Hector Hugh Munro

H. H. Munro (Hector Hugh Munro), pseud. Saki , 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.

Bibliography: 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).

Saki, pseudonym of Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), known principally for his short stories. Between 1902 and 1908 he was correspondent for the Morning Post in Poland, Russia, and Paris. His first characteristic volume of short stories, Reginald, was published under the pseudonym Saki (of uncertain origin) in 1904, followed by Reginald in Russia (1910), The Chronicles of Clovis (1911), Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), The Toys of Peace (1919), and The Square Egg (1924). The Unbearable Bassington (1912) and When William Came (1913) are both novels. In 1914 he enlisted as a trooper and he was killed in France. His stories include the satiric, the comic, the macabre, and the supernatural, and show a marked interest in the use of animals as agents of revenge upon mankind.

Saki (1870–1916) ( Hector Hugh Munro) Scottish writer, b. Burma. His reputation rests on his short stories, among them the collections Reginald (1904), Reginald in Russia (1910) and Beasts and Superbeasts (1914).