Rudyard Kipling

RUDYARD KIPLING d1936. English journalist, short-story writer, poet and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired much of his work. His works of fiction include ; The Jungle Book (1894) / Kim (1901) and many short stories including ; "The Man Who Would be King" (1888). His poems include ; Mandalay (1890) / Gunga Din (1890) / The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919) / The White Man's Burden (1899) and "If" (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story ; his children's books are classics of children's literature. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1907, at the age of 42, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureatship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined. His subsequent reputation has changed according to the political and social climate of the age. He died in London aged 70 on January 18th 1936