G.K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English author. He was amazingly versatile, demonstrating his talent as a novelist, critic, poet, journalist, essayist, biographer, dramatist, and illustrator. Chesterton often used his sparkling wit and brilliant satire to expound the doctrines of Roman Catholicism, to which he became a convert in 1922. He earned the name of “master of paradox” for such lines as these in his poetical description of the Irish: “For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.” An example of Chesterton’s skill as a dramatic poet is “Lepanto” (1915). The “Father Brown” series of novels (1911-35) features a priest as a detective. 

Chesterton was born in London. His early ambition was to be an artist, and even after he became a writer he sometimes illustrated magazines and books. He graduated from St. Paul’s in 1892 and later studied at the University of London. He worked in publishing houses and was long a contributor to the Illustrated London News. In his G.K.’s Weekly and What’s Wrong with the World (1910) he advocated “distributism,” a system of social justice which, unlike socialism, would retain private ownership of property. In all, he wrote more than 50 books and hundreds of reviews and articles.