What's in a name?

[Arnold]

Does the name of an author matter when you select a book?

[Arnold]

Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (1923-2006), one of my favourite Dutch writers, changed his name in Gerard Reve. He thought it sounded better, particularly in French.

[Arnold]

Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) used the pen name George Eliot to ensure that her works were taken seriously.

[mrs.Rides]

Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, Baronne Dudevant (1804-1876), French novelist & playwrite, feminist avant-la-lettre and wearer of man's clothing in public (to ensure a greater freedom of movement) was better known under the name of George Sand.

[mrs.Rides]

Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820 – 1887), better known by his provoking pen name Multatuli - from Latin "I have bore a lot" (he saw himself as one who suffered a lot in his struggle for regognition) - was a Dutch satirical writer and a civil servant in de Dutch East Indies. Besides that he was a Freemason. His main work Max Havelaar, a frame story and a roman à clé in one, is a denouncement of the Dutch colonial politics in the East Indies. The novel is considered one of the greastest literary works of the Netherlands.

[Arnold]

Dutch writer Hendrik Jan Marsman (born 1937) bears the same name as Dutch poet Hendrik Marsman (1899-1940). So he chose the pen-name Bernlef, after Bernlef, a blind Frisian 8th century poet.

Marsman's (the elder: 1899-1940) most famous poem 'Herinnering aan Holland', 'Thinking of Holland', was translated by Paul Vincent, who received The David Reid Poetry Translation Prize for his translation.

Thinking of Holland
I see wide-flowing rivers
slowly traversing
infinite plains
...

[Peter]

A lot in the case of JK Rowling. She published her first Harry Potter book under her proper name Joanne Rowling but was advised to change her name to JK Rowling to attact more (male) readers. It worked.

[Micheline]

There is a lot in a name, although a lot of people can't help the name they were given. One of my favourite writers is called Amanda Filipacchi and I am never sure how to spell this. Other people make mistakes in her name too, which makes it sometimes hard to find her books. I do not like the name Kluun. Come on, grow up, please. And the name Emma Fasol reminds me of a song, but is too far fetched to be made up.

[Jazzmine]

I think depending on the social and historical situation a name can have a big effect on choosing a book. I am sure there are still parts of the world where it is not encouraged to use a particular name in publishing your work to make it more acceptable. It may be harder to understand somewhere more multicultural and democratic, such as London for example, where all sorts of surnames pop up on the store shelves, especially as so many books are translated to English from other countries. But as the J.K Rowling case stated above shows, even still these issues, such as gender preference, arise. I have to admit, having a look at my shelf now, that most of my romance novels are by women authors and my thrillers by men although my poetry collection and text books are evenly mixed; I guess we all have our preferences and selection criteria, even if we are not fully aware of it.