East Anglia's Literary Heritage

East Anglia has provided inspiration for writers for centuries. Whether the writers were natives of the region itself or came as visitors, the landscape, towns, cities and villages and people of East Anglia have helped to shape the imaginations of some of the most influential of authors.

Mediaeval East Anglia provide fertile ground for mystic writers and those wanting to document everyday life such as Margery Kempe and Lady Julian. Some of Britain’s best-loved books were written in East Anglia, including Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, and Norfolk and Suffolk feature in Charles Dickens’ novels. The radical writer George Orwell lived in Suffolk and poets W. H. Auden and Rupert Brooke spent their formative years in East Anglia. Cambridge University and the University of East Anglia have fostered many writers, the latter being influential in Norwich becoming a UNESCO City of Literature in 2012. The recent legacy of writers with links to East Anglia includes such names as Malcolm Bradbury, Rose Tremain, Ian McEwan and many others.

This book explores the fascinating history of East Anglia’s remarkable literary heritage as well as being a guide to the locations where that heritage can still be found.