Yorkshire well-known author was children's writer Arthur Ransome, who penned the "Swallows and Amazons" series. James Herriot, the best selling author of over 60 million copies of books about his experiences of some 50 years as a veterinarian in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, the town which he refers to as Darrowby in his books (although born in Sunderland), has been admired for his easy reading style and interesting characters. Poets include Ted Hughes, W. H. Auden, William Empson, Simon Armitage and Andrew Marvell. Three well known sculptors emerged in the 20th century; contemporaries Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and Leeds-raised eco artist
Michael Irwin (author) wrote the lyrics for Brunel (opera project) and other original musical works. In 2013 he wrote a novel, "The Skull and the Nightingale", which has received a number of positive reviews. Fiction: Non-fiction: Irwin has four children, a daughter from his first marriage to Donia Etherington, and two daughters and a son with his wife Stella. The couple lives in Canterbury, Kent. Michael Irwin (author) Thomas Arthur Michael Irwin, (born 3 May 1934) is a British Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Kent and author of several works of fiction, as well as scholarly books. His 2013 novel,