This document profiles several famous writers from Yorkshire, England. It discusses Alan Bennett, a playwright and author from Leeds known for works like "The History Boys." Ted Hughes, born in Mytholmroyd, was Poet Laureate and husband to Sylvia Plath, writing works such as "Tales from Ovid" and "Birthday Letters." Emily Brontë, from Haworth, wrote the classic novel "Wuthering Heights" but died young at age 30. Tony Harrison from Leeds is an acclaimed poet and playwright known for controversial works like the poem "V."

1. Famous Yorkshire
Writers

2. Alan Bennett is a
playwright, author and
actor. Originally hailing
from Leeds, Bennett
attended Oxford University
before moving to London.
Bennett’s most famous
work is, arguably, the play
“The History Boys”, which
follows a group of history
pupils preparing for their
Oxbridge entrance
examinations.
Bennett is 79 and
continues to live and write
in London.

3. Perhaps Yorkshire’s most
famous literary son, Ted Hughes
is best remembered for being
both Poet Laureate and the
husband of Sylvia Plath.
Born in Mytholmroyd in 1930,
Hughes spent much of his life
investigating his rural
surroundings, both physically
and through his writing. His
most well known works include
“Tales from Ovid”, “Birthday
Letters” and “Crow”.
Hughes died in 1998, aged 68.

4. Emily Brontë, also known by her
pen name of Ellis Bell, was the
second youngest of the famous
Brontë siblings, and perhaps the
best known. Her novel
“Wuthering Heights” has passed
into literary canon as one of the
greatest English novels ever
written, with Heathcliff and
Cathy becoming household
names.
Emily’s constitution was ill suited
to the harsh climate of Haworth,
and when she fell ill in
September 1848 it signalled the
beginning of the end of her
short life. She died in December
of that year, aged 30.

5. Tony Harrison was
born and educated in
Leeds. One of
England’s finest living
poets, he’s best
known for his
controversial poem
“V” – described as
containing “streams”
of obscenities.
In addition, Harrison
is an accomplished
playwright and is well
known for his
outspoken, Leftist
views.

6. John Arden, who passed away
only last year, was one of
England’s best loved
playwrights.
Known for his outspoken
opposition to anti-terror
legislation, his works were
inspired by both artistic and
political motivations.
Shortly before his death he was
elected to the Aosdána – a
prestigious arts association in
Ireland.

7. WH Auden was born in York,
brought up near Birmingham,
educated at Oxford and
eventually moved to America.
His early works were sombre
and dramatic, and shot through
with leftist political rhetoric. He
later abandoned this style,
however, in favour of devising
new forms of poetical and lyrical
expression.
W H Auden is probably best
remembered for his poems
“Funeral Blues” and “The
Unknown Citizen”.

8. George Gissing was born in
Wakefield in 1857. A prolific
writer, his works contained 23
novels and a number of short
stories.
Gissing may perhaps be best
remembered for his seminal
novel “New Grub Street”, which
cast a cynical eye over the state
of journalism, publishing and
readership at the end of the 19th
century.
Gissing died in 1903, aged 46.
He was suffering from
emphysema, which he
contracted after taking a walk.

9. Andrew Marvell was born in
Winestead in 1621. As a
metaphysical poet and politician,
he counted amongst his friends
John Milton, John Donne and
George Herbert.
During his political career, Marvell
became MP for Hull under the
Cavalier Parliament. However he
came to hate the tyrannical reign
of the 17th century courts and
wrote satirical verses against them.
He is best remembered for poems
such as “To His Coy Mistress” and
“The Mower’s Song”.

10. Barry Hines was born in Barnsely
and spent much of his early life
in and around the coal mining
industry, before deciding to go
to University.
Hines’s most famous work is his
novel “A Kestrel for a Knave”,
which is still taught as part of
school curriculums throughout
the UK. It was adapted into a
much loved film of the same
name in 1984.
Barry Hines is 74.

11. John Braine died a broken man, at the
age of 64. Born in Bingley, in 1922, he
was a passionate man who came to
symbolise the movement known as
The Angry Young Men.
His rise to the top had been meteoric
– after publishing poems and articles
whilst recuperating in the Grassington
Sanatorium during WWII, he made a
move back to Bingley Library and
there penned his most famous novel,
“Room at the Top”.
But the phenomenal success he
experienced upon its publication was
short lived, and Braine died of a
perforated ulcer after years of heavy
drinking and depression.