G. K. Chesterton

James Bridges (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 29 May 1874
Died 14 Jun 1936
Activity 1894-1936

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Genres and Modes

Crime and Detective

Activities

Primary

Journalist
Novelist
Poet
Story-writer

Other

Religious writer

Resources

Chesterton's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London in 1874, the son of an estate agent. Educated at St. Paul's School, he then became an art student at the Slade. While working for a publisher in the 1890s, he turned to journalism, writing articles on artistic and political matters. This he would do throughout his career in periodicals such as

The Speaker

and

New Witness

(which he edited from 1916). Notably, he demonstrated a strongly anti-imperialist stance during the Boer War. In 1901, his position on the Liberal paper

The Daily News

gained him a measure of financial stability, and enabled him to marry Francis Blogg. That same year, they moved into Overstrand Mansions, Battersea.

Chesterton's writing career stretched from the 1890s to the 1930s, but he is most readily identified with the

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967 words

Citation: Bridges, James. "G. K. Chesterton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=850, accessed 25 November 2024.]