Henry James, American novelist and literary critic, was born in 1843 in New York City. Psychologist-philosopher William James was his brother. By the age of 18, he had lived in France, England, Switzerland, Germany, and New England. In 1876, he moved to London, having decided to live abroad permanently. James was a prolific writer; his writings include 22 novels, 113 tales, 15 plays, approximately 10 books of criticism, and 7 travel books. His best-known works include Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, and The American Scene. His works of fiction are elegant and articulate looks at Victorian society; while primarily set in genteel society, James… subtlely explores class issues, sexual repression, and psychological distress. Henry James died in 1916 in London. The James Memorial Stone in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, commemorates him.
Hortense Calisher has published several collections of short stories, such as In the Absence of Angels (1951) and Tale for the Mirror (1962). She is a contributor of short stories, articles and reviews to the New York Times, Harpers and other journals. She has also written the novels False Entry (1961), Textures of Life (1963), and On Keeping Women (1977). Her memoir, Herself, an exploration of the intersection between a writer's life and her fiction, was published in 1972. Many of her short works have been anthologized. Calisher graduated from Barnard College in 1932, taught at Columbia and Columbia School of the Arts in the early 1970s, and was writer-in-residence for a time at Bennington… College in Vermont. She has received four 0. Henry Awards and two Guggenheim Fellowships.