Writers – Page 4 – Interesting Literature

Five Fascinating Facts about William Godwin

The life and work of William Godwin (1756-1836)

1. William Godwin was connected with all sorts of radical writers and thinkers of the time. His first wife was Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of the proto-feminist tract A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; his daughter with Wollstonecraft, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, became Frankenstein author Mary Shelley; and therefore Godwin became the father-in-law of the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Godwin was also a friend and associate of other radical writers of the day, such as Rights of Man author Thomas Paine. Indeed, it was Paine’s Rights of Man that inspired Godwin to start thinking about the idea of government, thinking which led to his important book Political Justice (1793).

Five Fascinating Facts about Jonathan Swift

The life of Jonathan Swift told through five pieces of interesting trivia

1. Jonathan Swift invented the girls’ name Vanessa. The name Vanessa originated as Swift’s pet name for his friend and lover Esther Vanhomrigh (c. 1688-1723), who was over 20 years his junior. Swift wrote a poem, Cadenus and Vanessa (1713), about Esther/Vanessa.

2. He was a cousin of John Dryden. Dryden reportedly remarked to his distant cousin, ‘Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet.’ Sure enough, it would be in prose – with such works as ‘A Modest Proposal’, A Tale of a Tub, and Gulliver’s Travels – that Swift would create his enduring legacy.

Five Fascinating Facts about J. M. Barrie

Interesting facts about a much-loved writer

1. He was the first writer to kill off Sherlock Holmes. Before Conan Doyle ‘killed off’ Sherlock Holmes in ‘The Final Problem’ (1893), his friend (and fellow Scotsman) J. M. Barrie published a spoof tale in which the famous detective meets his demise. So, the author of Peter Pan was the first writer to kill off Sherlock Holmes.

Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary. – J. M. Barrie

20 Interesting Facts about Science Fiction

Trivia about classic science-fiction

In this post, we thought we’d share some of our favourite facts about science fiction, SF, sci-fi, call it what you will – partly because the world of science fiction has given the world some truly visionary writers but also some funny stories and curious facts. So, if you’re ready to boldly go to a literary galaxy far, far away…

Contrary to popular belief, Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds didn’t cause a nationwide panic.

In 2004, a group of science fiction authors wrote a novel, Atlanta Nights, designed to be unpublishable; it was accepted for publication.

8 Great 80s Songs Inspired by Literature

Classic music inspired by classic books and writers

Music has often taken inspiration from great literature, and 1980s music was no exception. The following eight songs were all written, at least in part, because of a classic book or a well-known writer.

T’Pau, ‘China in Your Hand’. Carol Decker, lead singer with T’Pau, has said that idea for the chorus (and title) of this song came about when she was doing the washing up. China in one’s hand seemed like an apt metaphor for the fragility of one’s dreams.