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Harper Lee
Photo Credit: cr. Michael Brown



Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She attended Huntington College and studied law at the University of Alabama. She is the author of the acclaimed novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous other literary awards and honours. She died on 19 February 2016.

Awards & recognition

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Winner  •  2007  •  Presidential Medal of Freedom (USA)

National Medal of Arts

Winner  •  2010  •  National Medal of Arts (USA)

Quote

'A touching book; and so funny, so likeable.'

Truman Capote on To Kill A Mockingbird

More features

Article
Better Reading’s Top 100 books of 2024 announced

Penguin Random House is proud to have twenty-four titles on the list this year.

Article
Mockingbird legacy

Ten authors discuss what To Kill A Mockingbird means to them.

Article
Mockingbird discussion points

Extracts for book club discussion from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.

Article
Rejected Watchman covers revealed

Designs that didn’t make it – Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman.