writer, author

writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)

• abstractor, abstracter — one who makes abstracts or summarizes information
• alliterator — a speaker or writer who makes use of alliteration
• authoress — a woman author
• biographer — someone who writes an account of another person's life
• coauthor, joint author — a writer who collaborates with others in writing something
• commentator, reviewer — a writer who reports and analyzes events of the day
• contributor — a writer whose work is published in a newspaper or magazine or as part of a book
• drafter — a writer of a draft
• dramatist, playwright — someone who writes plays
• encyclopedist, compiler — a person who compiles (or writes for) encyclopedias
• essayist, litterateur — a writer of literary works
• folk writer — a writer of folktales
• framer — someone who writes a new law or plan
• gagman, gagster, gagwriter — someone who writes comic material for public performers
• ghostwriter, ghost — a writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else
• Gothic romancer — a writer of Gothic romances
• hack, hack writer, literary hack — a mediocre and disdained writer
• journalist — a writer for newspapers and magazines
• librettist — author of words to be set to music in an opera or operetta
• lyricist — a person who writes the words for songs
• novelist — someone who writes novels
• pamphleteer — a writer of pamphlets (usually taking a partisan stand on public issues)
• paragrapher — a writer of paragraphs (as for publication on the editorial page of a newspaper)
• poet — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
• rhymer, rhymester, versifier, poetizer, poetiser — a writer who composes rhymes; a maker of poor verses (usually used as terms of contempt for minor or inferior poets)
• scenarist — a writer of screenplays
• scriptwriter — someone who writes scripts for plays or movies or broadcast dramas
• space writer — a writer paid by the area of the copy
• speechwriter — a writer who composes speeches for others to deliver
• tragedian — a writer (especially a playwright) who writes tragedies
• wordmonger — a writer who uses language carelessly or pretentiously with little regard for meaning
• word-painter — a writer of vivid or graphic descriptive power
• wordsmith — a fluent and prolific writer
• Aiken, Conrad Aiken, Conrad Potter Aiken — United States writer (1889-1973)
• Alger, Horatio Alger — American author of inspirational adventure stories for boys; virtue and hard work overcome poverty (1832-1899)
• Algren, Nelson Algren — United States writer (1909-1981)
• Andersen, Hans Christian Andersen — a Danish author remembered for his fairy stories (1805-1875)
• Anderson, Sherwood Anderson — American author whose works were frequently autobiographical (1876-1941)
• Aragon, Louis Aragon — French writer who generalized surrealism to literature (1897-1982)
• Asch, Sholem Asch, Shalom Asch, Sholom Asch — United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957)
• Asimov, Isaac Asimov — United States writer (born in Russia) noted for his science fiction (1920-1992)
• Auchincloss, Louis Auchincloss, Louis Stanton Auchincloss — United States writer (born in 1917)
• Austen, Jane Austen — English novelist noted for her insightful portrayals of middle-class families (1775-1817)
• Baldwin, James Baldwin, James Arthur Baldwin — United States author who was an outspoken citic of racism (1924-1987)
• Baraka, Imamu Amiri Baraka, LeRoi Jones — United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict (born in 1934)
• Barth, John Barth, John Simmons Barth — United States novelist (born in 1930)
• Barthelme, Donald Barthelme — United States author of sometimes surrealistic stories (1931-1989)
• Baum, Frank Baum, Lyman Frank Brown — United States writer of children's books (1856-1919)
• Beckett, Samuel Beckett — a playwright and novelist (born in Ireland) who lived in France; wrote plays for the Theater of the Absurd (1906-1989)
• Beerbohm, Max Beerbohm, Sir Henry Maxmilian Beerbohm — English writer and caricaturist (1872-1956)
• Bellow, Saul Bellow — United States novelist (born in Canada in 1915)
• Benchley, Robert Benchley, Robert Charles Benchley — United States humorist (1889-1945)
• Benet, William Rose Benet — United States writer; brother of Stephen Vincent Benet (1886-1950)
• Bierce, Ambrose Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett Bierce — United States writer of caustic wit (1842-1914)
• Bontemps, Arna Wendell Bontemps — United States writer (1902-1973)
• Borges, Jorge Borges, Jorge Luis Borges — Argentinian writer remembered for his short stories (1899-1986)
• Boswell, James Boswell — Scottish author noted for his biography of Samuel Johnson (1740-1795)
• Boyle, Kay Boyle — United States writer (1902-1992)
• Bradbury, Ray Bradbury, Ray Douglas Bradbury — United States writer of science fiction (born 1920)
• Bronte, Charlotte Bronte — English novelist; oldest of three Bronte sisters (1816-1855)
• Bronte, Emily Bronte, Emily Jane Bronte, Currer Bell — English novelist; one of three Bronte sisters (1818-1848)
• Bronte, Anne Bronte — English novelist; youngest of three Bronte sisters (1820-1849)
• Browne, Charles Farrar Browne, Artemus Ward — United States writer of humorous tales of an itinerant showman (1834-1867)
• Buck, Pearl Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker Buck — United States author whose novels drew on her experiences as a missionary in China (1892-1973)
• Bunyan, John Bunyan — English preacher and author of an allegorical novel, Pilgrim's Progress (1628-1688)
• Burnett, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett — United States writer (born in England) remembered for her novels for children (1849-1924)
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs — United States novelist and author of the Tarzan stories (1875-1950)
• Burroughs, William Burroughs, William S. Burroughs, William Seward Burroughs — United States writer noted for his works portraying the life of drug addicts (1914-1997)
• Cabell, James Branch Cabell — United States writer of satirical novels (1879-1958)
• Caldwell, Erskine Caldwell, Erskine Preston Caldwell — United States author remembered for novels about poverty and degeneration (1903-1987)
• Camus, Albert Camus — French writer who portrayed the human condition as isolated in an absurd world (1913-1960)
• Carroll, Lewis Carroll, Dodgson, Reverend Dodgson, Charles Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson — English author; Charles Dodgson was an Oxford don of mathematics who is remembered for the children's stories he wrote under the pen name Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
• Cather, Willa Cather, Willa Sibert Cather — United States writer who wrote about frontier life (1873-1947)
• Cervantes, Miguel de Cervantes, Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra — Spanish writer best remembered for `Don Quixote' which satirizes chivalry and influenced the development of the novel form (1547-1616)
• Chandler, Raymond Chandler, Raymond Thornton Chandler — United States writer of detective thrillers featuring the character of Philip Marlowe (1888-1959)
• Chateaubriand, Francois Rene Chateaubriand, Vicomte de Chateaubriand — French statesman and writer; considered a precursor of the romantic movement in France (1768-1848)
• Cheever, John Cheever — United States writer of novels and short stories (1912-1982)
• Chesterton, G. K. Chesterton, Gilbert Keith Chesterton — conservative English writer of the Roman Catholic persuasion; in addition to volumes of criticism and polemics he wrote detective novels featuring Father Brown (1874-1936)
• Chopin, Kate Chopin, Kate O'Flaherty Chopin — United States writer who described Creole life in Louisiana (1851-1904)
• Christie, Agatha Christie, Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie — prolific English writer of detective stories (1890-1976)
• Churchill, Winston Churchill, Winston S. Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spenser Churchill — British Conservative statesman; British leader during World War II; received Nobel Prize for literature in 1953 (1874-1965)
• Clemens, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain — United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
• Cocteau, Jean Cocteau — French writer and film maker who worked in many artistic media (1889-1963)
• Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette — French writer of novels about women (1873-1954)
• Collins, Wilkie Collins, William Wilkie Collins — English writer noted for early detective novels (1824-1889)
• Conan Doyle, A. Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — English author who created Sherlock Holmes (1859-1930)
• Conrad, Joseph Conrad, Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski — English novelist (born in Poland) noted for sea stories and for his narrative technique (1857-1924)
• Cooper, James Fenimore Cooper — United States novelist noted for his stories of indians and the frontier life (1789-1851)
• Crane, Stephen Crane — United States writer (1871-1900)
• e. e. cummings, cummings, Edward Estlin Cummings — United States writer noted for his typographically eccentric poetry (1894-1962)
• Day, Clarence Day, Clarence Shepard Day Jr. — United States writer best known for his autobiographical works (1874-1935)
• Defoe, Daniel Defoe — English writer remembered particularly for his novel about Robinson Crusoe (1660-1731)
• De Quincey, Thomas De Quincey — English writer who described the psychological effects of addiction to opium (1785-1859)
• Dickens, Charles Dickens, Charles John Huffam Dickens — English writer whose novels depicted and criticized social injustice (1812-1870)
• Didion, Joan Didion — United States writer (born in 1834)
• Doctorow, E. L. Doctorow, Edgard Lawrence Doctorow — United States novelist (born in 1931)
• Dos Passos, John Dos Passos — United States novelist remembered for his portrayal of life in the United States (1896-1970)
• Dostoyevsky, Dostoevski, Dostoevsky, Feodor Dostoyevsky, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Feodor Dostoevski, Fyodor Dostoevski, Feodor Dostoevsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoevski, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevski, Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky — Russian novelist who wrote of human suffering with humor and psychological insight (1821-1881)
• Dreiser, Theodore Dreiser, Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser — United States novelist (1871-1945)
• Dumas, Alexandre Dumas — French writer remembered for his swashbuckling historical tales (1802-1870)
• du Maurier, Dame Daphne du Maurier — English writer of melodramatic novels (1907-1989)
• Durrell, Lawrence Durrell, Lawrence George Durrell — English writer of Irish descent who spent much of his in Mediterranean regions (1912-1990)
• Ehrenberg, Ilya Ehrenberg, Ilya Grigorievich Ehrenberg — Russian novelist (1891-1967)
• Eliot, George Eliot, Mary Ann Evans — British writer of novels characterized by realistic analysis of provincial Victorian society (1819-1880)
• Ellison, Ralph Ellison, Ralph Waldo Ellison — American novelist who wrote about a young Black man and his struggles in American society (1914-1994)
• Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson — United States writer and leading exponent of transcendentalism (1803-1882)
• Farrell, James Thomas Farrell — United States writer remembered for his novels (1904-1979)
• Ferber, Edna Ferber — United States novelist; author of several popular novels (1887-1968)
• Fielding, Henry Fielding — English novelist and dramatist (1707-1754)
• Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald — United States novelist (1896-1940)
• Flaubert, Gustave Flaubert — French writer of novels and short stories (1821-1880)
• Fleming, Ian Fleming, Ian Lancaster Fleming — British writer famous for writing spy novels about secret agent James Bond (1908-1964)
• Ford, Ford Madox Ford, Ford Hermann Hueffer — English writer and editor (1873-1939)
• Forester, C. S. Forester, Cecil Scott Forester — English writer of adventure novels featuring Captain Horatio Hornblower (1899-1966)
• France, Anatole France, Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault — French writer of sophisticated novels and short stories (1844-1924)
• Franklin, Benjamin Franklin — printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists; as a scientist he is remembered particularly for his research in electricity (1706-1790)
• Fuentes, Carlos Fuentes — Mexican novelist (born in 1928)
• Gaboriau, Emile Gaboriau — French writer considered by some to be a founder of the detective novel (1832-1873)
• Galsworthy, John Galsworthy — English novelist (1867-1933)
• Gardner, Erle Stanley Gardner — writer of detective novels featuring Perry Mason (1889-1970)
• Gaskell, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson Gaskell — English writer who is remembered for her biography of Charlotte Bronte (1810-1865)
• Geisel, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss — United States writer of children's books (1904-1991)
• Gibran, Kahlil Gibran — United States writer (born in Lebanon) (1883-1931)
• Gjellerup, Karl Gjellerup — Danish novelist (1857-1919)
• Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol — Russian writer who introduced realism to Russian literature (1809-1852)
• Golding, William Golding, Sir William Gerald Golding — English novelist (1911-1993)
• Goldsmith, Oliver Goldsmith — Irish writer of novels and poetry and plays and essays (1728-1774)
• Goncourt, Edmond de Goncourt, Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt — French writer who collaborated with his brother Jules de Goncourt on many books and who in his will established the Prix Goncourt (1822-1896)
• Goncourt, Jules de Goncourt, Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt — French writer who collaborated with his brother Edmond de Goncourt on many books (1830-1870)
• Gordimer, Nadine Gordimer — South African novelist and short-story writer whose work describes the effects of apartheid (born in 1923)
• Gorky, Maksim Gorky, Gorki, Maxim Gorki, Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov, Aleksey Maximovich Peshkov — Russian writer of plays and novels and short stories; noted for his depiction of social outcasts
• Grahame, Kenneth Grahame — English writer (born in Scotland) of children's stories (1859-1932)
• Grass, Gunter Grass, Gunter Wilhelm Grass — German writer of novels and poetry and plays (born 1927)
• Graves, Robert Graves, Robert Ranke Graves — English writer known for his interest in mythology and in the classics (1895-1985)
• Greene, Graham Greene, Henry Graham Greene — English Catholic novelist (1904-1991)
• Grey, Zane Grey — United States writer of western adventure novels (1875-1939)
• Grimm, Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm — the older of the two Grimm brothers remembered best for their fairy stories; also author of Grimm's Law describing consonant changes in Germanic languages (1785-1863)
• Grimm, Wilhelm Karl Grimm — the younger of the two Grimm brothers remembered best for their fairy stories (1786-1859)
• Hagard, Rider Haggard, Sir Henry Rider Haggard — British writer noted for romantic adventure novels (1856-1925)
• Haldane, Elizabeth Haldane, Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane — Scottish writer and sister of Richard Haldane and John Haldane (1862-1937)
• Hale, Edward Everett Hale — prolific United States writer (1822-1909)
• Haley, Alex Haley — United States Black writer who wrote a fictionalized account of tracing his family roots back to Africa (1921-1992)
• Hall, Radclyffe Hall, Marguerite Radclyffe Hall — English writer whose novel about a lesbian relationship was banned in Britain for many years (1883-1943)
• Hammett, Dashiell Hammett, Samuel Dashiell Hammett — United States writer of hard-boiled detective fiction (1894-1961)
• Hamsun, Knut Hamsun, Knut Pedersen — Norwegian writer of novels (1859-1952)
• Hardy, Thomas Hardy — English novelist and poet (1840-1928)
• Harris, Frank Harris, James Thomas Harris — Irish writer noted for his sexually explicit but unreliable autobiography (1856-1931)
• Harte, Bret Harte — United States writer noted for his stories about life during the California gold rush (1836-1902)
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne — United States writer of novels and short stories mostly on moral themes (1804-1864)
• Hecht, Ben Hecht — United States writer of stories and plays (1894-1946)
• Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Anson Heinlein — United States writer of science fiction (1907-1988)
• Heller, Joseph Heller — United States novelist whose best known work was a black comedy inspired by his experiences in the Air Force during World War II (1923-1999)
• Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway — an American writer of fiction who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954 (1899-1961)
• Hesse, Hermann Hesse — Swiss writer (born in Germany) whose novels and poems express his interests in Eastern spiritual values (1877-1962)
• Heyse, Paul Heyse, Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse — German writer (1830-1914)
• Heyward, DuBois Heyward, Edwin DuBois Hayward — United States writer (1885-1940)
• Higginson, Thomas Higginson, Thomas Wentworth Storrow Higginson — United States writer and soldier who led the first Black regiment in the Union Army (1823-1911)
• Hoffmann, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann — German writer of fantastic tales (1776-1822)
• Holmes, Oliver Wendell Holmes — United States writer of humorous essays (1809-1894)
• Howells, William Dean Howells — United States writer and editor (1837-1920)
• Hoyle, Edmond Hoyle — English writer on games (1672-1769)
• Hughes, Langston Hughes, James Langston Hughes — United States writer (1902-1967)
• Hunt, Leigh Hunt, James Henry Leigh Hunt — British writer who defended the romanticism of Keats and Shelley (1784-1859)
• Huxley, Aldous Huxley, Aldous Leonard Huxley — English writer; grandson of Thomas Huxley who is remembered mainly for his depiction of a scientifically controlled utopia (1894-1963)
• Irving, John Irving — United States writer of darkly humorous novels (born in 1942)
• Irving, Washington Irving — United States writer remembered for his stories (1783-1859)
• Isherwood, Christopher Isherwood, Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood — United States writer (born in England) whose best known novels portray Berlin in the 1930's and who collaborated with W. H. Auden in writing plays in verse (1904-1986)
• Jackson, Helen Hunt Jackson, Helen Maria Fiske Hunt Jackson — United States writer of romantic novels about the unjust treatment of Native Americans (1830-1885)
• Jacobs, Jane Jacobs — United States writer and critic of urban planning (born in 1916)
• Jacobs, W. W. Jacobs, William Wymark Jacobs — English writer of macabre short stories (1863-1943)
• James, Henry James — writer who was born in the United States but lived in England (1843-1916)
• Jensen, Johannes Vilhelm Jensen — modernistic Danish writer (1873-1950)
• Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Dr. Johnson — English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
• Jong, Erica Jong — United States writer (born in 1942)
• Joyce, James Joyce, James Augustine Aloysius Joyce — influential Irish writer noted for his many innovations (such as stream of consciousness writing) (1882-1941)
• Kafka, Franz Kafka — Czech novelist who wrote in German about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924)
• Keller, Helen Keller, Helen Adams Keller — United States lecturer and writer who was blind and deaf from the age of 19 months; Anne Sullivan taught her to read and write and speak; Helen Keller graduated from college and went on to champion the cause of blind and deaf people (1880-1968)
• Kerouac, Jack Kerouac, Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac — United States writer who was a leading figure of the beat generation (1922-1969)
• Kesey, Ken Kesey, Ken Elton Kesey — United States writer whose best-known novel was based on his experiences as an attendant in a mental hospital (born in 1935)
• Kipling, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Rudyard Kipling — English author of novels and poetry who was born in India (1865-1936)
• Koestler, Arthur Koestler — British writer (born in Hungary) who wrote a novel exposing the Stalinist purges during the 1930s (1905-1983)
• La Fontaine, Jean de La Fontaine — French writer who collected Aesop's fables and published them (1621-1695)
• Lardner, Ring Lardner, Ringgold Wilmer Lardner — United States humorist and writer of satirical short stories (1885-1933)
• La Rochefoucauld, Francois de La Rochefoucauld — French writer of moralistic maxims (1613-1680)
• Lawrence, D. H. Lawrence, David Herbert Lawrence — English novelist and poet and essayist whose work condemned industrial society and explored sexual relationships (1885-1930)
• Lawrence, T. E. Lawrence, Thomas Edward Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia — Welsh soldier who from 1916 to 1918 organized the Arab revolt against the Turks; he later wrote an account of his adventures (1888-1935)
• le Carre, John le Carre, David John Moore Cornwell — English writer of novels of espionage (born in 1931)
• Leonard, Elmore Leonard, Elmore John Leonard, Dutch Leonard — United States writer of thrillers (born in 1925)
• Lermontov, Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov — Russian writer (1814-1841)
• Lewis, C. S. Lewis, Clive Staples Lewis — English critic and novelist; author of theological works and of books for children (1898-1963)
• Lewis, Sinclair Lewis, Harry Sinclair Lewis — United States novelist who satirized middle-class America (1885-1951)
• London, Jack London, John Griffith Chaney — United States writer of novels based on experiences in the Klondike gold rush (1876-1916)
• Lowry, Malcolm Lowry, Clarence Malcolm Lowry — English novelist (1909-1957)
• Lyly, John Lyly — English writer noted for his elaborate style (1554-1606)
• Lytton, First Baron Lytton, Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton — English writer of historical romances (1803-1873)
• Mailer, Norman Mailer — United States writer (born in 1923)
• Malamud, Bernard Malamud — United States writer (1914-1986)
• Malory, Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas Malory — English writer who published a translation of romances about King Arthur taken from French and other sources (died in 1471)
• Malraux, Andre Malraux — French novelist (1901-1976)
• Mann, Thomas Mann — German writer concerned about the role of the artist in bourgeois society (1875-1955)
• Mansfield, Katherine Mansfield, Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp — New Zealand writer of short stories (1888-1923)
• Marquand, John Marquand, John Philip Marquand — United States writer who created the Japanese detective Mr. Moto and wrote other novels as well (1893-1960)
• Marsh, Ngaio Marsh — New Zealand writer of detective stories (1899-1982)
• Mason, A. E. W. Mason, Alfred Edward Woodley Mason — English writer (1865-1948)
• Maugham, Somerset Maugham, W. Somerset Maugham, William Somerset Maugham — English writer (born in France) of novels and short stories (1874-1965)
• Maupassant, Guy de Maupassant, Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant — French writer noted especially for his short stories (1850-1893)
• Maurois, Andre Maurois, Emile Herzog — French writer best known for his biographies (1885-1967)
• McCarthy, Mary McCarthy, Mary Therese McCarthy — United States satirical novelist and literary critic (1912-1989)
• McCullers, Carson McCullers, Carson Smith McCullers — United States novelist (1917-1967)
• McLuhan, Marshall McLuhan, Herbert Marshall McLuhan — Canadian writer noted for his analyses of the mass media (1911-1980)
• Melville, Herman Melville — American writer of novels and short stories (1819-1891)
• Merton, Thomas Merton — United States religious and writer (1915-1968)
• Michener, James Michener, James Albert Michener — United States writer of historical novels (1907-1997)
• Miller, Henry Miller, Henry Valentine Miller — United States novelist whose novels were originally banned as pornographic (1891-1980)
• Milne, A. A. Milne, Alan Alexander Milne — English writer of stories for children (1882-1956)
• Mitchell, Margaret Mitchell, Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell — United States writer noted for her novel about the South during the Civil War (1900-1949)
• Mitford, Nancy Mitford, Nancy Freeman Mitford — English writer of comic novels (1904-1973)
• Mitford, Jessica Mitford, Jessica Lucy Mitford — United States writer (born in England) who wrote on American culture (1917-1996)
• Montaigne, Michel Montaigne, Michel Eyquem Montaigne — French writer regarded as the originator of the modern essay (1533-1592)
• Montgomery, L. M. Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery — Canadian novelist (1874-1942)
• More, Thomas More, Sir Thomas More — English statesman who opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and was imprisoned and beheaded; recalled for his concept of Utopia, the ideal state
• Morrison, Toni Morrison, Chloe Anthony Wofford — United States writer whose novels describe the lives of African-Americans (born in 1931)
• Munro, H. H. Munro, Hector Hugh Munro, Saki — British writer of short stories (1870-1916)
• Murdoch, Iris Murdoch, Dame Jean Iris Murdoch — British writer (born in Ireland) known primarily for her novels (1919-1999)
• Musset, Alfred de Musset, Louis Charles Alfred de Musset — French poet and writer (1810-1857)
• Nabokov, Vladimir Nabokov, Vladimir vladimirovich Nabokov — United States writer (born in Russia) (1899-1977)
• Nash, Ogden Nash — United States writer noted for his droll epigrams (1902-1971)
• Nicolson, Harold Nicolson, Sir Harold George Nicolson — English diplomat and author (1886-1968)
• Norris, Frank Norris, Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. — United States writer (1870-1902)
• Oates, Joyce Carol Oates — United States writer (born in 1938)
• O'Brien, Edna O'Brien — Irish writer (born in 1932)
• O'Connor, Flannery O'Connor, Mary Flannery O'Connor — United States writer (1925-1964)
• O'Flaherty, Liam O'Flaherty — Irish writer of short stories (1896-1984)
• O'Hara, John Henry O'Hara — United States writer (1905-1970)
• Ondaatje, Michael Ondaatje, Philip Michael Ondaatje — Canadian writer (born in Sri Lanka in 1943)
• Orczy, Baroness Emmusca Orczy — British writer (born in Hungary) (1865-1947)
• Orwell, George Orwell, Eric Arthur Blair — imaginative British writer concerned with social justice (1903-1950)
• Page, Thomas Nelson Page — United States diplomat and writer about the Old South (1853-1922)
• Parker, Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Rothschild Parker — United States writer noted for her sharp wit (1893-1967)
• Pasternak, Boris Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich Pasternak — Russian writer whose best known novel was banned by Soviet authorities but translated and published abroad (1890-1960)
• Paton, Alan Paton, Alan Stewart Paton — South African writer (1903-1988)
• Percy, Walker Percy — United States writer whose novels explored human alienation (1916-1990)
• Plath, Sylvia Plath — United States writer and poet (1932-1963)
• Poe, Edgar Allen Poe — United States writer and poet (1809-1849)
• Porter, William Sydney Porter, O. Henry — American writer of short stories whose pen name was O. Henry (1862-1910)
• Porter, Katherine Anne Porter — United States writer of novels and short stories (1890-1980)
• Pound, Ezra Pound, Ezra Loomis Pound — United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)
• Pynchon, Thomas Pynchon — United States writer of pessimistic novels about life in a technologically advanced society (born in 1937)
• Rand, Ayn Rand — United States writer (born in Russia) noted for her polemical novels and political conservativism (1905-1982)
• Richler, Mordecai Richler — Canadian novelist (born in 1931)
• Roberts, Kenneth Roberts — United States writer remembered for his historical novels about Colonial America (1885-1957)
• Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — wife of Franklin Roosevelt and a strong advocate of human rights (1884-1962)
• Roth, Philip Roth, Philip Milton Roth — United States writer whose novels portray middle-class Jewish life (born in 1933)
• Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau — French philosopher and writer born in Switzerland; believed that the natural goodness of man was warped by society; ideas influenced the French Revolution (1712-1778)
• Runyon, Damon Runyon, Alfred Damon Runyon — United States writer of humorous stylized stories about Broadway and the New York underground (1884-1946)
• Rushdie, Salman Rushdie, Ahmed Salman Rushdie — British writer of novels who was born in India; one of his novels is regarded as blasphemous by Muslims and a fatwa was issued condemning him to death (born in 1947)
• Russell, George William Russell, A.E. — Irish writer whose pen name was A.E. (1867-1935)
• Sade, de Sade, Comte Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade, Marquis de Sade — French soldier and writer whose descriptions of sexual perversion gave rise to the term `sadism' (1740-1814)
• Salinger, J. D. Salinger, Jerome David Salinger — United States writer (born 1919)
• Sand, George Sand, Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, Baroness Dudevant — French writer known for works concerning women's rights and independence (1804-1876)
• Sandburg, Carl Sandburg — United States writer remembered for his poetry in free verse and his six volume biography of Abraham Lincoln (1878-1967)
• Saroyan, William Saroyan — United States writer of plays and short stories (1908-1981)
• Sayers, Dorothy Sayers, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dorothy Leigh Sayers — English writer of detective fiction (1893-1957)
• Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller — German romantic writer (1759-1805)
• Scott, Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott — British author of historical novels and ballads (1771-1832)
• Service, Robert William Service — Canadian writer (born in England) who wrote about life in the Yukon Territory (1874-1958)
• Shaw, G. B. Shaw, George Bernard Shaw — British playwright (born in Ireland); founder of the Fabian Society (1856-1950)
• Shelley, Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft Shelley — English writer who created Frankenstein's monster and married Percy Bysshe Shelley (1797-1851)
• Shute, Nevil Shute, Nevil Shute Norway — English writer who settled in Norway after World War II (1899-1960)
• Simenon, Georges Simenon, Georges Joseph Christian Simenon — French writer (born in Belgium) best known for his detective novels featuring Inspector Maigret (1903-1989)
• Sinclair, Upton Sinclair, Upton Beall Sinclair — United States writer whose novels argued for social reform (1878-1968)
• Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer — United States writer (born in Poland) of Yiddish stories and novels (1904-1991)
• Smollett, Tobias Smollett, Tobias George Smollett — Scottish writer of adventure novels (1721-1771)
• Snow, C. P. Snow, Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow of Leicester — English writer of novels about moral dilemmas in academe (1905-1980)
• Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn — Soviet writer and political dissident whose novels exposed the brutality of Soviet labor camps (born in 1918)
• Sontag, Susan Sontag — United States writer (born in 1933)
• Spark, Muriel Spark, Dame Muriel Spark, Muriel Sarah Spark — Scottish writer of satirical novels (born in 1918)
• Spillane, Mickey Spillane, Frank Morrison Spillane — United States writer of popular detective novels (born in 1918)
• Stael, Madame de Stael, Baronne Anne Louise Germaine Necker de Steal-Holstein — French romantic writer (1766-1817)
• Steele, Sir Richrd Steele — English writer (1672-1729)
• Stein, Gertrude Stein — experimental expatriate United States writer (1874-1946)
• Steinbeck, John Steinbeck, John Ernst Steinbeck — United States writer noted for his novels about agricultural workers (1902-1968)
• Stendhal, Marie Henri Beyle — French writer whose novels were the first to feature psychological analysis of the character (1783-1842)
• Stephen, Sir Leslie Stephen — English writer (1832-1904)
• Sterne, Laurence Sterne — English writer (born in Ireland) (1713-1766)
• Stevenson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson — Scottish author (1850-1894)
• Stockton, Frank Stockton, Francis Richard Stockton — United States writer (1834-1902)
• Stoker, Bram Stoker, Abraham Stoker — Irish writer of the horror novel about Dracula (1847-1912)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe — United States writer of a novel about slavery that advanced the abolitionists' cause (1811-1896)
• Strindberg, August Strindberg, Johan August Strindberg — Swedish dramatist and novelist (1849-1912)
• Styron, William Styron — United States writer best known for his novels (born in 1925)
• Sue, Eugene Sue — French writer whose novels described the sordid side of city life (1804-1857)
• Symonds, John Addington Symonds — English writer (1840-1893)
• Thackeray, William Makepeace Thackeray — English writer (born in India) (1811-1863)
• Thoreau, Henry David Thoreau — United States writer and social critic (1817-1862)
• Tocqueville, Alexis Charles Henri Maurice de Tocqueville — French political writer noted for his analysis of American institutions (1805-1859)
• Toklas, Alice B. Toklas — United States writer remembered as the secretary and companion of Gertrude Stein (1877-1967)
• Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien — British philologist and writer (born in South Africa) (1892-1973)
• Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy, Count Lev Nikolayevitch Tolstoy — Russian author remembered for two great novels (1828-1910)
• Trollope, Anthony Trollope — English writer of novels (1815-1882)
• Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev — Russian writer of stories and novels and plays (1818-1883)
• Untermeyer, Louis Untermeyer — United States writer (1885-1977)
• Updike, John Updike, John Hoyer Updike — United States author (born 1932)
• Van Doren, Carl Van Doren, Carl Clinton Van Doren — United States writer and literary critic (1885-1950)
• Vargas Llosa, Mario Vargas Llosa — Peruvian writer (born in 1936)
• Verne, Jules Verne — French writer who is considered the father of science fiction (1828-1905)
• Vidal, Gore Vidal, Eugene Luther Vidal — United States writer (born in 1925)
• Voltaire, Arouet, Francois-Marie Arouet — French writer who was the embodiment of 18th century Enlightenment (1694-1778)
• Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut — United States writer whose novels and short stories are a mixture of realism and satire and science fiction (born in 1922)
• Wain, John Wain, John Barrington Wain — English writer (1925-1994)
• Walker, Alice Walker, Alice Malsenior Walker — United States writer (born in 1944)
• Wallace, Edgar Wallace, Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace — English writer noted for his crime novels (1875-1932)
• Walpole, Horace Walpole, Horatio Walpole, Fourth Earl of Orford — English writer and historian; son of Sir Robert Walpole (1717-1797)
• Walton, Izaak Walton — English writer remember for his treatise on fishing (1593-1683)
• Ward, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold Ward — English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the women's suffrage movement (1851-1920)
• Warren, Robert Penn Warren — United States writer and poet (1905-1989)
• Waugh, Evelyn Waugh, Evelyn Arthur Saint John Waugh — English author of satirical novels (1903-1966)
• Webb, Beatrice Webb, Martha Beatrice Potter Webb — English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943)
• Wells, H. G. Wells, Herbert George Wells — prolific English writer best known for his science-fiction novels; he also wrote on contemporary social problems and wrote popular accounts of history and science (1866-1946)
• Welty, Eudora Welty — United States writer about rural Southern life (born in 1909)
• Werfel, Franz Werfel — United States writer (1890-1945)
• West, Rebecca West, Dame Rebecca West, Cicily Isabel Fairfield — British writer (born in Ireland) (1892-1983)
• Wharton, Edith Wharton, Edith Newbold Jones Wharton — United States novelist (1862-1937)
• White, E. B. White, Elwyn Brooks White — United States writer noted for his humorous essays (1899-1985)
• White, Patrick White, Patrick Victor Martindale White — Australian writer (1912-1990)
• Wiesel, Elie Wiesel, Eliezer Wiesel — United States writer who survived Nazi concentration camps and is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust (born in 1928)
• Wilde, Oscar Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde — Irish writer and wit (1854-1900)
• Wilder, Thornton Wilder, Thornton Niven Wilder — United States writer and dramatist (1897-1975)
• Wilson, Sir Angus Wilson, Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson — English writer of novels and short stories (1913-1991)
• Wilson, Harriet Wilson — author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808-1870)
• Wister, Owen Wister — United States writer (1860-1938)
• Wodehouse, P. G. Wodehouse, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse — English writer known for his humorous novels and stories (1881-1975)
• Wolfe, Thomas Wolfe, Thomas Clayton Wolfe — United States writer best known for his autobiographical novels (1900-1938)
• Wolfe, Tom Wolfe, Thomas Wolfe, Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. — United States writer who has written extensively on American culture (born in 1931)
• Wollstonecraft, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin — English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women; mother of Mary Shelley (1759-1797)
• Wood, Mrs. Henry Wood, Ellen Price Wood — English writer of novels about murders and thefts and forgeries (1814-1887)
• Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Adeline Virginia Stephen Woolf — English author whose work used such techniques as stream of consciousness and the interior monologue; prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group (1882-1941)
• Wouk, Herman Wouk — United States writer (born in 1915)
• Wright, Richard Wright — United States writer whose work is concerned with the oppression of African Americans (1908-1960)
• Wright, Willard Huntington Wright, S. S. Van Dine — United States writer of detective novels (1888-1939)
• Zangwill, Israel Zangwill — English writer (1864-1926)
• Zweig, Stefan Zweig — Austrian writer (1881-1942)

• communicator — a person who communicates with others