Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican clergyman, born in Clonmel in 1713 and dead in 1768. He spent much of his working life as a parish priest in Yorkshire, and he wrote sermons before he ever wrote fiction. His fame came suddenly in middle age, when the first volumes of Tristram Shandy appeared and made him a celebrity in London.

Sterne's writing is playful, digressive and full of feeling. He teased the usual rules of storytelling, using odd page layouts, interrupted scenes and a narrator who wanders from his subject. Beneath the jokes lies a warm interest in human oddity and kindness. His work influenced later writers who experimented with form and with the inner life, and it still reads as surprisingly modern. He died in London, shortly after publishing his last book, A Sentimental Journey.