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Sienkiewicz, Henryk

(Encyclopedia)Sienkiewicz, Henryk hĕnˈrĭk shĕnkyĕˈvēch [key], 1846–1916, Polish novelist and short-story writer. The best-known of Sienkiewicz's vivid historical novels is Quo Vadis? (1896, tr. 1896), conc...

Johnson, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Denis, 1949–2017, American writer, b. Munich, Germany, where his father was a diplomat; B.A. Univ. of Iowa, 1971, M.F.A. Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1974. Years of drinking and taking drugs end...

Gallant, Mavis

(Encyclopedia)Gallant, Mavis (Mavis Leslie Young Gallant) gă-lăntˈ [key], 1922–2014, Canadian writer, b. Montreal. After graduating from high school, she was a newspaper feature writer in Montreal (1944–50),...

Johnson, Eyvind

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Eyvind üˈvĭnt [key], 1900–1976, Swedish novelist and short-story writer. After working as a laborer in the north of Sweden, Johnson moved to Stockholm in 1919 and began to write. He is b...

Davis, Lydia

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Lydia, 1947–, American writer known for innovative, very short stories, b. Northampton, Mass., studied Barnard College. Davis earned early praise for her translations from the French and has ...

O. Henry

(Encyclopedia)O. Henry, pseud. of William Sydney Porter, 1862–1910, American short-story writer, b. Greensboro, N.C. He went to Texas in 1882 and worked at various jobs—as teller in an Austin bank (1891–94) a...

Pilnyak, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Pilnyak, Boris əndrāˈyəvĭch vôˈgou [key], 1894–1937?, Russian novelist and short-story writer. Pilnyak first attracted wide attention with his novel The Naked Year (1921, tr. 1928), a loosely...

Leskov, Nikolai Semyonovich

(Encyclopedia)Leskov, Nikolai Semyonovich nyĭkəlīˈ sĭmyôˈnəvĭch lyĭskôfˈ [key], 1831–95, Russian short-story writer and novelist. Leskov was first a civil servant, then an agent for his uncle's busine...

Carloman, d. 754, mayor of the palace in the kingdom of Austrasia, brother of Pepin the Short

(Encyclopedia)Carloman, d. 754, mayor of the palace in the kingdom of Austrasia after the death (741) of his father, Charles Martel. Ruling with his brother, Pepin the Short, he carried on successful wars against t...

Runyon, Damon

(Encyclopedia)Runyon, Damon (Alfred Damon Runyon), 1884–1946, American short story writer and journalist, b. Manhattan, Kans. He is best known for his humorous stories—written in a picturesque, slangy journalis...