It’s National Book Lovers Day (9 August), which is widely recognised as a day to pick up a book and celebrate all things reading and literature.

To celebrate, we have a compiled a list of five notable authors with ties to Lancashire.

From history’s finest writers to award-winning modern-day authors, these people were either born, lived, or worked in our humble county at one point.

If you don’t already you should be sure to add some of their works to your library.

1. Anthony Burgees

(Instagram/misterenderby)

Anthony Burgees is best known for writing his infamous novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’; the dystopian book was banned in many libraries across the US.

In 1971, it was turned into a movie which was directed by Stanley Kubrick.

While he was born and raised in Manchester, Burgees spent some of his later life in Lancashire.

He was a lecturer at Bamber Bridge Emergency Teacher Training College, near Preston.

2. Joseph Delaney

Preston-born Joseph Delaney is best known for creating his dark fantasy series, The Wardstone Chronicles.

These books are filled with ghosts, witches and wizards.

He took a lot of inspiration from his home county when naming some of his fictional locations.  

The town Priestown is loosely based on Preston.

Other cities in Lancashire make an appearance: Lancaster is Caster; Blackpool is Black Pool; and Chipping in the Ribble Valley is thought to have inspired Chipenden.

The first book in the series, The Spook’s Apprentice, was adapted to film under the title Seventh Son in 2015.

As well as being born in Preston, Delaney also attended Lancashire University at set up the Media and Film Studies department at Blackpool Sixth Form College.

3. Josephine Cox

Lancashire Telegraph: Josephine Cox (Photo: PA)Josephine Cox (Photo: PA)

Blackburn-born Josephine Cox wrote more than 60 books and sold over 20 million copies before she passed away last year, according to HarperCollins.

Her works include Two Sisters, The Beachcomber and Her Father's Sins.

She was born in a cotton-mill house in Blackburn and eventually gained a place at Cambridge University which she was unable to accept.

According to her website, her books are number one best sellers and her her UK public lending right figures once cited her as one of the top three borrowed authors.

4. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Lancashire Telegraph: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Arnold (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ Genthe - PD image from http://www.sru.edu/depts/cisba/compsci/dailey/217students/sgm8660/Final/ They got it from: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/photodraw/portraits/, where the source was given as: Current History of the War v.I (December 1914 - March 1915). New York: New York Times Company.)Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Arnold (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ Genthe - PD image from http://www.sru.edu/depts/cisba/compsci/dailey/217students/sgm8660/Final/ They got it from: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/photodraw/portraits/, where the source was given as: Current History of the War v.I (December 1914 - March 1915). New York: New York Times Company.)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle needs no introduction- especially to Sherlock Holmes fans.

The Sherlock Holmes stories are considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction and they have been adapted innumerable times for film and television.

Benedict Cumberbatch even played the detective in the BBC’s 2010 adaptation, Sherlock.

While he was born in Edinburgh, Arthur Conan Doyle attended Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe.

It’s thought that the college was the inspiration for one of his most famous Sherlock Holmes stories, the Hound of the Baskervilles.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Lancashire Telegraph: J.R.R Tolkien (University of Leeds/PA)J.R.R Tolkien (University of Leeds/PA)

Another notable writer who stayed at Stonyhurst College was the writer of The Lord of the Rings books, J.R.R Tolkien.

He regularly stayed at a guest house in the grounds with his wife and children- it’s here that Tolkien is said to have penned the novels.

He is also thought to have been inspired by the beauty and nature of the grounds.

A number of names in The Lord of The Rings are similar to those found locally, such as Shire Lane in Hurst Green.

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