World book day celebrates the authors who put coventry on the literary map

Today (6 March) is World Book Day and schools and workplaces up and down the country are dressing as their favourite literary character to celebrate. To help get you in the spirit of things

we've compiled a list of the most famous and influential writers who have emerged from both Coventry and the wider Warwickshire region. From poets to memoirists, household names to

lesser known entities, this is a list bristling with talent and imagination. These writers vary from modern crime and thriller writers, to scribes dating back hundreds of years - not to

mention perhaps the most influential writer of all time (and I don't mean Lee Child). So have a look through the authors on the list and let us know if you spent painstaking hours

making a costume for your child this World Book Day who was based on a character from one of their stories. COVENTRY LEE CHILD Born in the city in 1950 as James Grant, Lee moved to

Birmingham at an early age - but we still claim him! He created the iconic Jack Reacher character who was the protagonist in dozens of novels, movies and TV shows. CATHY CASSIDY Born in

Coventry in 1962, Cathy is a bestselling author of young adult fiction, including series such The Chocolate Box Girls, Daizy Star, Lost and Found and several standalone novels. GEOFF

THOMPSON A Coventry doorman and martial arts specialist who wrote about his time spent of the doors of some of the roughest clubs around in the 1980s. His first book, Watch My Back was later

adapted in a movie called Clubbed. He's gone on to write dozens of books, plays and films. SUE CHEUNG Born in the Midlands to parents from Hong Kong, she moved to Coventry and spent

her teenage years living in one of the city's family-ran Chinese takeaways. She used these years as inspiration for her award-winning debut novel Chinglish. GRAHAM JOYCE Grew up in

Keresley and went on to become an award winning writer of fantasy and ghost stories such as Dreamland, Dark Sister and The Tooth Fairy. He was also an avid fan of the Sky Blues. He sadly

died aged 59 in 2014. PHILIP LARKIN You don't become known as the Bard of Coventry for nothing. Larkin was a renowned poet and novelist who was born in Radford and educated at King

Henry VIII school. His notable works are poetry collections such as The Less Deceived and The Whitsun Weddings, and novels Jill and A Girl In Winter. WARWICKSHIRE CAROLINE GRAHAM From

Nuneaton, Graham is best known for her Chief Inspector Barnaby series, the inspiration of the much-loved TV series Midsomer Murders. Graham is an inspiration to anyone considering taking up

writing - she was born in a working class family, she attended Nuneaton High School for Girls, left at 14 and worked in a local mill. Graham didn't publish her first book until she was

in her 50s - incredible considering how much influence she has had. GEORGE ELIOT Also born in Nuneaton in 1819, George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans - one of the most influential

novelists of the Victorian era. The iconic writer is beloved in Nuneaton thanks to works such as The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. Her pen name lends itself to the town's hospital,

a school and a pub. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Stratford-upon-Avon's William Shakespeare is perhaps the most influential writer of the English language ever - of all time. Famed in his time

during the 16th and 17th centuries and revered ever since, Shakespeare's work as a playwright and poet is extensive and long-reaching. Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer

Night's Dream and so much more. He invented words, coined phrases and expressions and generally changed literature and arguably the world in so many ways. His hometown is still a

vibrant tourist attraction to this day.