Author Biography: Isipingo

Omar Khayyam was a Persian poet who lived from 1048 to 1131. His work was discovered in 1859 and translated into English by Edward Fitzgerald. While the first few verses may not be familiar, the last verse is actually quite well known.

This poem by John Masefield first appeared in 1902 in a book called 'Salt-Water Poems' and was republished in 1944 in 'Salt-Water Poems and Ballads' edited by John Masefield himself.

Ozymandias was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and was published in 'The Examiner' in 1818 under the pen name Glirastes.

The poem was written by Rupert Brooke who died in World War One.

'The New Colossus' was written to help fund construction of a plinth for the Statue of Liberty.

The poem is a heartfelt plea to Queen Victoria for her patronage.

These are the first lines of some well-known poems.

The poem speaks of having the courage to fight back against any odds.

In a well known court case a group of people from Pendle Forest were tried for witchcraft. An account of the trial was published on the order of the judges and is still available today.

Nicknamed L'Appassionata after the Beethoven Sonata, Abigail Rosen is a damaged conductor attempting to cope with a demoralised and recalcitrant orchestra

'Persuasion' was published in 1817 after Jane Austen had died. It was her last completed book.

This book follows on from 'Appassionata'. The diabolic, scheming conductor Robert Rannaldini is suffering from bad publicity after his attempt to influence the Appleton Piano Competition, and badly needs a major success.

There are at least 40 books in the 'In Death' series. These characters appear in most, if not all, of them. The books are set about 30 years into the future. There are more than 40 books in the IN DEATH series by J D Robb.

This is a book about a beautiful, valuable painting and the exceptionally disfunctional families who own it.

This is a book which deals with the traumatic effects that World War I had on people who came back and their lives. It is a well written, tense account of the hunt for a psychopathic killer.

'Mist Over Pendle' is a part fact, part fiction account of the committal of the Pendle witches in 1612.