Author birthdays

Kingsley Amis ENGLISH novelist, poet, critic and teacher, Amis was ranked ninth on The Times' list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. He was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize three times for Ending Up (1974), Jake's Thing (1978), finally winning the prize for The Old Devils in 1986. Harper Lee American author best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The book was hailed as a classic of modern American literature as it addressed the issues of racism. She was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of the United States for her contribution to literature in 2007.