If you like to talk about books with your friends, you’ve probably discovered how many fantastic authors have puzzling, exotic names that it’s unclear how to pronounce.
I have discovered in myself an almost superstitious preoccupation with the correct pronunciation of author names. The more I love the author, the more compelled I feel to get the name right. At some level, I have the sense that whenever I mangle a name and let it stand, the author — wherever he or she is — will somehow know and get the chills. Realizing that people all over the world are probably just as confused as I am only makes it worse. Those poor authors. Well, here is a resource that promises to help!
TeachingBooks.Net offers an online author name pronunciation guide filled with audio files in which dozens of authors (many of whom write for children and teens) introduce themselves, tell us how to pronounce their names, and even tell us what their names mean and where they come from. Eureka!
Another online resource that offers pronunciation tips for the names of all kinds of authors can be found here. The name of any famous person, author or not, stands a chance of being listed in this resouce assembled by the Wolfner Library in Missouri.
Leave a Comment