Hector Hugh Munro, also known as Saki, was a British writer known for his humorous and macabre tales. He was born in Burma, raised in England, and worked as a journalist before publishing his stories. He died in World War I and is considered one of the best short story writers in English literature.
Hector Hugh Munro, who often wrote under the pseudonym Saki, was a British writer of the Edwardian era. Although he has written plays, two satires and a novella, he is best known for his humorous and macabre tales of himself.
Born in Akyab, Burma, then part of the British Empire, on December 18, 1870, HH Munro’s mother died in 1872 following a traumatic accident with a runaway cow. He and his two brothers moved to England, where they were raised by their grandmother and unmarried aunts. Munro’s father, an Inspector General of the Burmese police, retired in 1887 and began spending time touring Europe with his children.
Munro returned to Burma (sometimes called Myanmar) to work in the police force at the age of 22, but a bout with malaria forced him to return to England 13 months later. After recovering, he began working as a journalist for a number of newspapers, including the Morning Post and the Westminster Gazette. For the latter publication, he wrote a series of satires based on the characters of Alice and Wonderland which would later be published as the novella The Westminster Alice. Munro’s only nonfiction book, The Rise of the Russian Empire, was first published in 1900.
In the early 1900s, Munro began publishing collections of his witty and scathing stories, often featuring recurring characters parodying Edwardian high society. He also began traveling as a newspaper correspondent, covering stories in the Balkans, Russia and Paris. He returned to England in 1907, shortly before his father’s death.
Munro continued his work as a journalist and writer until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He enlisted and was stationed in Sussex. A year later he was at the front in France. In 1916, Munro was hospitalized with malaria but returned to his battalion after a month in response to news of an impending attack. On November 13, 1916, a few days after leaving the hospital, he was killed by a sniper at the front.
Since his death, Munro has been widely regarded as one of the best short story writers in the English language. Stories like “The Interlopers” and “The Open Window” are often anthologized. His stories are now in the public domain, and the full text of many can be found on the Internet.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
