(1865–1936), British writer. Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India. His parents, John Lockwood, the principal of an art school, and Alice Macdonald Kipling, sent him to England at the age of six (1871) for school where he was subjected to nightmarish treatment that left psychological scars (recalled in his novel Stalky and Co., 1899). His experience at the United Services College in north Devon (1878–1882) was also unpleasant. In 1882, Kipling joined his parents in Lahore, India, where his father was curator of the museum. Seven years' experience in journalism as a reporter and editor of two Indian newspapers, the Civil and Military Gazette and the Pioneer of Allahabad, developed his superior writing skills. It also gave him a unique look at two very different societies—British colonialists and their Indian subjects, whose stories enriched his lifelong writing career. Kipling's first publication of poetry, Departmental Ditties (1886), met with success. His first volume of short stories, Plain Tales from the Hills (1887), which was followed by five more volumes (1888–1889), as well as the two Jungle Books (1894) and Kim (1901), brought him the indelible reputation of agreat storyteller. Kipling won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, the first British writer to be so honored. He lived the last years of his life in London.
Rudyard Kipling in the early 1900s. (UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD/CORBIS)Bauer, Helen Pike. (1994) Rudyard Kipling: A Study in Short Fiction. New York: Macmillan.
Ricketts, Harry. (2000) Rudyard Kipling: A Life. New York: Carroll & Graf.
