When Samuel Beckett, one of the most innovative and influential authors of the 20th century, died in 1989, he was world-famous. It was only late - with the Paris premiere of "Waiting for Godot" in 1953 - that the spotlight turned to the publicity-shy author. Born in 1906, Beckett studied in Dublin and Paris, where he joined James Joyce. A first collection of stories was published in 1934. Three years later, he left Ireland for good and moved to Paris, from which he was temporarily displaced by the German occupation. Publishers were hesitant to take on his books - until the success of "Godot" put an end to this and to his financial difficulties. However, Beckett struggled throughout his life with his writing, with a condition that allowed him to write at all. James Knowlson, who established the Beckett Archive in Reading, has researched Beckett's work for more than thirty years.