Archives: Authors

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941). An iconic figure in modernist literature, with her experimental writing style and exploration of complex themes such as gender, identity, and consciousness, Woolf made an indelible mark on the literary landscape of the 20th century. She was born on January 25, 1882, in London, England. She was raised in a highly intellectual and artistic household. In her late teens, Woolf suffered a series of devastating losses, including the deaths of her mother and her half-sister, Stella. These traumatic events had a profound impact on her mental health and shaped the themes of loss, grief, and identity that generally permeate her works. Virginia Woolf’s breakthrough as a writer came with the publication of her novel Mrs. Dalloway in 1925, followed by other influential works such as To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928).

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a was a man of various skills. He was a writer, a medical officer, a professional cricketer as well as a social reformer who used his investigative skills to prove the innocence of individuals. Born on May 22, 1859, at Picardy Place in Edinburgh, Scotland, he was the third of ten siblings. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was an illustrator and his mother, Mary Josephine Foley was Irish. His first published story appeared in Chambers Edinburgh Journal before he was twenty years old. Arthur introduced Sherlock Holmes which captivated readers worldwide. Holmes gave the utmost importance to details, and he had the power of observation instilled in him.

Jules Verne (1824-1905). A legendary French author and known for spearheading the science fiction genre, he is also recognized as the father of modern science fiction. Jules Verne was born on February 8, 1828, in the port city of Nantes, France. As a child, he was known for his boundless imagination and love of adventure. His first book with Hetzel, Five Weeks in a Balloon was an immediate success, and it marked the beginning of his career as a writer. Over the next few years, Verne wrote a series of novels that would establish him as one of the most popular and beloved writers of his time. His works such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea were characterized by their vivid descriptions of fascinating destinations, daring adventures and scientific discovery and fiction.

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY (1821-1881). He was one of the most influential novelists in Russian literature who was born in Moscow, Russia. Fyodor Dostoyevsky grew up in a middle-class family that valued education and culture. After completing his education at the St. Petersburg Military Engineering School, Dostoyevsky embarked on a career in the Russian army. However, his passion for literature led him to resign from the military in 1844 to pursue writing full-time. He published his first novel, Poor Folk, in 1846, which gained him critical acclaim and recognition as a promising young writer. Over the next few decades, he wrote some of his most famous works, including Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Dostoyevsky’s novels are known for their psychological depth, philosophical themes, and exploration of the human condition.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870). According to London Times, ‘the greatest instructor of the Nineteenth Century’ and otherwise, an English novelist and social critic, he created some of the best-known fictional characters. His early childhood was marked by frequent moves and disruptions due to his family’s financial struggles. Despite his limited formal education, Dickens was an avid reader and continued to educate himself throughout his life. His writings often dealt with social issues including poverty, class, capitalism, and he was a vocal critic of the Victorian establishment. He was also an accomplished public speaker and gave many public readings of his works which helped to further cement his reputation as a writer. By the time of his death in 1870, he had become one of the most famous and celebrated writers of his time.

ANNE FRANK (1929-1945). Annelies Marie Frank, a Jewish girl born in the German city of Frankfurt am Main on June 12, 1929,
was the child of Otto and Edith Frank. When Nazi Germany they invaded Netherlands and when the situation begun worsening for the Jews, Anne’s family took the decision to go into hiding. Just before they had gone into hiding, Anne was presented with a diary on her thirteenth birthday. This diary helped her immensely during that period as she not only wrote her day-to-day experiences, but she also wrote about her thoughts, emotions, fears, and dreams. Otto Frank survived the holocaust and decided to publish Anne’s work because he had read that Anne had aspired to be a writer. Her diary is probably the only true bitter portrayal of the Holocaust.

Anna Sewell (1820- 1878) is the well-acclaimed author of the children’s novel, Black Beauty which sold over fifty million copies world-wide. Born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England to parents, Mary Wright Sewell and Isaac Phillip Sewell. When Anna was fourteen years old, she suffered a severe ankle injury in a fall which left her unable to walk without crutches for the rest of her life. She directed all her energy and focus towards writing and her love of literature. She began to write poetry and short stories, many of which were published in local newspapers and magazines. The book was finally published in 1877 when Sewell was fifty-seven years old, just a year before her death. While Sewell did not live to see the immense impact and popularity that her book created but she left behind a rich legacy which inspired people to be more compassionate towards animals and advocate for their rights.

H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, in 1866. After an education repeatedly interrupted by his family’s financial problems, he eventually found work as a teacher at a succession of schools, where he began to write his first stories.
Wells became a prolific writer with a diverse output, of which the famous works are his science fiction novels. These are some of the earliest and most influential examples of the genre, and include classics such as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. Most of his books very well-received, and had a huge influence on many younger writers, including George Orwell and Isaac Asimov. Wells also wrote many popular non-fiction books, and used his writing to support the wide range of political and social causes in which he had an interest, although these became increasingly eccentric towards the end of his life.
Twice-married, Wells had many affairs, including a ten-year liaison with Rebecca West that produced a son. He died in London in 1946.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age – a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night . He was working on The Last Tycoon when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.

Dr Michael Khor Kok Seng was born in Penang in 1946 and was educated in St Xavier’s Institution, Penang, Malaysia and University of Malaya Medical Centre where he graduated with MBBS in 1970. He gained his specialist qualification Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and Diploma in Child Health (London). He started work as a Lecturer and Specialist in Paediatrics at the University of Singapore and subsequently returned to Penang where he worked in the Specialists Centre from 1977 until 1996 as Consultant Paediatrician and from 1996 till the present in Island Hospital as its Founder and Consultant Paediatrician.

Among his various professional activities and responsibilities, he was the National President of the Federation of Private Practitioners’ Associations of Malaysia (FPMPAM) from 1995 till 1998, President of Penang Medical Practitioners Society 1986-1987 and its present Trustee (since 2003). He served the Ministry of Health in the Private/Public Panel Advisory Board from 1995-1998 and helped formulate the present Private Healthcare Services and Facilities Act. He served as the founder Director and Member of the Management Committee of Island Hospital as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the same from 1996 till 2015.