Herman Bang

Herman Bang (1857-1912) was a prolific author and journalist. He is best known for his short stories and novels, many of which focus on 'lives of quiet desperation', including Tina (1889) about an unregarded working-class girl whose fate is intertwined with the events of the Dano-Prussian war of 1864, and Katinka (1886), which describes the existence of a station-master's wife, watching from behind the windows as the trains - and the excitements of life - pass her by. His multi-faceted journalism appeared in newspapers and journals around Europe, and was at times so outspoken that he was banned from several European countries. He was a popular reader and performer of his own works, and died on a train in America while on a world tour to promote his writing.