Alfred Edgar Coppard was born on January 4, 1878 in Folkstone, Kent. Coppard was almost entirely self-educated, having left school at age nine to help out the family. He worked first as an errand boy, and later as a clerk before turning to writing in 1919.
His first short story was rejected by publishers for being too long at 12,000 words. Coppard's first book of short stories was published when he was 43. He is best known for his short story "The Higgler", which was appeared in his anthology The Fishmongers Fiddle in 1925. Coppard published his autobiography, It's Me, O Lord!, in 1955.
Coppard was one of the best known British writers of the 1920s. He died in London on January 13, 1957.
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