A. E. Coppard facts for kids

A. E. Coppard's wife, Winifred de Kok, and two of their children.

Alfred Edgar Coppard (born January 4, 1878 – died January 13, 1957) was an English writer. He was well-known for his poems and short stories.

About A. E. Coppard

Coppard was born in Folkestone, England. His father was a tailor and his mother was a housemaid. He didn't have much formal schooling. Coppard grew up in very difficult and poor conditions. He once said his childhood was "shockingly poor." He left school when he was only nine years old. He started working as an errand boy for a trouser maker.

In the early 1920s, before his books were published, Coppard lived in Oxford. He was part of a writing group called the New Elizabethans. They would meet in a pub to read old plays. Famous poet W. B. Yeats sometimes joined their meetings. During this time, Coppard met other writers like Richard Hughes.

Coppard's stories were influenced by writers like Thomas Hardy. His work became quite popular in the United States. This happened after his book Collected Tales was chosen by a big book club.

Coppard admired many famous authors. These included Dickens, James, and Hardy. He also liked Chekhov and Joyce. However, he did not enjoy the works of Rudyard Kipling.

Some of Coppard's story collections, like Adam and Eve and Pinch Me and Fearful Pleasures, include stories with magical or spooky elements. These could be supernatural horror or allegorical fantasy tales.

A. E. Coppard married Winifred de Kok. She was a doctor and later became a writer and broadcaster. They had two children together. Coppard's nephew, George Coppard, was a British soldier. He wrote a famous memoir about his experiences in World War I.

A. E. Coppard's Books

Story Collections

• Adam & Eve & Pinch Me (1921)
• Clorinda Walks in Heaven (1922)
• The Black Dog and Other Stories (1923)
• Fishmonger's Fiddle: Tales (1925)
• The Field of Mustard (1926)
• Silver Circus (1928)
• Count Stefan (1928)
• The Higgler (1930)
• Nixey's Harlequin (1931)
• Fares Please! (1931)
• Crotty Shinkwin and The Beauty Spot (1932)
• Dunky Fitlow (1933)
• Ring the Bells of Heaven (1933)
• Emergency Exit (1934)
• Pink Furniture (1930)
• Polly Oliver (1935)
• Ninepenny Flute (1937)
• You Never Know, Do You? (1939)
• Ugly Anna (1944)
• Fearful Pleasures (1946)
• Selected Tales (1946)
• The Dark Eyed Lady – Fourteen Tales (1947)
• Collected Tales (1948)
• Lucy in Her Pink Jacket (1954)
• Selected Stories (1972)
• The Collected Tales of A. E. Coppard (1976)
• The Higgler and Other Stories (1991)
• The Man from the Caravan and Other Stories (1999)
• Father Raven and Other Tales (2006)
• Weep not my w* : selected short stories (2013)

Poetry Collections

• Hips and Haws (1922)
• Yokohoma Garland & Other Poems (1926)
• Pelaga and Other Poems (1926)
• The Collected Poems of A. E. Coppard (1928)
• Cherry Ripe: Poems (1935)
• Simple Day: Selected Poems (1978)

Chapbooks

• The Hundredth Story of A. E. Coppard (1930)
• Cheefoo (1932)
• Good Samaritans (1934)
• These Hopes of Heaven (1934)
• Tapster's Tapestry :A Tale (1938)

Non-Fiction Books

• Rummy: that noble game expounded in prose, poetry, diagram and engraving (1932)

Autobiography

• It's Me, O Lord! (1957)