3 pseudonyms and their intriguing back stories  

Resorting to pseudonyms or pen names is a popular trend among authors. But why do you think they hide their original names? While some want to keep their personal lives separate from their professional life, others want to avoid trouble if they write anything controversial. Also, there are others who want their books to do well for the stories and not for their already famous names.  

Earlier, female authors had to take male pseudonyms. Why? They needed to hide their identities as authors from family and friends. The Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne had taken these pen names (respectively) Currer Bell, Ellis Bell and Acton Bell. Here, we take you through the interesting back stories of three pseudonyms – Robert Galbraith, Pablo Neruda and Dr Seuss.  

 
Robert Galbraith 
For years, author J.K. Rowling has been celebrated for introducing youngsters to the world of witchcraft and magic through her best-selling fiction series Harry Potter. But in 2013, when her crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling saw the light of the day, the world had no clue that it was penned by her. She published it under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Rowling later confessed that choosing a male pseudonym was driven by a desire to take the writing persona as far away as possible from her. 

Pablo Neruda 
Most of you know the Chilean poet-diplomat Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto but by his pseudonym Pablo Neruda. He is one of the greatest modern poets who received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature for his poem I Want to Go South Again: 1941. But did you know why that Pablo Neruda had to hide behind a pen name? His father was against Basoalto’s flair for writing as he believed that this would bring shame and destruction to the family. So, as a defence mechanism the young poet chose to write with a pseudonym. Little did he know then that it would last with him forever!  

There is another version to this story though! Experts suggest that he might have been inspired by the Czech poet Jan Neruda and decided to pay him homage by adopting this name. However, Basoalto never confirmed this version!  

Dr.  Seuss 
We are all familiar with the name Dr. Seuss, thanks to his classics like The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! And many more. But this isn’t his real name. The original name of this American children’s author and cartoonist is Theodore Seuss Geisel. His unique pseudonym has a crazy back story. This is how it goes: When Seuss was a student at the distinguished Ivy League college Dartmouth, he was caught drinking alcohol in his room with his friends. As a result, he lost his editorial gig at the humour magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. But Seuss was undaunted and determined to stay true to his creative pursuits. This is what prompted him to take up several pen names so that he can keep writing for the magazine. Out of all the pseudonyms, Seuss stuck around, somehow. Later, he added the Doctor abbreviation to honour his father, who had always wanted him to practise medicine.