Robert van Gulik with wife Shui Shih-fang 1946
Sample of authors
Gulik, Robert van
Robert Hans van Gulik was born in Zutphen, the Netherlands, and grew up in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the former Dutch East Indies, where his father served as a medical officer in the Dutch Army. Van Gulik’s father collected Chinese porcelain and passed his interest on to his son who taught himself Mandarin. Robert van Gulik was fascinated by Chinese history and culture, and he became an authority o...
Photo: Robert Ahlbom / Forflex
Sample of authors
Fossum, Karin
The Norwegian author Karin Fossum was born in Sandefjord where she grew up in a small 1950s bungalow. Her mother was a housewife, her father worked away from home most of the time. Karin was the middle child; she liked to sing, play instruments, draw, read and write. Her mother introduced her to world literature. Karin Fossum left home early to attend Skjebergs folk high school at Østfold. She ...