English playwright, novelist, and essayist Author Works Drama: Dido, Queen of Carthage, pr. c. 1586-1587 (with Christopher Marlowe) Summer’s Last Will and Testament, pr. 1592 The Isle of Dogs, pr. 1597 (with Ben Jonson; no longer extant) Long Fiction: The Unfortunate Traveller: Or, The Life of Jack Wilton, 1594 (includes poetry) Poetry: The Choise of […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: Hard Lines, 1931 Free Wheeling, 1931 Happy Days, 1933 The Primrose Path, 1935 The Bad Parents’ Garden of Verse, 1936 I’m a Stranger Here Myself, 1938 The Face Is Familiar, 1940 Good Intentions, 1942, revised 1956 Many Long Years Ago, 1945 The Selected Verse of Ogden Nash, 1946 Versus, 1949 […]

Indian novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Swami and Friends, 1935 The Bachelor of Arts, 1937 The Dark Room, 1938 The English Teacher, 1945 (also known as Grateful to Life and Death, 1953) Mr. Sampath, 1949 (also known as The Printer of Malgudi, 1957) The Financial Expert, 1952 Waiting for the Mahatma, 1955 […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Trinidadian British novelist, essayist, and travel writer Born: August 17, 1932 Birthplace: Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago Biography Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, born in Chaguanas, Trinidad, on August 17, 1932, has the peculiar vision of a man who is a product of three cultures: those of India, Trinidad, and Great Britain. His grandfather had come […]

Trinidadian-born British novelist and essayist Identity: East Indian descent Author Works Long Fiction: Fireflies, 1970 The Chip-Chip Gatherers, 1973 A Hot Country, 1983 (also known as Love and Death in a Hot Country) Nonfiction: North of South: An African Journey, 1978 Black and White, 1980 (journalism; also known as Journey to Nowhere: A New World […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Russian-born novelist, short-fiction writer, dramatist, and poet Born: April 23, 1899 Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia Died: July 2, 1977 Place of death: Montreux, Switzerland Biography Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov occupies a unique niche in the annals of literature by having become a major author in both Russian and English. He wrote nine novels, about […]

American novelist and historian Identity: African American Author Works Children’s/Young Adult Literature: Where Does the Day Go?, 1969 The Dancers, 1972 The Dragon Takes a Wife, 1972 Fly, Jimmy, Fly!, 1974 Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff, 1975 The World of Work: A Guide to Choosing a Career, 1975 Social Welfare, 1976 Brainstorm, 1977 Mojo […]

French poet and playwright Author Works Poetry: Contes d’Espagne et d’Italie, 1829 (Tales of Spain and Italy, 1905) Un Spectacle dans un fauteuil, 1833 (first series, 2 volumes; A Performance in an Armchair, 1905) Rolla, 1833 (English translation, 1905) Poésies complètes, 1840 (Complete Poetry, 1905) Poésies nouvelles, 1852 (definitive edition in The Complete Writings; New […]

German novelist Biography Acknowledged only after his death as the equal of such writers as Thomas Mann and Hermann Broch in twentieth century German literature, Robert Musil (MEW-zihl) was Austro-Hungary’s portrait artist and absurdist conscience during the philosophically chaotic years between the world wars. Born in the principality of Carinthia, Austria, into an Austrian family […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Australian poet Born: October 17, 1938 Birthplace: Nabiac, New South Wales, Australia Biography Leslie Allan Murray can be considered the first Australian poet to rise to world prominence. Previous Australian poets had gained some renown outside Australia, but Murray is the first Australian poet in his lifetime to be regarded as one of […]

American historian, essayist, and novelist Identity: African American Author Works Nonfiction: The Omni-Americans: New Perspectives on Black Experience and American Culture, 1970 South to a Very Old Place, 1971 The Hero and the Blues, 1973 Stomping the Blues, 1976 Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie, 1985 (as told to Murray) The Blue Devils […]

French novelist and playwright Author Works Long Fiction: Scènes de la vie de Bohème, 1847-1849 (serial), 1851 (book; The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, 1901) Biography Henri Murger (myewr-zhehr) once said that “Bohemia is the preface to the hospital, the Academy, or the morgue.” The honor of membership in the French Academy never came to […]

British novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Under the Net, 1954 The Flight from the Enchanter, 1956 The Sandcastle, 1957 The Bell, 1958 A Severed Head, 1961 An Unofficial Rose, 1962 The Unicorn, 1963 The Italian Girl, 1964 The Red and the Green, 1965 The Time of the Angels, 1966 The Nice and the Good, 1968 […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Japanese novelist and courtier Born: c. 978 Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan Died: c. 1030 Place of death: Kyoto, Japan Biography Lady Murasaki Shikubu, foremost writer of the Heian period (794-1185) in Japan, had every advantage of birth and education. A member of a family that had produced emperors and diplomats, she was the granddaughter […]

American poet and memoirist Identity: Japanese American Author Works Poetry: After We Lost Our Way, 1989 Listening, 1992 The Colors of Desire, 1995 Nonfiction: A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction, 1987 “Strangers in the Village,” in The Graywolf Annual Five: Multicultural Literacy, 1988 (Rick Simonson and Scott Walker, editors) “Where Are We and […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Canadian short fiction writer and Nobel laureate Born: July 10, 1931 Birthplace: Wingham, Ontario, Canada Biography Alice Munro is one of Canada’s best writers of short fiction. She was born Alice Ann Laidlaw to Robert Eric Laidlaw, a fox farmer, and his ailing but ambitious wife, Ann Chamney Laidlaw, a teacher. In 1949 […]

Jordanian-born Saudi novelist Biography Abdelrahman (or ‘Abd al-Rahmān) Munif (moo-neef) is a highly gifted contemporary Arab novelist. His main themes involve the impact of colonialism and the discovery of oil on the people and politics of the Middle East. Relatively little is known about Munif’s background; it has been determined that he was born in […]

American philosopher Author Works Nonfiction: Sticks and Stones: A Study of American Architecture and Civilization, 1924, revised 1955 The Golden Day: A Study in American Experience and Culture, 1926 (criticism) Herman Melville, 1929 (criticism) The Brown Decades: A Study of the Arts in America, 1865-1895, 1931, revised 1955 Renewal of Life, 1934-1951 (4 volumes) Technics […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Dutch novelist, journalist, and diplomat. Born: March 2, 1820 Place of birth: Amsterdam, Netherlands Died: February 19, 1887 Place of death: Nieder-Ingelheim, Germany Biography Eduard Douwes Dekker, who wrote under the pen name Multatuli, was for many years a colonial administrator in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), principally in Java. Born in […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Ogilvies, 1849 Olive, 1850 The Head of the Family, 1852 Agatha’s Husband, 1853 John Halifax, Gentleman, 1856 A Life for a Life, 1859 Mistress and Maid, 1863 Christian’s Mistake, 1865 A Noble Life, 1866 Two Marriages, 1867 The Women’s Kingdom, 1869 A Brave Lady, 1870 Hannah, 1872 The […]

Irish poet Author Works Poetry: Knowing My Place, 1971 New Weather, 1973 Spirit of Dawn, 1975 Mules, 1977 Names and Addresses, 1978 Immram, 1980 Why Brownlee Left, 1980 Out of Siberia, 1982 Quoof, 1983 The Wishbone, 1984 Mules, and Early Poems, 1985 Selected Poems, 1968-1983, 1986 Selected Poems, 1968-1986, 1987 Meeting the British, 1987 Madoc: […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Writer Born: July 27, 1940 Birthplace: Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India Died: January 28, 2017 Place of death: New York, New York Biography Bharati Mukherjee (MOO-kehr-jee) became one of the literary voices whose skillful depictions of the non-European immigrant experience in the United States she credited with “subverting the very notion of […]

American naturalist Author Works Nonfiction: The Mountains of California, 1894 Our National Parks, 1901 My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911 The Yosemite, 1912 The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, 1913 A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, 1916 The Cruise of the Corwin, 1917 John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings, […]

German-born American poet and translator Author Works Poetry: Dependencies, 1965 Life of a Queen, 1970 (chapbook) The Private Life, 1976 Voices from the Forest, 1977 (chapbook) The Need to Hold Still, 1980 Second Language, 1986 Waving from Shore, 1989 Alive Together: New and Selected Poems, 1996 Translations: The Great Salzburg Theatre of the World, 1969 […]

Polish playwright Author Works Drama: Profesor, pr. 1956 (The Professor, 1977) Policja, pr., pb. 1958 (The Police, 1959) Męczeîstwo Piotra Oheya, pr., pb. 1959 (The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey, 1967) Indyk, pb. 1960 Na peunym mrozu, pr., pb. 1961 (Out at Sea, 1961) Karol, pr., pb. 1961 (Charlie, 1967) Strip-Tease, pr., pb. 1961 (Striptease, 1963) […]

South African novelist, short-story writer, and essayist Author Works Long Fiction: The Wanderers, 1971 Chirundu, 1979, 1994 Father Come Home, 1984 Short Fiction: Man Must Live, and Other Stories, 1946 The Living and Dead, and Other Stories, 1961 In Corner B, 1967 Renewal Time, 1988 Nonfiction: Down Second Avenue, 1959 (autobiography) The African Image, 1962, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American playwright, actor, and novelist Born: March 5, 1819 Birthplace: Bordeaux, France Died: July 21, 1870 Place of death: Twickenham, England Biography Anna Cora Mowatt (MOW-uht), also known as Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie, was born Anna Cora Ogden in 1819, She was the daughter of Samuel Gouverneur Ogden, a New York merchant, […]

American poet Identity: African American Author Works Poetry: Hosiery Seams on a Bowlegged Woman, 1983 Pyramid of Bone, 1989 At Redbones, 1990 Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky, 1991 Small Congregations: New and Selected Poems, 1993 Last Chance for the Tarzan Holler, 1998 Drama: The Dolls in the Basement, pr. 1984 Talking to Myself, […]

American novelist Identity: African American Author Works Long Fiction: Devil in a Blue Dress, 1990 A Red Death, 1991 White Butterfly, 1992 Black Betty, 1994 RL’s Dream, 1995 A Little Yellow Dog, 1996 Gone Fishin’, 1997 Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, 1998 Blue Light, 1998 Walkin’ the Dog, 1999 Fearless Jones, 2001 Bad Boy Brawly Brown, […]

Greek poet Author Works Poetry: Eros Drapetês (The Runaway Love, 1651) Europa (English translation, 1651) three fragments from Bucolica (1651) Biography Little is known about the life of Moschus (MAHS-kuhs), a minor poet of the Hellenistic pastoral tradition. The sole surviving sources on his life are a brief entry in the Suda, a literary and […]

English playwright, novelist, and short-story writer Author Works Drama: The Dock Brief, pr. 1957 (radio play and televised), pr. 1958 (staged; one act) I Spy, pr. 1957 (radio play), pr. 1958 (televised), pr. 1959 (staged) Call Me a Liar, pr. 1958 (radio play and televised), pr. 1968 (staged) What Shall We Tell Caroline?, pr., pb. […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize–winning American author, editor, and professor. Born: February 18, 1931 Birthplace: Lorain, Ohio Biography Toni Morrison greatly advanced the American literary canon by producing unselfconscious works about the experiences of African Americans, often focusing in particular on black females, and with a black audience in mind. Yet her novels, […]

American novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: My Uncle Dudley, 1942 The Man Who Was There, 1945 The Home Place, 1948 The World in the Attic, 1949 Man and Boy, 1951 The Works of Love, 1952 The Deep Sleep, 1953 The Huge Season, 1954 The Field of Vision, 1956 Love Among the Cannibals, […]

English novelist, poet, artist, and social theorist Author Works Poetry: The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems, 1858 The Life and Death of Jason, 1867 The Earthly Paradise, 1868-1870 (3 volumes) Love Is Enough: Or, The Freeing of Pharamond, 1872 The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, 1876 Chants for […]

German poet Author Works Poetry: Gedichte, 1838 (Poems, 1959) Long Fiction: Maler Nolten, 1832 Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag, 1855 (Mozart on the Way to Prague, 1934) Biography Eduard Mörike (MOH-ree-kuh) belongs to the group of German Romantic writers called the Swabian School. His poems are simple, cheerful, and readable, without being trivial. There […]

British novelist and diplomat Author Works Long Fiction: The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, 1824 The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England, 1828 Zohrab the Hostage, 1832 Ayesha: The Maid of Kars, 1834 Nonfiction: A Journey Through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor to Constantinople in the Years 1808 and 1809, 1812 A […]

Japanese novelist, short-story writer, poet, and playwright Author Works Long Fiction: Wita Sekusuarisu, 1909 (Vita Sexualis, 1972) Seinen, 1910-1911 (Youth, 1994) Gan, 1911-1913 (The Wild Geese, 1959) Kaijin, 1949 (The Ashes of Destruction, 1994) Short Fiction: “Maihime,” 1890 (“My Lady of the Dance,” 1906; also known as “The Girl Who Danced” or “The Dancing Girl”) […]

English philosopher and politician Author Works Long Fiction: De Optimo Reipublicae Statu, deque Nova Insula Utopia, 1516 (Utopia, 1551) Nonfiction: The Life of John Picus, Earl of Myrandula, 1510 (translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola) A Dyaloge of Sir Thomas More, 1529 An Apologye of Syr Thomas More, Knight, 1533 History of King Richard III, […]

American critic and essayist Author Works Nonfiction: The Great Refusal, 1894 Shelburne Essays, 1904-1921 (11 volumes) Platonism, 1917 The Religion of Plato, 1921 Hellenistic Philosophies, 1923 The Christ of the New Testament, 1924 Christ the Word, 1927 New Shelburne Essays, 1928-1936 The Catholic Faith, 1931 The Greek Tradition, 1931 (includes Platonism, The Religion of Plato, […]

Italian novelist, short-story writer, and travel writer Author Works Long Fiction: Gli indifferenti, 1929 (The Indifferent Ones, 1932; also known as The Time of Indifference, 1953) Le ambizioni sbagliate, 1935 (The Wheel of Fortune, 1937; also known as Mistaken Ambitions) La mascherata, 1941 (The Fancy Dress Party, 1947) Agostino, 1944 (English translation, 1947) La romana, […]

Italian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Menzogna e sortilegio, 1948 (House of Liars, 1951) L’isola di Arturo, 1957 (Arturo’s Island, 1959) La Storia, 1974 (History: A Novel, 1977) Aracoeli, 1982 (English translation, 1984) Short Fiction: Il gioco segreto, 1941 Lo scialle andaluso, 1963 Racconti dimenticati, 2002 Poetry: Alibi, 1958 Il mondo salvato dai ragazzini, 1968 […]

American novelist and short-story writer Identity: Mexican American Author Works Long Fiction: Caras viejas y vino nuevo, 1975 (Old Faces and New Wine, 1981; also known as Barrio on the Edge, 1998) La verdad sin voz, 1979 (Death of an Anglo, 1988) Reto en el paraíso, 1983 The Brick People, 1988 The Rag Doll Plagues, […]

Irish poet Author Works Poetry: Epistles, Odes, and Other Poems, 1806 Irish Melodies, 1807-1834 (music by Sir John Stevenson) Lalla Rookh, 1817 The Fudge Family in Paris, 1818 (satire) Fables for the Holy Alliance, 1823 (satire) The Loves of the Angels, 1823 The Poetical Works of Moore, 1910 (A. D. Godley, editor) Long Fiction: Intercepted […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American poet Born: November 15, 1887 Birthplace: Kirkwood, Missouri Died: February 5, 1972 Place of death: New York, New York Biography Most biographical sources on Marianne Craig Moore include the facts that T. S. Eliot was also born in St. Louis (Kirkwood is a St. Louis suburb) about ten months after Moore, that […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American short-story writer and novelist Born: January 13, 1957 Birthplace: Glen Falls, New York Biography Lorrie Moore emerged in the late twentieth century as a strong new voice in American fiction. Born Marie Lorena Moore, she was later nicknamed Lorrie by her parents, Henry T. Moore Jr., an insurance executive, and Jeanne Day […]

Irish novelist, playwright, critic, and memoirist Author Works Long Fiction: A Modern Lover, 1883 A Mummer’s Wife, 1884 A Drama in Muslin, 1886 A Mere Accident, 1887 Spring Days, 1888 Mike Fletcher, 1889 Vain Fortune, 1891 Esther Waters, 1894 Evelyn Innes, 1898 Sister Teresa, 1901 The Lake, 1905 Muslin, 1915 The Brook Kerith, 1916 Lewis […]

Irish-born Canadian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Judith Hearne, 1955 (pb. in U.S. as The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) The Feast of Lupercal, 1957 The Luck of Ginger Coffey, 1960 An Answer from Limbo, 1962 The Emperor of Ice-Cream, 1965 I Am Mary Dunne, 1968 Fergus, 1970 Catholics, 1972 The Great Victorian Collection, 1975 […]

American novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Garden State, 1991 The Ice Storm, 1994 Purple America, 1997 Short Fiction: The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven: A Novella and Stories, 1995 Demonology, 2000 Nonfiction: The Black Veil: A Memoir with Digressions, 2002 Edited Text: Joyful Noise: The New Testament Revisited, 1997 (with Darcey […]

Canadian novelist Author Works Children’s/Young Adult Literature: Anne of Green Gables, 1908 Anne of Avonlea, 1909 Kilmeny of the Orchard, 1910 The Story Girl, 1911 Chronicles of Avonlea, 1912 The Golden Road, 1913 Anne of the Island, 1915 Anne’s House of Dreams, 1917 Rainbow Valley, 1919 Further Chronicles of Avonlea, 1920 Rilla of Ingleside, 1921 […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 French historian and political theorist Born: January 18, 1689 Birthplace: La Brède, near Bordeaux, France Died: February 10, 1755 Place of death: Paris, France Biography Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu (mohn-tehs-kyew), often more simply referred to as Charles de Montesquieu, was born at Château La Brède, the French […]

Italian poet Author Works Poetry: Ossi di seppia, 1925 (partial translation, The Bones of Cuttlefish, 1983; full translation, Cuttlefish Bones, 1992) Le occasioni, 1939 (The Occasions, 1987) La bufera e altro, 1956 (The Storm, and Other Poems, 1978) Poems by Eugenio Montale, 1959 Satura, 1962 (Satura: Five Poems, 1969) Eugenio Montale: Poesie/Poems, 1965 Selected Poems, […]

French essayist Author Works Nonfiction: Essais, books 1-2, 1580; books 1-2 revised, 1582; books 1-3, 1588; books 1-3 revised, 1595 (The Essays, 1603) Journal du voyage, 1774 (Travel Journal, 1842) Complete Works: Essays, Travel Journal, Letters, 1957 Translation: La Théologie naturelle, 1569 (of Raymond de Sebond’s Theologia naturalis) Biography The father of Michel de Montaigne […]

American and Irish poet Author Works Poetry: Forms of Exile, 1958 Poisoned Lands, and Other Poems, 1961 (revised as Poisoned Lands, 1977) A Chosen Light, 1967 Tides, 1970 The Rough Field, 1972, revised 1989 A Slow Dance, 1975 The Great Cloak, 1978 Selected Poems, 1982 The Dead Kingdom, 1984 Mount Eagle, 1988 New Selected Poems, […]

German historian Author Works Nonfiction: Römische Geschichte, 1854-1856 (3 volumes; The History of Rome, 1868-1886; 4 volumes) Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens, 1860 Römisches Staatsrecht, 1871-1888 (3 volumes) Die Provinzen von Caesar bis Diokletian, 1885 (volume 5 of Römische Geschichte; The Provinces of the Roman Empire from Caesar to Diocletian, 1886) Römisches Strafrecht, 1899 Edited Text: […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American Indian novelist, poet, memoirist, and dramatist Born: February 27, 1934 Birthplace: Lawton, Oklahoma Biography Navarre Scott Momaday (MAHM-uh-day) is perhaps the foremost writer of American Indian poetry, fiction, and historical autobiography. Of predominantly Kiowa ancestry, he was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, on February 27, 1934, to Alfred Morris and Mayme Natachee Scott […]

Hungarian playwright Author Works Drama: A doktor úr, pr., pb. 1902 Józsi, pb. 1904 Az ördög, pr., pb. 1907 (The Devil, 1908) Liliom, pr., pb. 1909 (English translation, 1921) A testőr, pr., pb. 1910 (The Guardsman, 1910) A farkas, pr., pb. 1912 (The Wolf, 1914) A fehér felhő, pr. 1916 (The White Cloud, 1929) Farsang, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 French playwright, actor, and director Born: January 15, 1622 (baptized) Birthplace: Paris, France Died: February 17, 1673 Place of death: Paris, France Biography Not many details of the life of Molière (mawl-yehr) are known, but of his reputation as France’s comic genius there is no doubt. He was a popular and appreciated playwright […]

Southern African novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Moeti oa Bochabela, 1907 (The Traveller of the East, 1934) Pitseng, 1910 Chaka, 1925 (English translation, 1931) Biography Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (moh-FOH-loh) was a Southern African writer whose three novels established a literary tradition in his native Sesotho language and influenced African writers throughout the twentieth century. He […]

English novelist Identity: Chinese descent Author Works Long Fiction: The Monkey King, 1978 Sour Sweet, 1982 An Insular Possession, 1986 The Redundancy of Courage, 1991 Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard, 1995 Renegade or Halo2, 1999 Biography That Timothy Peter Mo is one of the most highly regarded of contemporary British novelists is supported by the prestigious […]

Guyanese-born British novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Corentyne Thunder, 1941 A Morning at the Office, 1950 (also known as Morning in Trinidad) Shadows Move Among Them, 1951 Children of Kaywana, 1952 The Weather in Middenshot, 1952 The Life and Death of Sylvia, 1953 (also known as Sylvia) The Adding Machine, 1954 (novella) The Harrowing of […]

English short-story writer, playwright, and poet Author Works Short Fiction: Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery, 1824-1832 Belford Regis: Or, Sketches of a Country Town, 1835 Country Stories, 1837 Atherton, and Other Tales, 1854 Drama: Julian, pr., pb. 1823 The Foscari, pb. 1826 Rienzi, pb. 1828 Charles the First, pb. 1834 Poetry: Verses, […]

Canadian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Who Has Seen the Wind, 1947 The Kite, 1962 The Vanishing Point, 1973 How I Spent My Summer Holidays, 1981 Since Daisy Creek, 1984 Ladybug, Ladybug … , 1988 Roses Are Difficult Here, 1990 For Art’s Sake, 1992 The Black Bonspiel of Willie MacCrimmon, 1993 (novella; adaptation of his […]

American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and doctor Author Works Long Fiction: In War Time, 1885 Roland Blake, 1886 Far in the Forest, 1889 Characteristics, 1892 When All the Woods Are Green, 1894 Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker, 1897 The Adventures of François, 1899 Dr. North and His Friends, 1900 Circumstance, 1901 Constance Trescott, 1905 The Red […]

American novelist Biography Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell, born in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 8, 1900, was the second child of Maybelle (Stephens) and Eugene Muse Mitchell, an attorney and president of the Atlanta Historical Society. Atlanta’s history meant Civil War history, and the perceptive young daughter of the Mitchell household developed a keen interest in this […]

English feminist and psychologist Author Works Nonfiction: “Women: The Longest Revolution,” 1966 (essay) Woman’s Estate, 1971 Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis, 1974 Women: The Longest Revolution, 1984 (collected essays) Mad Men and Medusas: Reclaiming Hysteria and the Effects of Sibling Relations on the Human Condition, 2000 Edited Texts: The Rights and […]

Indian-born Canadian novelist and short-story writer Identity: East Indian Canadian Author Works Long Fiction: Such a Long Journey, 1991 A Fine Balance, 1996 Family Matters, 2001 Short Fiction: Tales from Firozsha Baag, 1987 (pb. in U.S. as Swimming Lessons, and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag, 1989) Biography Rohinton Mistry spent his first twenty-three years in […]

Chilean poet Biography It is speculated that Lucila Godoy Alcayaga’s pen name, Gabriela Mistral (mee-STRAHL), comes from the names of two earlier poets, Gabriele D’Annunzio and Frédéric Mistral. “Gabriela” also recalls the angel Gabriel and “Mistral,” the Mediterranean wind. Spiritual and natural forces pervade her work, which generally displays the virtues of simplicity and clarity. […]

French poet Author Works Poetry: Mirèio, 1859 (English translation, 1867) Calendau, 1867 Lis Isclo d’or, 1876 Nerto, 1884 Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose, 1897 (The Song of the Rhône, 1937) Lis Oulivado, 1912 Drama: La Rèino Jano, pb. 1890 Nonfiction: Lou Tresor dóu Félibrige, 1878 (dictionary; 2 volumes) Moun espelido, 1906 (Memoirs of Mistral, 1907; also […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Japanese author, playwright, poet, director, and actor. Born: January 14, 1925 Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan Died: November 25, 1970 Place of death: Tokyo, Japan Biography Yukio Mishima (mee-shee-mah) was a writer of great power—widely regarded in his last years as a leading candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature—whose life became a performance, and […]

Chinese-born American writer Identity: Chinese American Author Works Nonfiction: Red Azalea, 1994 Long Fiction: Katherine, 1995 Becoming Madame Mao, 1999 Wild Ginger, 2002 Biography Anchee Min is noted for her versatility as a writer. Although she was born in China after Mao Zedong’s ascension to power, Min’s early years were still comparatively middle-class. Her father, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English poet Born: December 9, 1608 Birthplace: London, England Died: November 8, 1674 Place of death: London, England Biography John Milton was born in 1608 above his father’s scrivener’s shop on Bread Street, Cheapside, London. He was born to troubled times, living through the late Elizabethan period, the Jacobean upheavals and the Commonwealth […]

English poet, novelist, playwright, and essayist Author Works Children’s/Young Adult Literature: Once on a Time, 1917 When We Were Very Young, 1924 (verse) A Gallery of Children, 1925 Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926 Now We Are Six, 1927 (verse) The House at Pooh Corner, 1928 Toad of Toad Hall, 1929 (drama) The Ugly Duckling, 1941 (drama) Prince Rabbit […]

American critic and memoirist Identity: Gay or bisexual Author Works Nonfiction: Sexual Politics, 1970 The Prostitution Papers, 1971; rev. ed. 1976 Flying, 1974 Sita, 1977 The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice, 1979 Going to Iran, 1981 The Loony-Bin Trip, 1990 The Politics of Cruelty: An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment, 1994 A.D., […]

American novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz, 1960 Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, 1997 Short Fiction: Conditionally Human, 1962 View from the Stars, 1964 The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr., 1980 The Science Fiction Stories of Walter M. Miller, Jr., 1987 Biography Walter Michael Miller, Jr., […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Good Mother, 1986 Family Pictures, 1990 For Love, 1993 The Distinguished Guest, 1995 While I Was Gone, 1999 The World Below, 2001 Short Fiction: “Given Names,” 1981 “Leaving Home,” 1982 “Tyler and Brina,” 1985 “The Lover of Women,” 1986 “Calling,” 1986 Inventing the Abbotts, and Other Stories, 1987 […]

American psychologist Author Works Nonfiction: Toward a New Psychology of Women 1976, revised 1986 Women’s Growth in Connection, 1991 (with others) The Healing Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life, 1997 (with Irene Pierce Stiver) Edited Texts: Psychoanalysis and Women: Contributions to New Theory and Therapy, 1973 Psychoanalyis and Women, 1974 Biography […]

American playwright and actor Author Works Drama: The Circus Theater, pr. 1967 (includes 3 one-act plays, Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer, Perfect Son, and The Circus Lady) Nobody Hears a Broken Drum, pr. 1970 That Championship Season, pr., pb. 1972 Barrymore’s Ghost, pr., pb. 1997 Screenplay: That Championship Season, 1982 (adaptation of his […]

American novelist Identity: Gay or bisexual Author Works Long Fiction: A Gradual Joy, 1953 (as Alma Routsong) Round Shape, 1959 (as Routsong) A Place for Us, 1969 (reissued as Patience and Sarah, 1972) The Love of Good Women, 1986 Side by Side, 1990 Laurel, 1996 Short Fiction: A Dooryard Full of Flowers, and Other Short […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 American novelist, essayist, and short-story writer Born: December 26, 1891 Birthplace: New York, New York Died: June 7, 1980 Place of death: Pacific Palisades, California Biography Creator of a first-person style that deftly mixes fact, philosophy, and fantasy, Henry Valentine Miller was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. His father, Heinrich, drank […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 American playwright and essayist, vocal opponent of McCarthyism Born: October 17, 1915 Birthplace: New York, New York Died: February 10, 2005 Place of death: Roxbury, Connecticut Biography Along with Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller is usually considered the most important American playwright of the generation that came out of World War II. Miller grew […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 American Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and playwright. Born: February 22, 1892 Birthplace: Rockland, Maine Died: October 19, 1950 Place of death: Austerlitz, New York Biography Despite the intricacies of its rhetoric, the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay speaks directly and intensely of the emotions. Her work both inspired and shocked the generation to […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English philosopher Born: May 20, 1806 Birthplace: London, England Died: May 8, 1873 Place of death: Avignon, France Biography A persistently controversial intellectual leader, John Stuart Mill sought to develop the utilitarian movement, founded by Jeremy Bentham and promoted by Mill’s father James, into a force for humanitarianism. Though early readers took his […]

Hungarian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Szent Péter esernyöje, 1895 (St. Peter’s Umbrella, 1900) Beszterce ostroma, 1895 (The Siege of Beszterce, 1982) Prakovszky, a siket kovács, 1897 (Prakovszky, the Deaf Blacksmith, 1962) Különös házusság, 1900 (A Strange Marriage, 1964);A Noszty fiú esete Tóth Marival, 1908 A fekete város, 1910 Short Fiction: A tót atyafiak, 1881 […]

English playwright Author Works Drama: The Honest Whore, Part I, pr., pb. 1604 (with Thomas Dekker) The Family of Love, pr. C. 1604-1607 The Phoenix, pr. 1604 Your Five Gallants, pr. 1604-1607 A Trick to Catch the Old One, pr. C. 1605-1606 A Mad World, My Masters, pr. C. 1606 Michaelmas Term, pr. C. 1606 […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Tales of the South Pacific, 1947 The Fires of Spring, 1949 The Bridges at Toko-Ri, 1953 Sayonara, 1954 The Bridge at Andau, 1954 Hawaii, 1959 Caravans, 1963 The Source, 1965 The Drifters, 1971 Centennial, 1974 Chesapeake, 1978 The Covenant, 1980 Space, 1982 Poland, 1983 Texas, 1985 Legacy, 1987 Alaska, […]

Florentine artist and poet Author Works Poetry: Rime di Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 1623 Le Rime di Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 1863 (Cesare Guasti, editor) The Sonnets of Michel Angelo, 1878 Sonnets of Michel Angelo, 1905 Rime di Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1960 The Complete Poems of Michelangelo, 1960 Michelangelo: Self-Portrait, 1963 Nonfiction: I, Michelangelo, Sculptor: An Autobiography Through Letters, 1962 […]

American poet and novelist Author Works Poetry: Willie’s Throw, 1979 Zip Odes, 1979 Araminta and the Coyotes, 1991 “… And Nobody Objected,” 1992 Merrill Cove, 1998 Long Fiction: Will West, 1956 Genoa, 1965 (includes documentary material) Patagoni, 1971 (includes documentary material) Apalache, 1976 (includes documentary material) 3 × 3, 1989 (with Fielding Dawson and Michael […]

American poet and translator Author Works Poetry: A Mask for Janus, 1952 The Dancing Bears, 1954 Green with Beasts, 1956 The Drunk in the Furnace, 1960 The Moving Target, 1963 The Lice, 1967 Animae, 1969 The Carrier of Ladders, 1970 Writings to an Unfinished Accompaniment, 1973 The First Four Books of Poems, 1975 The Compass […]

American theologian and poet Identity: Christian Author Works Nonfiction: Cistercian Contemplatives, 1948 The Seven Storey Mountain, 1948 What Is Contemplation?, 1948 Exile Ends in Glory, 1948 The Waters of Siloe, 1949 Seeds of Contemplation, 1949 What Are These Wounds?, 1950 Seasons of Celebration, 1950 The Ascent to Truth, 1951 A Balanced Life of Prayer, 1951 […]

American poet Identity: Gay or bisexual Biography James Ingram Merrill was one of the most accessible poets of the twentieth century. A worldly man with something of a “playboy” image–due, in part, to having been born to Charles Edward Merrill, the cofounder of the prestigious brokerage house Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith–he was educated […]

American poet and playwright Author Works Children’s/Young Adult Literature: The Real Book About Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1952 The Real Book About Amazing Birds, 1954 The Voice of Liberty: Emma Lazarus, 1959 A Gaggle of Geese, 1960 Mommies at Work, 1961 There Is No Rhyme for Silver, 1962 Funny Town, 1963 What’s in the Middle of […]

American novelist and short-story writer Identity: African American Author Works Long Fiction: Daddy Was a Number Runner, 1970 Fragments of the Ark, 1994 Shadow Dancing, 2000 Short Fiction: “Daddy Was a Number Runner,” 1967 “A Happening in Barbados,” 1968 “The Thick End Is for Whipping,” 1968 “That Girl from Creektown,” 1972 “I Loves You Rain,” […]

French short-story writer and novelist Author Works Short Fiction: Mosaïque, 1833 (The Mosaic, 1905) La Double Méprise, 1833 (A Slight Misunderstanding, 1905) La Vénus d’Ille, 1837 (The Venus of Ille, 1903) Colomba, 1840 (English translation, 1853) Carmen, 1845 (English translation, 1878) Nouvelles, 1852 (Stories, 1905) “Lokis,” 1869 Dernières Nouvelles, 1873 (Last Stories, 1905) Carmen, and […]

Russian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Khristos i Antikhrist, 1896-1905 (collective title for the following 3 novels; Christ and Antichrist, 1901-1905) Smert bogov: Yulian Otstupnik, 1896 (The Death of the Gods, 1901; also known as The Death of the Gods: Or, Julian the Apostate, 1929) Voskresshiye bogi: Leonardo da Vinci, 1901 (The Forerunner, 1902; also […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: Love Letter from an Impossible Land, 1944 Ships and Other Figures, 1948 The Open Sea, and Other Poems, 1958 The Bottle Imp, 1958 (libretto; music by Peter Whiton; adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story) The Wreck of the Thresher, and Other Poems, 1964 Earth Walk: New and Selected Poems, 1970 […]

English novelist and poet Author Works Long Fiction: The Shaving of Shagpat, 1855 Farina, 1857 The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, 1859 Evan Harrington, 1861 Emilia in England, 1864 (also known as Sandra Belloni: Or, Emilia in England, 1886) Rhoda Fleming, 1865 Vittoria, 1867 The Adventures of Harry Richmond, 1871 Beauchamp’s Career, 1874-1875 (serial), 1876 (book) […]

American critic Author Works Nonfiction: George Bernard Shaw: His Plays, 1905 The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, 1908 A Book of Burlesques, 1916 (satire) A Book of Prefaces, 1917 In Defense of Women, 1918 The American Language, 1919, revised 1936, 1945 (Supplement I), 1948 (Supplement II) Prejudices, 1919-1927 (in six series) Notes on Democracy, 1926 Treatise […]

Greek playwright Author Works Drama: Orge, 321 B.C.E. (Anger, 1921) Samia, 321-316 B.C.E. (The Girl from Samos, 1909) Dyskolos, 317 B.C.E. (The Bad-Tempered Man, 1921; also known as The Grouch) Perikeiromenē, 314-310 B.C.E. (The Girl Who Was Shorn, 1909) Aspis, C. 314 B.C.E. (The Shield, 1921) Epitrepontes, after 304 B.C.E. (The Arbitration, 1909) Comedies, pb. […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American novelist Born: August 1, 1819 Birthplace: New York, New York Died: September 28, 1891 Place of death: New York, New York Biography Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819. His family was of English, Scots, and Dutch ancestry and had some claims to eminence on both sides. […]

Syrian poet Author Works Poetry: Stephanos, C. 90-80 B.C.E. (anthology; Fifty Poems, 1890; best known as Garland) Biography The birthplace and early home of Meleager (mehl-ee-AY-gur) was Gadara in Syria, a town which, because of its cultural tradition, he called the Syrian Athens. This tradition was the result largely of its famous citizen, the Cynic […]