Kenneth Grahame biography

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 8 March 1859. Excelling in both academic and sports pursuits whilst attending St. Edward's School in Oxford, Grahame did not continue on with his dream of a university education due to financial constraints. In 1879 Grahame obtained a position within the Bank of England as a gentleman clerk but he found the routine so dulling that, from his rooms on Bloomsbury Street, turned his pen to writing stories. His first published story was titled By A Northern Furrow (1888), and his most famous short story is, still, "The Reluctant Dragon" (1898).

Grahame's works The Golden Age (1895) and it's sequel Dream Days (1898) were met with critical acclaim. A year after Grahame was appointed secretary of the Bank of England and he married Elspeth Thomson, with whom he had a son, Alastair. Through his works, Grahame re-created the idyllic and fantastical times from his own childhood and hoped to entertain his son and other children with them for children are "the only really living people".

Due to health problems, Grahame retired from the bank in 1907 and the family moved to the countryside in Blewbury. This gave Grahame time to travel and concentrate on his writing efforts, and The Wind in the Willows was published just a year later. A few years later, on 7 May 1920, Alastair was found dead by railway tracks near Oxford, possibly having committed suicide. Grahame was profoundly grieved and became reclusive.

Kenneth Grahame died at his home on the 6th of July 1932, at the age of 73. He now rests with his wife and son in the St. Cross Church cemetery in Oxford, England. His headstone reads "To the beautiful memory of Kenneth Grahame, husband of Elspeth and father of Alastair, who passed the River on 6 July 1932, leaving childhood and literature through him more blest for all time."

Kenneth Grahame books

• Pagan Papers (1893)
• The Golden Age (1895)
• Dream Days (1898)
• The Headswoman (1898)
• The Wind in the Willows (1908)

Latest news: Kenneth Grahame

Fantasy news round-up, July 22, 2010
A round-up of the latest fantasy-related news published during the third week of July 2010. The Wind In The Willows gets teaser site An official website has been launched for the 2012 adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The film will be adapted and directed by Ray Griggs wit [...]

Weta Workshop to bring The Wind in the Willows back to life
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame’s much-loved 1908 children’s book,  is being developed into a live-action and animatronics version by RG Entertainment. The film will be shot in New Zealand this Autumn with Peter Jackson's visual effects company Weta Workshop onboard. The Wind in the [...]

The 20 greatest children's books ever, according to The Telegraph
Some are time-worn classics, some more recently embraced. Lucinda Everett selects the stories that resonate with the young decade after decade. We think that it is a great list and have added some of our favourites immediately afterwards. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Far from [...]

First edition of The Wind in the Willows sells for £32,400 at auction
A first edition of Kenneth Grahame's children's classic, The Wind in the Willows, dedicated to the daughter of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who was thought to have been the model for the character of Ratty, has been sold at auction for £32,400, vastly exceeding the £5,000 estimate. The inscription ins [...]

First edition of The Wind in the Willows a star lot at Bonhams
A first edition of the much loved children’s classic, The Wind in the Willows, inscribed by Kenneth Grahame to the daughter of the man who inspired the character of Ratty, is among the star lots offered at Bonhams Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts sale at New Bond Street on 23 March. The estimate [...]

Colfer and Benedictus are rewarded for their courage
Eoin Colfer and David Benedictus both deserve medals for bravery. In having the pluck to step into the shoes of the national treasure’s that are Douglas Adams and AA Milne they have put themselves on a pedestal that people were trying to knock them off before they had even written a word. William Ho [...]

More on the Kenneth Grahame biopic
The troubled life of the author who has captivated generations of readers with The Wind In The Willows is to be brought to the big screen. Banking On Mr Toad will use private archives to explore Kenneth Grahame’s unconventional relationship with his wife Elspeth and his career at the Bank of Englan [...]

Laughing librarians, Vatican thumbs up and Kenneth Grahame biopic
The following is a round up of the most recent and best fantasy-related stories. Neil Gaiman, winner of the Newbery Medal for The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008), cracked up the roomful of librarians and publishers when he spoke of growing up in England as “a feral child who was raised in libra [...]

Shenley Walled Gardens presents The Wind in the Willows
Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger will be at Shenley Walled Gardens for a production of children's classic Wind in the Willows this weekend. The book by Kenneth Grahame will be brought to life on Saturday by theatre company Heartbreak Productions. The adventure story will see the four unlikely heroes b [...]

Basajaun by Rosemary van Deuren
Blood versus fear. Folklore versus mysticism. Animal versus man. In the world of the rabbits, she is hailed as a saviour. In the world of men, a holy man wants her dead. She is twelve years old. In an isolated European farm town in 1906, a Pastor known as ‘the rabbit killer’ is preaching that [...]