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Famous Authors: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare wrote about 39 plays and 154 sonnets. Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth are still performed all over the world.
Key fact
Phrases like “break the ice” are first recorded in his work.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote novels like Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, exposing poverty in Victorian England. Many first appeared in weekly or monthly parts.
Key fact
A Christmas Carol introduced Ebenezer Scrooge.
Record Bestsellers
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books have sold over 600 million copies. Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, with around 2 billion books sold.
Key fact
Agatha Christie wrote over 60 detective novels.
Voices in Other Languages
Great authors write in every language: Cervantes in Spanish, Tolstoy in Russian, Goethe in German and Murasaki Shikibu in Japanese.
Key fact
Spanish is often called “the language of Cervantes”.
The Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has honoured writers from around the world, from Rabindranath Tagore in 1913 to Toni Morrison in 1993.
Key fact
Tagore was the first non-European to win it.
Pen Names
Many writers used pen names. Mary Ann Evans wrote as George Eliot, and Samuel Clemens as Mark Twain.
Key fact
“Mark twain” was a river term meaning two fathoms deep.
How Writers Work
Writers work in very different ways. Roald Dahl wrote in a hut at the bottom of his garden, and Maya Angelou rented a hotel room to write in.
Key fact
Many authors write a set number of words every day.
Fun facts
No one knows how Shakespeare preferred to spell his name: his surviving signatures spell it several ways.
At 12, Dickens worked in a factory, sticking labels on pots of boot polish.
The first Harry Potter book was turned down by around a dozen publishers.
Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji, written about 1,000 years ago, is often called the world’s first novel.
Winston Churchill won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, for his histories and his speeches.
Dr. Seuss’s real name was Theodor Geisel. Seuss was his middle name.
Agatha Christie said the best time to plan a book was while doing the washing-up.
Story: Is Little Nell Dead?
Is Little Nell Dead?
1840–41. Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop comes out in weekly parts. Readers on both sides of the Atlantic fall for its heroine, Little Nell.
So the story goes, crowds gathered at New York’s docks as the ship with the next instalment arrived, shouting: “Is Little Nell dead?”
She was. Readers wept, and some were furious. Dickens was the first celebrity novelist, with fans hanging on every episode.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
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True. Around 1600.
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Question 2 of 10
Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol.
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True. In 1843.
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Question 3 of 10
Agatha Christie is one of the best-selling novelists ever.
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True. Around 2 billion copies.
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Question 4 of 10
Tolstoy wrote in Russian.
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True. He wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
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Question 5 of 10
Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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True. In 1913.
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Question 6 of 10
Mark Twain was a pen name.
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True. His real name was Samuel Clemens.
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Question 7 of 10
Roald Dahl wrote in a hut in his garden.
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True. In a favourite old armchair.
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Question 8 of 10
“Break the ice” was first recorded in a 1990s film.
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False. It’s first recorded in Shakespeare’s work.
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Question 9 of 10
Dickens’s novels were set in ancient Rome.
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False. Mostly in Victorian England.
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Question 10 of 10
Agatha Christie wrote only three detective novels.
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False. She wrote over 60.
Keep going in the app
KnowSoda learns what you know and brings back what you’re about to forget. Famous Authors has 6 more ideas at the Advanced and Expert levels.
Sources
- Folger Shakespeare Library — Shakespeare’s works
- Charles Dickens Museum
- Nobel Prize — Literature laureates
- Roald Dahl Museum — The writing hut
- Guinness World Records — Best-selling fiction writer (Agatha Christie)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Jules Verne, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Stephen King, Haruki Murakami
- UNESCO Index Translationum
