Americans

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

- was an American novelist, short-story writer, and
journalist
- He published seven novels, six short-story collections,
and two nonfiction works
- Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois
- After high school, he was a reporter for a few months for
The Kansas City Star before leaving for the Italian Front to enlist
as an ambulance driver in World War I.
- Hemingway was married four times and he dedicated a
book to each of his wives.

Along with Youth

Piles of old magazines,
Drawers of boy’s letters
And the line of love
They must have ended somewhere.
William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962)
- is one of the most celebrated writers of American
literature and often is considered the greatest writer of
Southern literature.
- was born in New Albany, Mississippi
- Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1949 for his
powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern
American novel.
- William attended the University of Mississippi while he
was working as a postmaster to help himself. He dropped out
after three semesters after attending the university from 1919
to 1920. This happened shortly after he got fired for reading at
the postmaster job.
- He died of a heart attack in 1962 at the age of 64

Night Piece
Trumpets of sun to silence fall
On house and barn and stack and wall.
Within the cottage, slowly wheeling,
The lamplight’s gold turns on the ceiling.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21,
1910), best known by his pen name Mark Twain
- was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur,
publisher, and lecturer
- was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States
has produced"
- The death of his father meant that his education was cut
short. He took up a job as a printer’s apprentice at the Hannibal
Journal.
- He took up a job in Virginia City, Nevada as a miner.
- After becoming a successful writer, Twain put his money
into several bad investments. None of his investments was
profitable and was soon bankrupt.
- He was the Vice-president of the American Anti-
Imperialist League

To Jennie
Good-bye! a kind good-bye,
I bid you now, my friend,
And though 'tis sad to speak the word,
To destiny I bend

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

- was an American poet
- She wrote nearly 1,800 poems in her lifetime
- A legend formed after Dickinson’s death that the poet
only ever wore white garments
- She started gardening as a child and later went on to
undertake botany courses at the Mount Holyoke Female
Seminary and Amherst Academy.
- the writer later decided not to join the church, as she did
not want to “give herself up to Christ”

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)

- was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic
who is best known for his poetry and short stories
- didn’t get along with many teachers and students
because he had little patience for formal education. He
preferred to focus on reading literature than attending classes.
- Edgar Allan Poe’s first marriage was to his 13-year-old
cousin Virginia Clemm
- Poe worked as an editor, later became the assistant
editor of The Broadway Journal. He was also known to be
skilled in painting, poetry recitation, and storytelling!
- Poe attained the rank of Sergeant-Major, the highest
possible rank for a non-commissioned officer.
Alone
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were -- I have not seen
As others saw -- I could not bring
My passions from a common spring --

British

William Shakespeare (April 1564 – 23 April 1616)

- was an English playwright, poet and actor.
- Shakespeare spelled his name a number of different
ways, because he could not spell
- Married at the tender age of 18 to Anne Hathaway,
Shakespeare had three children in three years!
- Shakespeare lived through and survived a pandemic, one
of a number of waves of the bubonic plague.
- As well as being a creative writer, William was a savvy
businessman.
- is credited with the invention or introduction of over
1,700 words that are still used in English today.

A Fairy Song
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire!

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817)

- was an English novelist known primarily for her six major
novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon
the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.
- she began writing when she was just 12 years old.
- Jane Austen was educated mainly by her father, which
had an immense library
 - Jane Austen brewed her own beer. Apparently her
specialty was “spruce beer.”
- Austen stopped writing for a decade
- died at the young age of 41 years old

I've a Pain in my Head

'I've a pain in my head'
Said the suffering Beckford;
To her Doctor so dread.
'Oh! what shall I take for't?'

Charles John Huffam Dickens ( 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)

- was an English writer and social critic who created some
of the world's best-known fictional characters
- at the age of 12, he was sent to live with a family friend,
and to work at Warren's shoe polish factory.
- In 1847 he founded his own charity
 - was fascinated by ghosts and the supernatural, and his
books often feature ghosts, spirits, and otherworldly beings.
- he was instrumental in facilitating the development of
homeless shelters for women, the first pediatric hospital in the
United Kingdom, and the development of orthopedics.

Lucy's Song
How beautiful at eventide
To see the twilight shadows pale,
Steal o'er the landscape, far and wide,
O'er stream and meadow, mound and dale!

Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928)

- was an English novelist and poet.
- He trained to be an architect.
- Hardy received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize
in Literature and never won.
 - wrote a poem to raise money for Titanic survivors and
victims’ families.
- he won the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Tournament (blue belt)

I Said To Love
I said to Love,
"It is not now as in old days
When men adored thee and thy ways -

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861)

- was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in
Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
- She began writing poetry at the age of four.
- She also wrote verse excoriating child labour, slavery, and
forced prostitution
- She was the first woman to be nominated for Poet
Laureate, 159 years before a woman was actually appointed.
 - For her poetry advocating the reunification of Italy, she
was seen as a heroine of the Italian struggle and given a public
funeral in Florence.

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.