On this day...

Science fiction author J. G. Ballard was born in 1930. The son of a textiles worker, Ballard was born in Shanghai, being forced to live through both the Second Sino-Japanese War and the after effects of the Pearl Harbour attack. Living through these atrocities ultimately shaped his creative output, for as Ballard himself said, 'I don't think you can go through the experience of war without one's perceptions of the world being forever changed'.

Having returned to England, Ballard went on to study medicine, but became disenfranchised with the profession as it left hiim no time to write, and instead went to read English Literature. Ballard then pursued a number of odd jobs, including a stint in the RAF, before writing his first full length novel, 'The Wind From Nowhere' in 1960. Four years later, and well into his writing career, his wife suddenly died, leaving him to raise his four children alone. Yet despite this early hardship, J. G. Ballard went on to write some of the most popular titles in science fiction, such as 'Crash' and 'Empire of the Sun'. He died in 2009, at the age of 78.

J.G. Ballard reveals all...

Following his expressed wish, the archive of science fiction author J.G Ballard has been acquired for public viewing. Ballard, who died last year at the age of 78, is most famous for his award-winning novel 'Empire of the Sun'. Now, 15 large storage boxes, containing an 'extraordinary insight' into his writings and covering his output from 1962 to 2008, have been obtained by the British Library. Items range from corrected manuscripts, notebooks of ideas, and even more personal articles, including childhood photos, reports and passports. Jamie Andrews, head of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library, deemed the acquisition 'hugely exciting', and hopes that the archive will be fully accessible by the summer of 2011.

On this day...

Celebrated film director Steven Spielberg was born in 1946. Named by 'Life' as the most influential person of his generation, Spielberg has transformed numerous literary works into major box office movies; often proving pivotal in reigniting interest in the original text. Two of his most famous, and successful, projects, 'Jurassic Park' and 'Jaws', were both based on novels of the same name by Michael Crichton and Peter Benchley respectively. The latter in its own right was a bestseller for forty four weeks, and both novels drew commercial success from the release of the film. Other literary adaptations by Spielberg have included, J.G. Ballard's 'Empire of the Sun' and Thomas Keneally's 'Schindler's Ark' (Schindler's List).