1. Who was the French author who was condemned in court for writing an "open letter" in defence of the Jewish officer Dreyfus? Jean-Paul Sartre Anatole France Emile Zola Marcel Proust

2. Not all authors' lives are characterised by social failure, and lack of recognition. Which of these authors even became the Minister of Culture in his homeland France? André Maurois Jean-Paul Sartre François Mauriac André Malraux

3. Among the "poètes maudits" (doomed poets) who were addicted to alcohol there were such luminaries as Baudelaire and Verlaine in France. What was the name of the greenish wormwood-flavoured liqueur that damaged their health, and that later was banned in most European countries- and also in the U.S.A.? gentian pastis absinth chartreuse

4. Which of these French authors died in an asylum in the Parisian suburb of Passy? Marquis de Sade Guy de Maupassant François Villon Arthur Rimbaud

5. Which of these French authors was banished by the French authorities, stayed for some time in Belgium (Brussels) and in Luxembourg (Vianden) but finally found a refuge on one of the Channel Islands? Paul Verlaine Georges Feydeau Victor Hugo Alexandre Dumas Jr.

6. Which French author was shot at by his same-sex lover in Brussels, gave up writing at nineteen, became a salesman and a gun-runner in North Africa, became gravely ill, returned to France and died in a hospital of Marseille at the young age of only 37. Alexandre Dumas père Paul Verlaine Arthur Rimbaud Emile Zola

7. Which of these Russian authors was a compulsive gambler, fled the country to avoid his creditors, later got into further trouble with the Czarist authorities, narrowly escaped execution, was reprieved at the very last moment, but was sent to Siberia where he had to serve a hard labour sentence? Boris Pasternak Vladimir Nabokov Aleksandr Solzhenitzine Fyodor Dostoyevski

8. Which of these Russian authors learned to ride a bicycle at age 67 and broke with his family at age....82 ? Aleksandr Pushkin Leo Tolstoy Fyodor Dostoyevski Maxim Gorki

9. Which of these Spanish authors took part in the battle of Lepanto, was later captured by corsairs and employed as a slave by his captors, but was lucky enough to be ransomed again? Lope de Vega Miguel de Cervantes Calderon de la Barca Tirso de Molina

10. Which of these European authors fell a victim to the Fascists in 1936? Gabriele d' Annunzio Federico Garcia Lorca Georges Bernanos François Mauriac