Biographical sketches of poets and authors.
Biography / E5-Resources / Resources for Teaching
by Janice Campbell · Published March 22, 2022 · Last modified March 24, 2022
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA (1547-1616), Spanish novelist (Don Quixote and others), playwright, and poet was born at Alcalá de Henares in 1547. The attempts of biographers to provide him with an illustrious genealogy are...
In this brief article, scholar, editor, and translator Luis Sundkvist explores the life of noted Russian author Ivan Turgenev and considers ways in which his life and work intersected with the Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Biography...
Leo Tolstoy (or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy), 1828-1910, was a Russian novelist and social reformer, born on the 9th of September (August 28) 1828, in the home of his fathers – Yasnaya Polyana, near Toula...
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881), Russian author, born at Moscow, on the 30th of October 1821, was the second son of a retired military surgeon of a decayed noble family. He was educated at Moscow...
Alexander (or Aleksándr) Sergeyvich Pushkin (1799—1837) was a Russian poet born in Moscow, on the 7th of June 1799. He belonged to an ancient family of boyars; his maternal great-grandfather, a favourite negro ennobled by Peter...
WHEN the mortal remains of Ivan Turgenev were about to be transported from Paris for interment in his own country, a short commemorative service was held at the Gare du Nord. Ernest Renan and...
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904), like Pushkin, Lermontov, Bielinski, and Garshin, died young, and although he wrote a goodly number of plays and stories which gave him a high reputation in Russia, he did not...
Russian novelist Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (or Turgeniev) (1818 – 1883) was the descendant of an old Russian family, was born at Orel, in the government of the same name, in 1818. His father, the...
Dante (or Durante) Alighieri (1265-1321), the greatest of Italian poets, was born at Florence about the middle of May 1265. He was descended from an ancient family, but from one which at any rate...
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) is one of the best-known authors of Victorian England, and he has created some of the most memorable characters in British Literature. Early Life He was born on the 7th of...
John Milton (1608–1674), author of Paradise Lost and other works, was an English poet. He was born in Bread Street, Cheapside, London, on the 9th of December 1608. Milton’s Parents and Early Life His father,...
SIR WALTER SCOTT, Bart. (1771-1832), Scottish poet and novelist, was born at Edinburgh on the 15th of August 1771. His pedigree, in which he took a pride that strongly influenced the course of his...
Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French author and playwright, best known for his historical adventure fiction. As one of France’s most widely read authors, his works have been translated into dozens...
John Clare CLARE, JOHN (1793–1864), an English poet, was born 13 July 1793, at Helpstone, a village halfway between Peterborough and Stamford. Early Life John Clare had a twin sister who died before him....
In this brief Herman Melville Biography, you will learn about his first job at the age of 12 and how his sea adventures were transformed into literature.
by Jennifer Jessen · Published March 19, 2019 · Last modified September 4, 2020
American author Henry James, a transitional figure between literary realism and modernism, is often numbered among the great English-language novelists.
by Jennifer Jessen · Published March 2, 2019 · Last modified September 4, 2020
Learn more about the life, character, and career of the 17th-century British author of Robinson Crusoe and other works in this Daniel Defoe biography.
by Janice Campbell · Published November 7, 2018 · Last modified September 4, 2020
American writer Washington Irving, best known for “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was an essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat.
Biography / Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum
by Janice Campbell · Published August 30, 2017 · Last modified September 4, 2020
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (1770-1850), an English poet, was born at Cockermouth, on the Derwent, in Cumberland, on the 7th of April 1770. Wordsworth’s family and childhood He was the son of John Wordsworth...
by Janice Campbell · Published June 26, 2017 · Last modified September 3, 2020
Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was an American regional author best known for short stories and color sketches that reflected her roots in Maine. EIL 1.1.
The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Birth and parents Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), an English poet and philosopher, was born on the 21st of October 1772, at his father’s vicarage of Ottery St Mary’s, Devonshire....
Charles Lamb, a British author and critic, is especially remembered for his Essays of Elia and Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister Mary.
Anne Bradstreet was the first American Puritan writer; the first writer published in America; the first female poet published in both England and America.
![Dante Gabriel Rossetti [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.excellence-in-literature.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_Self-Portrait_1870.jpg?fit=331%2C422&ssl=1)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Dante Gabriel Rossetti Biography DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (1828~1882), English poet...
In this 1922 O. Henry bio, you’ll learn about a surprising twist in the life of author William Sydney Porter, known for short stories with surprise endings.
The William Blake biography from the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica offers an opinionated glimpse of the life and style of author and artist, William Blake.
Audio / Video / Biography / Classics-Based Writing Resource / E1-Resources / E2-Resources / E4-Resources
by EILeditor · Published October 24, 2015 · Last modified February 5, 2021
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an immensely gifted English writer who produced a large variety of work ranging from humorous to tragic. He had the capacity to be ridiculous (The Importance of Being Earnest) as well as deadly serious (De Profundis).
George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry in the English language. Learn more about this poet’s life and work.
What did contemporary scholars think of Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) during his lifetime? Here’s an interesting biography and analysis published in 1918, written by popular Yale professor William Lyon Phelps. Edgar Lee Masters was...
Here’s the Everyday Educator — our annual newsletter handout. It has book lists and helpful articles about homeschooling topics. We’d rather be sharing it in person, but for now, you can download the Everyday Educator here. I hope you enjoy it!
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