J. G. Ballard

Jeannette Baxter (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 15 Nov 1930
Died 19 Apr 2009
Activity 1962-2009

Places

Born in China
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Novelist
Story-writer

Resources

Ballard's Works

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James Graham Ballard was born on 15 November, 1930 in Shanghai, China. The son of a managing director for a subsidiary of a Manchester textile firm, Ballard grew up in an expatriate suburban idyll, a comfortable enclave of large houses, swimming pools, servants and chauffer-driven Packards. At that time, Shanghai was an American zone of influence, and the young Ballard's cultural diet was a peculiar mix of classic children's literature (

Alice in Wonderland

Robinson Crusoe

and

Gulliver's Travels

), American comics and magazines (

Collier's

Life

), and American cinema. Ballard was educated at the Cathedral school in Shanghai, but his comfortable colonial life-style came to an abrupt end in 1942 when, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour, Ballard was interned with his parents and his younger…

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3241 words

Citation: Baxter, Jeannette. "J. G. Ballard". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 November 2001; last revised 28 April 2009. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=235, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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