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Porter, Katherine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex., as Callie Russell Porter. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story. Her first bo...

Fontane, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Fontane, Theodor tāˈōdôr fôntäˈnə [key], 1819–98, German writer. Although he is primarily important as a novelist, he did not begin to write fiction until he was almost 60 years old. Thereaf...

Grossman, Vasily Semenovich

(Encyclopedia)Grossman, Vasily Semenovich, 1905–64, Russian novelist and journalist, b. Berdichev (now Berdychiv, Ukraine). He graduated (1929) from Moscow State Univ., published novels and short stories, and bec...

Bunin, Ivan Alekseyevich

(Encyclopedia)Bunin, Ivan Alekseyevich bo͞oˈnĭn, Rus. ēvänˈ əlyĭksyāˈyəvĭch bo͞oˈnyĭn [key], 1870–1953, Russian writer. Born of a poor aristocratic family, he was encouraged in his literary precoci...

Butor, Michel

(Encyclopedia)Butor, Michel mēshĕlˈ bütôrˈ [key], 1926–2016, French novelist and critic. As one of the chief exponents of the nouveau roman [new novel] (see French literature), Butor was less interested in ...

Voinovich, Vladimir Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Voinovich, Vladimir Nikolayevich, 1932–2018, Russian satirist and political dissident. His father was dissident journalist who was jailed for his activities. Voinovich served in the army (1951–55)...

Mancha, La

(Encyclopedia)Mancha, La lä mänˈchä [key], historic region of central Spain, in historic New Castile, comprising Ciudad Real prov. and part of the provinces of Toledo, Albacete, and Cuenca. This high, barren pl...

Knowles, John

(Encyclopedia)Knowles, John, 1926–2001, American writer, b. Fairmont, W. Va., grad. Yale, 1949. He is best known for his semiautobiographical first novel, A Separate Peace (1960), a coming-of-age story about a bo...

Rosso di San Secondo, Piermaria

(Encyclopedia)Rosso di San Secondo, Piermaria pyĕrˌmärēˈä rôsˈsō dē sän sēkônˈdō [key], 1887–1956, Italian writer, b. Sicily. His sophisticated plays include Marionette, che passione! (1918) and La...

Rodenbach, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Rodenbach, Georges zhôrzh rôdĕnbäkˈ [key], 1855–98, Belgian symbolist poet and novelist. Living in Paris from 1887, he wrote about Flemish life. His works include the poems Le Foyer et les cham...

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