Literary Berkshire

A scenic overview of Berkshire, featuring its lush countryside and literary landmarks, with iconic symbols of literature such as books and quills.

Literary Berkshire Quiz

Test your knowledge of the fascinating literary connections of Berkshire! Discover famous authors, their works, and intriguing facts about the region that inspired them.

Engage with questions about:

  • Local authors and their books
  • Literary locations
  • Historical trivia
16 Questions4 MinutesCreated by ReadingWriter42
Photo by Ed Robertson. https://unsplash.com/photos/eeSdJfLfx1A
 
A quiz by Matt Thurgood for Reading Borough Libraries. Please feel free to share on Twitter, Facebook etc. By copying and pasting this link:
https://www.quiz-maker.com/QAKQLG6
Photo by Ed Robertson. https://unsplash.com/photos/eeSdJfLfx1A
 
A quiz by Matt Thurgood for Reading Borough Libraries. Please feel free to share on Twitter, Facebook etc. By copying and pasting this link:
https://www.quiz-maker.com/QAKQLG6
By J Ligero & I Barrios - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24986245
 
Richard Adams, author of "Watership Down", was born in Newbury. In which county is the real Watership Down?
Berkshire
Hampshire
Surrey
Wiltshire
By Motmit - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4932471
 
"Three Men in a Boat" is a classic comic novel set in the Berkshire/Oxfordshire countryside. Who wrote it?
Stella Gibbons
Hector Hugh Munro
P. G. Wodehouse
Jerome K. Jerome
By Napoleon Sarony - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.07756, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5459869
 
Oscar Wilde wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" after serving time there. How long was his prison sentence?
6 months
2 years
4 years
7 years
By Paul Bransom - Wind in the Willows, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4686077
 
Kenneth Grahame wrote "The Wind in the Willows" in Berkshire. Which of the following is NOT a character in the book?
Pan
Otter
The Wise Owl
The Wayfarer
By Wilbowhite - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84239224
 
The creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond, grew up in Reading. What did he do before his first book was published?
BBC cameraman
RAF pilot
Bank clerk
Train guard
By Daily Herald Archive at the National Media Museum. Edited & Uploaded By MediaJet - John Betjeman Reads William Horton's Petition to Save Lewisham Town Hall, 1961, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25140318
 
"Come friendly bombs and fall on                           !" Sir John Betjeman wrote this disparaging line in 1937 about a Berkshire town. Which one?
Bracknell
Maidenhead
Slough
Newbury
Von Chadjj - Eigenes Werk, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2885070
 
Amanda Jennings lives just outside Henley-on-Thames. What was the title of her first novel, published in 2012?
Sworn Enemy
Sworn Secret
Sworn Blind
Sworn Off
By Henry George Hine - Internet Archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76332690
 
Popeswood is a village in Binfield near Bracknell. It is named after the poet Alexander Pope, who lived there from 1700. True or false?
True
False
By Smuconlaw. - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42133870
 
Thomas Hardy created a fictional town based on Reading. What was it called?
Aldbrickham
Biscwich
Tilesham
Alesfield
By Original uploader was Daderot at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3381757
 
Which famous author described Cliveden Literary Festival as "probably the world's best small literary festival"?
Zadie Smith
Hilary Mantel
Neil Gaiman
Ian McEwan
By Benjamin Robert Haydon (died 1846). Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6370446
 
Mary Russell Mitford is best known for "Our Village". It is based upon her life in which Berkshire hamlet?
Three Mile Cross
Charvil
Bray
Tidmarsh
By Shaun Ferguson, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14433087
 
Arthur Conan Doyle used the gates of Crowsley Park (Sonning Common) in a novel. Which one?
The Sign of the Four
A Study in Scarlet
The Valley of Fear
The Hound of the Baskervilles
By After Amelia Curran. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6370522
 
Percy Bysshe Shelley lived for a short time in Bracknell. True or false?
True
False
By OpenStreetMap - http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.4524&lon=-0.9711&zoom=13, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15057667
 
Which literary figure was almost persuaded to become the Liberal MP for Reading?
Charles Dickens
Matthew Arnold
Virginia Woolf
Enid Blyton
By Henry Taunt - Reading Borough Libraries, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15217222
 
Which female novelist briefly attended Reading Ladies' Boarding School within the Abbey Gateway?
George Eliot
Jane Austen
Charlotte Brontë
Mary Shelley
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