President? (1977), is a thriller depicting a plot to assassinate Edward Kennedy. His Kane and Abel proved to be his best-selling novel, reaching no.1 on the New York Times "Best seller list". It was made into a successful television series.

In 1998 Jeffrey Archer published a novel, The Eleventh Commandment - Thou Shalt not Be Caught.
Jeffrey Howard Archer

Nigerian novelist: Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist born in 1930.

Born in eastern Nigeria, Chinua Achebe worked in broadcasting and the civil service before becoming a novelist.

In his first and most famous novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), he describes the breakdown of African tribal life after the arrival of the British colonizers during the last century.

In his memorable description of a traditional family, Achebe shows an understanding of the way the different cultures and rituals of Africa so often puzzle outsiders.


Another novel, A Man of the People (1966), describes a dishonest African politician who wants to make as much money as he can while he has the chance.

It is a funny sad story, pointing out how difficult it can be for a country unused to political power to run itself properly during the first years of independence.

Achebe has since written several children’s books and has greatly helped younger African writers in their efforts to get their books published.
Nigerian novelist: Chinua Achebe