Munro, H. H. (Hector Hugh Munro), pseud. Saki [key], 1870–1916, English author, b. Burma (now Myanmar). He began his career writing political satires for the Westminster Gazette, and from 1902 to 1908 was a foreign correspondent for the Tory Morning Post and a contributor to other newspapers. As Saki, he is best known for his witty, irreverent, worldly, sometimes whimsical, and often cynical and bizarre short stories; they are collected in Reginald (1904), The Chronicles of Clovis (1911), Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), and other volumes. Among his other works are two novels, The Unbearable Bassington (1912) and When William Came (1914), travel writing, and plays. Munro was killed in France while fighting in World War I.
See The Short Stories of Saki, ed. by C. Morley (1930); The Novels and Plays of Saki (1933, repr. 1971); biography by C. H. Gillen (1971); studies by G. J. Spears (1963) and S. Byrne (2007).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: English Literature, 20th cent. to the Present: Biographies
