Curated playlist
Writers who illustrated their own writing
- Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci wrote most of his notes in mirror-image cursive, right to left.
- John LennonJohn Lennon was ordered to leave the United States in 1973. His anti-war activities had alarmed President Nixon.
- J. R. R. TolkienOn his 21st birthday, Tolkien proposed by letter to a woman who was already engaged.
- T. S. EliotT. S. Eliot compared an evening sky to a patient on a surgical table.
- Jules VerneJules Verne has been the second most-translated author in the world since 1979. Only Agatha Christie ranks higher.
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling turned down both a knighthood and the Poet Laureateship. He won the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut survived the bombing of Dresden by hiding in an underground meat locker.
- H. G. WellsH. G. Wells described atomic bombs in a 1914 novel. Physicist León Szilárd later said reading it stayed with him.
- Dr. SeussAn education publisher dared Dr. Seuss to write a book children can't put down. The result was The Cat in the Hat.
- Lewis CarrollOn a rowing trip in July 1862, Lewis Carroll invented a story for three sisters.
- René DescartesRené Descartes had three dreams in a heated room in 1619. He believed they revealed a new philosophy to him.
- Victor HugoVictor Hugo asked for a pauper's funeral and got the largest in French history.
- William BlakeNear death, William Blake spent one of his last shillings on a pencil. He drew his wife's portrait before he died.
- Karel ČapekNazi agents came to arrest Karel Čapek months after he had already died. They found only his wife, Olga.
- Clive BarkerUnhappy with how others filmed his screenplays, Clive Barker directed Hellraiser himself. It opened in 1987.
- Yoshitaka AmanoIn 1996, artist Yoshitaka Amano became the world's highest-earning artist.
- Ingri and Edgar Parin d'AulaireA near-fatal bus-trolley collision in Paris sent two artists to America.
- Pauline BaynesPauline Baynes drew all seven Narnia books for a flat £100 each. She was too unworldly to negotiate royalties.