Authors Summaries

Australian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Girl with a Monkey, 1958 A Descant for Gossips, 1960 The Well-Dressed Explorer, 1962 The Slow Natives, 1965 A Boat Load of Home Folk, 1968 The Acolyte, 1972 A Kindness Cup, 1974 An Item from the Late News, 1982 Beachmasters, 1985 It’s Raining in Mango, 1987 Reaching Tin River, […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Russian American author of science fiction and nonfiction. Born: January 2, 1920 Birthplace: Petrovichi, Soviet Union (now in Russia) Died: April 6, 1992 Place of death: New York, New York Biography Although often singled out for the great number and wide variety of his books, to the general reader Isaac Asimov (AZ-eh-mof) is […]

American poet Biography John Lawrence Ashbery has been called one of the most significant American postwar poets. His breakthrough syntax and artistic vision make his poetry exceptional among that produced in the twentieth century. He has received some of the most prestigious national and international honors, including the Robert Frost Medal from the Poetry Society […]

Polish-born American novelist Identity: Jewish Author Works Long Fiction: Dos Shtetl, 1905 (The Little Town, 1907) Amerike, 1911 (America, 1918) Motke Ganev, 1916 (Mottke the Thief, 1917) Onkl Mozes, 1918 (Uncle Moses, 1920) Kiddush Hashem, 1920 (English translation, 1926) Toyt Urteyl, 1926 (Judge Not, 1938) Khayim Lederers Tsurikkumen, 1927 (Chaim Lederer’s Return, 1938) Farn Mabul, […]

American scholar Identity: African American Author Works Nonfiction: Rhetoric of Black Revolution, 1969 Transracial Communication, 1973 Epic in Search of African Kings, 1978 Mass Communication: Principles and Practices, 1979 (with Mary Cassata) Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change, 1980, revised 1988 The Afrocentric Idea, 1987, revised and expanded 1998 Kemet, Afrocentricity, and Knowledge, 1990 The […]

Russian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Smert’ Lande, 1904 (novella; Ivan Lande, 1916) Sanin, 1907 (Sanine, 1914) U posledney cherty, 1912 (Breaking-Point, 1915) Dikie, 1923 (The Savage, 1924) Short Fiction: The Millionaire, 1915 Rasskazy, 1917 Tales of the Revolution, 1917 Drama: Zakon dikarya, pb. 1912 (The Law of the Savage, 1921) Revnost’, pr., pb. 1913 […]

French poet, essayist, and playwright Author Works Nonfiction: Correspondance avec Jacques Rivière, 1924 (Correspondence with Jacques Rivière, 1965) “À la grande nuit: Ou, Le Bluff surréaliste,” 1927 (“In the Dark: Or, The Surrealist Bluff,” 1968) L’Art et la mort, 1929 (Art and Death, 1968) Les Nouvelles Révélations de l’etre, 1937 Le Théâtre et son double, […]

Mexican short-story writer Author Works Short Fiction: Varia invención, 1949 (Various Inventions, 1964) Confabulario, 1952 (Confabulary, 1964) Punto de Plata, 1958 (Silverpoint, 1964) Bestiario, 1958 (Bestiary, 1964) Confabulario total, 1941-1961, 1962 (Confabulary, and Other Inventions, 1964) Palindroma, 1971 Confabulario personal, 1980 Narrativa completa, 1997 Long Fiction: La feria, 1963 (The Fair, 1977) Drama: La hora […]

Spanish and French playwright Author Works Drama: Pique-nique en campagne, wr. 1952, pr. 1959 (Picnic on the Battlefield, 1960) Cérémonie pour un noir assasiné, wr. 1956, pb. 1965 (Ceremony for an Assassinated Black, 1971) Le Labyrinthe, wr. 1956, pb. 1961 (The Labyrinth, 1967) Les Amours impossibles, wr. 1957, pr. 1965 (The Impossible Loves, 1968) La […]

German-born French poet and artist Author Works Poetry: Der Vogel Selbdritt, 1920 Die Wolkenpumpe, 1920 Der Pyramidenrock, 1924 Weisst du schwarzt du, 1930 Des taches dans le vide, 1937 Sciure de gamme, 1938 Muscheln und Schirme, 1939 Rire de coquille, 1944 Le Siège de l’air, 1946 (as Jean Arp) On My Way: Poetry and Essays, […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Mountain Path, 1936 Between the Flowers, wr. in the late 1930’s, pb. 1999 Hunter’s Horn, 1949 The Dollmaker, 1954 The Weedkiller’s Daughter, 1970 The Kentucky Trace: A Novel of the American Revolution, 1974 Nonfiction: Seedtime on the Cumberland, 1960 Flowering of the Cumberland, 1963 Old Burnside, 1977 Biography Harriette […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English literary critic Born: December 24, 1822 Birthplace: Laleham, England Died: April 15, 1888 Place of death: Dingle Bank, Liverpool, England Biography Matthew Arnold—poet, educator, and literary and social critic—was born at Laleham-on-Thames in Surrey on December 24, 1822, the second child and eldest son of Mary Penrose Arnold and the Reverend Thomas […]

Ghanaian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, 1968 Fragments, 1969 Why Are We So Blest?, 1972 Two Thousand Seasons, 1973 The Healers, 1978 Osiris Rising, 1995 KMT: In the House of Life, an Epistemic Novel, 2002 Short Fiction: “Yaw Manu’s Charm,” The Atlantic, 1968 “The Offal Kind,” Harper’s, 1969 […]

Argentine novelist Author Works Long Fiction: El juguete rabioso, 1926 Los siete locos, 1929 (The Seven Madmen, 1984) Los lanzallamas, 1931 El amor brujo, 1932 Short Fiction: El jorobadito, 1933 El criador de gorilas, 1941 Drama: Trescientos millones, pr. 1932 El fabricante de fantasmas, pr. 1936 Saverio el cruel, pr. 1936 Nonfiction: Aguafuertes porteñas, 1933 […]

Japanese poet Author Works Poetry: Ise monogatari, tenth century, based on Narihira kashū, ninth century (Tales of Ise, 1968) Biography Like those of Beau Brummel or Casanova, the life of Ariwara no Narihira (ahr-ee-wah-rah noh nah-ree-hee-rah) has been so romanticized that it is difficult to sift fact from fiction. In addition, although he has traditionally […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Greek philosopher Born: 384 b.c.e. Birthplace: Stagirus, Chalcidice, Greece Died: 322 b.c.e. Place of death: Chalcis, Euboea, Greece Biography Aristotle, one of the most famous philosophers in history, was born in Stagirus, a little town on the peninsula of Chalcidice. He was the son of Nicomachus, a physician, and Phaestis. The family was […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Greek playwright Born: c. 450 b.c.e. Birthplace: Cydathenaeon, Greece Died: c. 385 b.c.e. Place of death: Athens, Greece Biography Aristophanes (ar-uh-STAHF-uh-neez) is considered the greatest writer of Greek comedy, and his plays numbering at least forty were produced for centuries because of their wit, comic invention, poetic language, and characterization. Eleven complete plays […]

Italian poet Author Works Poetry: Orlando furioso, 1516, 1521, 1532 (English translation, 1591) Satire, wr. 1517-1525, pb. 1534 (Ariosto’s Satyres, 1608) Cinque canti, 1545 Drama: La cassaria, pr., pb. 1508, revised pb. 1530 (The Coffer, 1975) I suppositi, pr. 1509 (The Pretenders, 1566) I studenti, wr. 1519 (completed by Gabriele Ariosto as La scolastica, pb. […]

Italian poet and playwright Author Works Drama: Il marescalco, pb. 1533 (revised version of the original text of 1527; The Marescalco, 1986) La cortigiana, pb. 1534 (revised version of the original text of 1525; The Courtesan, 1926) Lo ipocrito, pb. 1540 La Talanta, pr., pb. 1542 Il filosofo, pb. 1546 La Orazia, pb. 1546 (verse) […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 German American political theorist Born: October 14, 1906 Birthplace: Linden (now part of Hanover), Prussia, German Empire Died: December 4, 1975 Place of death: New York, New York Identity: Jewish Biography After Hannah Arendt (uh-REHNT) became a refugee from Adolf Hitler and Nazism, she devoted her scholarly efforts to the philosophical analysis of […]

Cuban novelist Identity: Cuban American, gay or bisexual Biography Reinaldo Arenas (ah-RAY-nahs) was one of the most talented Cuban writers of his generation, the first generation educated totally within the revolution of 1959. He was turned into a pariah by Castroist homophobia and became one of the most outspoken critics of the revolution after he […]

English playwright Author Works Drama: All Fall Down, pr. 1955 The Waters of Babylon, pr. 1957 Live Like Pigs, pr. 1958 When Is a Door Not a Door?, pr. 1958 Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance: An Unhistorical Parable, pr. 1959 The Business of Good Government, pr. 1960 (with Margaretta D’Arcy) The Happy Haven, pr. 1960 Ironhand, pr. […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Roman philosopher and rhetorician Born: c. 125 Birthplace: Madauros, Byzacium (now near Mdaourouch, Algeria) Died: After 170 Place of death: Possibly Carthage (now in Tunisia) Biography Relatively little is known about the life of Lucius Apuleius , born at Madauros, in North Africa, about 124 c.e., the chief source of information being what […]

Romanian-born Israeli novelist and short-story writer Identity: Jewish Author Works Long Fiction: Ke’ishon ha-ayin, 1972 Badenheim, ‘ir nofesh, 1975 (Badenheim 1939, 1980) Tor-ha-pela’ot, 1978 (The Age of Wonders, 1981) Kutonet veha-pasim, 1983 (Tzili: The Story of a Life, 1983) Nesiga mislat, 1984 (The Retreat, 1984) Be-’et uve’onah ahat, 1985 (The Healer, 1990) To the Land […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 French poet, playwright, and fiction writer Born: August 26, 1880 Birthplace: Rome, Italy Died: November 9, 1918 Place of death: Paris, France Biography The mother of Guillaume Albert Wladimir Alexandre Apollinaire (ah-pahl-ee-nehr) de Kostrowitzky, a Polish adventuress, may have been of aristocratic birth; his father has never been positively identified but is said […]

American activist Author Works Nonfiction: The Revolution (periodical), 1868-1870 “Address,” in An Account of the Proceedings of the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November, 1872, 1874 The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, 1997-2000 (2 volumes; Ann D. Gordon, editor) […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Caribbean author of novels, short stories, and nonfiction. Born: February 10, 1930 Birthplace: Mayaro, Trinidad and Tobago Biography Michael Anthony was born in 1930 in a remote, rural area of southern Trinidad called Mayaro. Later, he went to school in the second largest town in Trinidad, San Fernando, before working in an iron […]

French playwright Author Works Drama: L’Hermine, pr. 1932 (The Ermine, 1955) Le Bal des voleurs, wr. 1932, pr., pb. 1938 (Thieves’ Carnival, 1952) Le Voyageur sans bagage, pr., pb. 1937 (Traveller Without Luggage, 1959) La Sauvage, pr., pb. 1938 (Restless Heart, 1957) Léocadia, pr. 1940 (Time Remembered, 1955) Le Rendez-vous de Senlis, pr. 1941 (Dinner […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 American poet and memoirist Born: April 4, 1928 Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri Died: May 28, 2014 Place of death: Winston-Salem, North Carolina Biography Maya Angelou was a modern-day Renaissance woman. As a writer, she was best known for her autobiographies, particularly I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and for her collections of […]

Polish novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Ład serca, 1938 Popiół i diament, 1948 (Ashes and Diamonds, 1962) Wojna skuteczna, 1953 Ciemonosci kryją ziemię, 1957 (The Inquisitors, 1960) Bramy raju, 1960 (The Gates of Paradise, 1962) Idzie skacząc po górach, 1963 (A Sitter for a Satyr, 1965) Apelacja, 1968 (The Appeal, 1971) Short Fiction: Drogi nieuniknione, […]

Bosnian novelist and short-story writer Author Works Short Fiction: Pripovetke, 1924, 1931, 1936 Nove pripovetke, 1948 Priča o vezirovom slonu, 1948 (The Vizier’s Elephant: Three Novellas, 1962; includes Pričo o vezirovom slonu [The Vizier’s Elephant], Anikina vremena [Anika’s Times], and Zeko [English translation]) Odabrane pripovetke, 1954, 1956 Panorama, 1958 The Pasha’s Concubine, and Other Tales, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Russian playwright Born: August 21, 1871 Birthplace: Orel, Russia Died: September 12, 1919 Place of death: Kuokkala, Finland Biography Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev (uhn-DRYAY-yuhf), called by one critic a morbid pessimist and mournful humanist, was born into turbulent times in 1871. Born and educated in Orel, he continued his training for law in Moscow, […]

American novelist and memoirist Identity: African American Author Works Long Fiction: Appalachee Red, 1978 Rosiebelle Lee Wildcat Tennessee, 1980 Baby Sweet’s, 1983 “Jessie and Jesus” and “Cousin Claire,” 1991 (2 novellas) Nonfiction: The Last Radio Baby: A Memoir, 1991 “Black Boy and Man in the Small-Town South,” 1988. Biography Raymond Andrews, during the last decades […]

American short-story writer and novelist Biography Sherwood Anderson was born in Camden, Ohio, on September 13, 1876. His wanderings began in boyhood as his family moved from town to town in Ohio. In a succession of jobs, his father ran a harness shop, worked in harness shops, and painted signs, each occupation bringing in relatively […]

Brazilian poet, essayist, and ethnomusicologist Author Works Long Fiction: Amar, verbo intransitivo, 1927 (Fräulein, 1933) Macunaíma: O, Heroi sem nenhum caracter, 1928 (English translation, 1984) Short Fiction: Belazarte, 1934 Contos novos, 1946 Poetry: Há una gota de sangue em cada poema, 1917 Paulicéia desvairada, 1922 (Hallucinated City, 1968) Losango cáqui, 1926 Cla do jaboti, 1927 […]

American playwright and screenwriter Author Works Drama: Come Marching Home, pr. 1945 All Summer Long, pr. 1953 Tea and Sympathy, pr., pb. 1953 Silent Night, Lonely Night, pr. 1955 The Days Between, pr., pb. 1965 You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running, pr., pb. 1967 (includes 4 one-act plays: The Footsteps of […]

American playwright Author Works Drama: White Desert, pr. 1923 What Price Glory?, pr. 1924 (with Laurence Stallings) Outside Looking In, pr. 1925 First Flight, pr. 1925 (with Stallings) Three American Plays, pb. 1926 Saturday’s Children, pr., pb. 1927 Gods of the Lightning, pr., pb. 1928 Gypsy, pr. 1929 Elizabeth the Queen, pr., pb. 1930 (adaptation […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Australian fiction writer. Born: September 25, 1916 Birthplace: Gayndah, Queensland, Australia Died: July 9, 2010 Place of death: Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Australia Biography During the twentieth century, Jessica Margaret Anderson was one of Australia’s best-known and most prolific authors. In addition to several novels and short stories, she also contributed work to many […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Danish folklorist, novelist, poet, and dramatist Born: April 2, 1805 Birthplace: Odense, Denmark Died: August 4, 1875 Place of death: Rolighed, near Copenhagen, Denmark Biography Born on April 2, 1805, in the little town of Odense, Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen lived a life that followed the pattern of some of his fairy story […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Mexican American novelist Born: October 30, 1937 Birthplace: Pastura, New Mexico Biography Rudolfo Alfonso Anaya was born in the small village of Pastura, New Mexico, in 1937 to Martin and Rafaelita (Mares) Anaya. His father was a laborer. Anaya’s inspiration to become a writer came at an early age when he listened to […]

Greek playwright Author Works Poetry: Anacreon composed poems for oral performance, not posterity. He seems to have written no single book or collection of poems. For his complete poems in Greek, see Poetae Melici Graeci, 1962 (Denys Page, editor). The first English translation of Anacreon was Anacreon Done into English out of the Original Greek, […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: Ommateum, with Doxology, 1955 Expressions of Sea Level, 1963 Corsons Inlet: A Book of Poems, 1965 Tape for the Turn of the Year, 1965 Northfield Poems, 1966 Selected Poems, 1968 Uplands, 1970 Briefings: Poems Small and Easy, 1971 Collected Poems, 1951-1971, 1972 Sphere: The Form of a Motion, 1974 Diversifications, […]

Dutch novelist Author Works Long Fiction: De verzwegan strijd, 1916 Maskerade, 1919 (Masquerade, 1932) Het huis der vreugden, 1922 (The House of Joy, 1929) Jenny Heysten, 1923 (Jenny Heysten’s Career, 1930) De opstandigen, 1925 (The Rebel Generation, 1929) Tantalus, 1928 (English translation, 1930) Vrouwenkruistocht, 1930 (No Surrender, 1931) Heeren, knechten en vrouwen, 1934 (The House […]

English novelist Biography Martin Amis (AY-mihs) became a distinguished contributor to British letters immediately upon his 1971 graduation from Oxford, when he began reviewing books for the Observer. His prize-winning first novel, The Rachel Papers, appeared in 1973, the beginning of a prolific career rivaling that of his father, novelist Kingsley Amis. In contrast to […]

English novelist, poet, critic, and essayist Biography A novelist, poet, critic, essayist, and short-story writer, Kingsley Amis (AY-mihs) was best known as one of England’s foremost comic moralists, in the tradition of Henry Fielding, Charles Dickens, and Evelyn Waugh. The only child of William Robert Amis, an office clerk, and Rosa Annie (Lucas) Amis, Amis […]

Israeli poet Identity: Jewish Author Works Poetry: Akshav u-ve-yamim aherim, 1955 Be-merhak shete tikvot, 1958 Shirim, 1948-1962, 1962 Akshav ba-ra’ash, 1968 Selected Poems, 1971 Ve-lo ‘al menat lizkor, 1971 Songs of Jerusalem and Myself, 1973 Me-ahore kol zel mistater osher gadol, 1974 Ha-zeman, 1978 (Time, 1979) Shalyah gedolah, 1980 (A Great Tranquility: Questions and Answers, […]

American historian Author Works Nonfiction: Halleck: Lincoln’s Chief of Staff, 1962 Upton and the Army, 1964 Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point, 1966 Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe, 1967 The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1970 Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy […]

English novelist and screenwriter Biography Because Eric Ambler’s earliest novels were the first realistic portrayals of international intrigue that adhered to high literary standards, he must be considered the virtual creator of the modern genre of espionage fiction. He was born in London on June 28, 1909, the son of Alfred Percy Ambler and his […]

Brazilian novelist Biography Jorge Amado (uh-MAH-doo) was Brazil’s most popular twentieth century novelist. He was born in the municipality of Itabuna in the cacao region of southern Bahia. His father was a cacao planter who lost his first plantation in a flood in 1914 but later was sufficiently successful in the business to send his […]

Nigerian novelist and playwright Author Works Long Fiction: The Concubine, 1966 The Great Ponds, 1969 The Slave, 1978 Estrangement, 1986 Drama: Isiburu, pr. 1969 “Peppersoup” and “The Road to Ibadan,” pb. 1977 Dancer of Johannesburg, pb. 1979 Nonfiction: Sunset in Biafra: A Civil War Diary, 1973 Ethics in Nigerian Culture, 1982 Biography Born a member […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Author of prose and poetry Born: March 27, 1950 Birthplace: New York, New York Biography Although she was born in the United States, Julia Altagracia Maria Teresa Alvarez (AL-vah-rehz) spent her most formative years in the Dominican Republic, having moved there with her parents when she was less than a month old. In […]

American novelist Identity: Gay or bisexual Author Works Long Fiction: Kinflicks, 1975 Original Sins, 1981 Other Women, 1984 Bedrock, 1990 Five Minutes in Heaven, 1995 Biography Lisa Alther (AL-thur), née Reed, grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee, the daughter of a surgeon father who encouraged her curiosity about science and a mother who had majored in […]

Mexican novelist, journalist, and poet Author Works Long Fiction: Clemencia, 1869 La Navidad en las Montañas, 1870 (Christmas in the Mountains, 1961) El Zarco: Episodios de la vida Mexicana en 1861-1863, 1901 (El Zarco, the Bandit, 1957) Short Fiction: Cuentos de invierno, 1880 Paisajes y leyendas, tradiciones y costumbres de México, 1884 Poetry: Rimas, 1864, […]

American novelist Identity: Gay or bisexual Author Works Long Fiction: Bastard Out of Carolina, 1992 Cavedweller, 1998 Short Fiction: Trash, 1988, revised 2002 Poetry: The Women Who Hate Me, 1983 The Women Who Hate Me: Poetry 1980-1990, 1991 Nonfiction: Skin: Talking About Sex, Class, and Literature, 1994 Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Chilean American writer known for inventing international, intergenerational family sagas Born: August 2, 1942 Birthplace: Lima, Peru Biography Isabel Allende begins every new book on January 8, a practice she continues for good luck ever since the success of her first book, The House of the Spirits. On January 8, 1981, while exiled […]

American director, actor, and screenwriter Identity: Jewish Author Works Screenplays: What’s New, Pussycat?, 1965 What’s up, Tiger Lily?, 1966 (with others); Take the Money and Run, 1969 (with Mickey Rose) Bananas, 1971 Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask, 1972 (partly based on David Ruben’s book) Play It Again Sam, […]

American poet and scholar Identity: American Indian (Laguna Pueblo) Author Works Poetry: The Blind Lion, 1974 Coyote’s Daylight Trip, 1978 A Cannon Between My Knees, 1981 Star Child: Poems, 1981 Shadow Country, 1982 Wyrds, 1987 Skins and Bones, 1988 Life Is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems, 1962-1995, 1997 Long Fiction: The Woman Who Owned the […]

American novelist and biographer Author Works Long Fiction: Anthony Adverse, 1933 Action at Aquila, 1938 It Was Like This, 1940 The Forest and the Fort, 1943 Bedford Village, 1944 Toward the Morning, 1948 The City in the Dawn, 1950 (collective title for previous 3 novels) Poetry: Wampum and Old Gold, 1921 The Bride of Huitzil, […]

American novelist and short-story writer Biography In his fiction, Nelson Algren (AWL-gruhn) documented the lives of the dispossessed and downtrodden. He was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, on March 28, 1909, the last of three children of poor native Chicagoans who moved back to Chicago when Algren was three years old. Though he […]

Italian playwright Author Works Drama: Antonio e Cleopatra, pr. 1775 (Antony and Cleopatra, 1876) Polinice, wr. 1775-1781, pb. 1784 (Polynices, 1815) Filippo, wr. 1775-1781, pb. 1784 (Phillip, 1815) Antigone, wr. 1777, pr. 1782 (English translation, 1815) Agamennone, wr. 1778, pb. 1784 (Agamemnon, 1815) Virginia, wr. 1778, pr., pb. 1784 (English translation, 1815) Don Garzia, wr. […]

American short-story writer, novelist, and poet Identity: American Indian (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene) Author Works Short Fiction: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, 1993 The Toughest Indian in the World: Stories, 2000 Ten Little Indians, 2003 Long Fiction: Reservation Blues, 1995 Indian Killer, 1996 Poetry: I Would Steal Horses, 1992 Old Shirts and New Skins, […]

Russian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Dva bileta na elektrichku, 1963 Kysh, dva portfelya, i tselaya nedelya, 1970 Kysh i ya v Krymu, 1973 Nikolai Nikolaevich, 1980 Maskirovka, 1980 (also known as Kamufliazh) Ruka, 1980 (The Hand: Or, The Confession of an Executioner, 1989) Kenguru, 1981 (Kangaroo, 1986) Sinen kii skromnyi platochek, 1982 Karusel, 1983 […]

Spanish novelist Author Works Long Fiction: La vida y hechos del pícaro Guzmán de Alfarache (best known as Guzmán de Alfarache), part 1, 1599, part 2, 1604 (The Rogue: Or, The Life of Guzman de Alfarache, 1622; also known as The Life and Adventures of Guzman d’Alfarache: Or, The Spanish Rogue) Biography The sixteenth century […]

Spanish poet Biography Vicente Aleixandre (ahl-ehk-SAHN-dreh) was a prominent member of that avant-garde generation of Spanish poets that also includes Federico García Lorca, Jorge Guillén, Pedro Salinas, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti, and Dámaso Alonso, among others. Aleixandre was born in Seville but spent his childhood in the Mediterranean city Málaga, which later, in Sombra del […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Russian-born Yiddish humorist Born: March 2, 1859 Birthplace: Pereyaslav, Russia (now Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, Ukraine) Died: May 13, 1916 Place of death: Bronx, New York Biography One of the founders of modern Yiddish literature and the most widely read Yiddish author, Sholom Aleichem was a humorist of the first order. Born Sholom Rabinowitz, he spent […]

Peruvian novelist Author Works Long Fiction: La serpiente de oro, 1935 (The Golden Serpent, 1943) Los perros hambrientos, 1938 El mundo es ancho y ajeno, 1941 (Broad and Alien Is the World, 1941) Siempre hay caminos, 1969 Lázaro, 1973 El dilema de Krause: Penitenciaria de Lima, 1979 Short Fiction: Duelo de caballeros, 1963 La ofrenda […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: The Bells: A Collection of Chimes, 1855 The Ballad of Babie Bell, and Other Poems, 1859 Cloth of Gold, and Other Poems, 1874 Flower and Thorn: Later Poems, 1877 Mercedes, and Later Lyrics, 1884 Wyndham Towers, 1890 Unguarded Gates, and Other Poems, 1895 Judith and Holofernes, 1896 The Poems of […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English novelist, editor, artist, and short-story writer. Born: August 18, 1925 Place of birth: East Dereham, England Died: August 19, 2017 Place of death: Oxford, England Biography Although most readers familiar with British writer Brian Wilson Aldiss would recognize him primarily for his science fiction, his body of work encompasses many more interests. […]

English poet and novelist Biography Richard Aldington was one of the founders of the Imagist school of poetry and one of the important “warrior” literary figures who emerged out of World War I. He was the son of a lawyer who lived in Portsmouth, England, although the family moved to Dover a few years after […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American novelist Born: November 29, 1832 Birthplace: Germantown, Pennsylvania Died: March 6, 1888 Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts Biography Louisa May Alcott, the famous daughter of a famous father, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1832, but her early life was spent in the vicinity of Concord and Boston, where she grew up […]

American playwright Biography Few American playwrights have revealed an anger as sharp and sustained as that of Edward Albee (AL-bee) or have imposed such great emotional demands on audiences. When he is compared with such contemporary absurdist playwrights as Jack Gelber, Jack Richardson, Kenneth Brown, and Arthur Kopit, Albee is generally shown to be the […]

Spanish short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: El final de Norma, 1855 (Brunhilde: Or, The Last Act of Norma, 1891) El sombrero de tres picos, 1874 (The Three-Cornered Hat, 1886) El escándalo, 1875 (The Scandal, 1945) El niño de la bola, 1880 (c, 1892 also known as The Infant with the Globe, 1959) El Capitán […]

French novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Le Grand Meaulnes, 1913 (The Wanderer, 1928; also known as The Lost Domain, 1959) Colombe Blanchet, 1922, 1924 (fragment). Nonfiction: Correspondance avec Jacques Rivière (1905-1914), 1926-1928 Letters au petit B., 1930 Lettres d’Alain-Fournier à sa famille (1905-1914), 1930 Towards the Lost Domain: Letters from London, 1905, 1986 (W. J. […]

Japanese short-story writer Author Works Short Fiction: Kappa, 1927 (English translation, 1970) Aru ahō no isshō, 1927 (A Fool’s Life, 1971) Rashomon, and Other Stories, 1930, 1952, 1964 Tales Grotesque and Curious, 1930 Hell Screen, and Other Stories, 1952 Japanese Short Stories, 1961 Exotic Japanese Stories: The Beautiful and the Grotesque, 1964 The Essential Akutagawa: […]

Russian novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Kollegi, 1960 (Colleagues, 1962) Zvezdnyi bilet, 1961 (A Starry Ticket, 1962; also known as A Ticket to the Stars) Apel’siny iz Marokko, 1963 (Oranges from Morocco, 1979) Pora, moi drug, pora, 1965 (It’s Time, My Friend, It’s Time, 1969) Zatovarennaya bochkotara, 1968 (Surplussed Barrelware, 1985) Stalnaya […]

American playwright and screenwriter Author Works Drama: The Magical City, pr. 1915 Papa, pr. 1919 Déclassée, pr. 1919 Footloose, pr. 1919 Daddy’s Gone a-Hunting, pr. 1921 The Varying Shore, pr. 1921 The Texas Nightingale, pr. 1922 A Royal Fandango, pr. 1923 The Moon-Flower, pr. 1924 Such a Charming Young Man, pb. 1924 First Love, pr. […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Russian Symbolist poet Born: June 23, 1889 Birthplace: Bol’shoy Fontan, near Odessa, Ukraine, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) Died: March 5, 1966 Place of death: Domodedovo, near Moscow, Soviet Union (now in Russia) Biography Anna Akhmatova was born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko on the Black Sea coast not far from the port city of […]

Russian poet Author Works Poetry: Struna: Stikhi, 1962 Oznob: Izbrannye proizvedeniia, 1968 (Fever, and Other New Poems, 1969) Uroki muzyki, 1969 Stikhi, 1975 Svecha, 1977 Metel’, 1977 Sny o Gruzii, 1977 Taina: Novye stikhi, 1983 Sad: Novye stikhi, 1987 Stikhotvoreniia, 1988 Izbrannoe: Stikhi, 1988 The Garden: New and Selected Poetry and Prose, 1990 Larets i […]

American playwright Author Works Drama: Dressed Like an Egg, pr. 1977 Southern Exposure, pr. 1979 Dead End Kids: A History of Nuclear Power, pr. 1980 Green Card, pr. 1986 Biography JoAnne Akalaitis (ah-kah-LAY-tihs) is recognized for her contributions to performance art and avant-garde drama, particularly with Mabou Mines, the theater company she helped form in […]

English novelist and editor Author Works Long Fiction: Sir John Chiverton, 1826 (with John Partington Aston) Rookwood, 1834 Crichton, 1837 Jack Sheppard, 1839 The Tower of London, 1840 Guy Fawkes, 1841 Old Saint Paul’s, 1841 The Miser’s Daughter, 1842 Windsor Castle, 1843 Saint James’s: Or, The Court of Queen Anne, 1844 James the Second, 1848 […]

American poet Biography Conrad Potter Aiken (AY-kuhn) was a central figure in the American poetry renaissance of the early twentieth century. He was born in Savannah, Georgia, on August 5, 1889, the son of parents of distinguished New England ancestry. His father, William Ford Aiken, studied medicine at Harvard University and in Europe. His mother, […]

American poet Identity: Japanese American, African American, American Indian (Choctaw) Author Works Poetry: Cruelty, 1973 Killing Floor, 1979 Sin, 1986 Cruelty/Killing Floor, 1987 Fate: New Poems, 1991 Greed, 1993 Vice: New and Selected Poems, 1999 Dread, 2003 Nonfiction: “On Being 1/2 Japanese, 1/8 Choctaw, 1/4 Black, and 1/16 Irish,” Ms. 6 (June, 1974) Biography Ai […]

Ecuadorean novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Don Goyo, 1933 (English translation, 1942, 1980) C.Z. (Canal Zone): Los Yanquis en Panamá, 1935 ¡Madrid! Reportaje novelado de una retaguardia heróica, 1937 La isla virgen, 1942 Una cruz en la Sierra Maestra, 1960 La caballeresa del sol: El gran amor de Bolívar, 1964 (Manuela, la Caballeresa del Sol, […]

Israeli short-story writer and novelist Identity: Jewish Author Works Short Fiction: Agunot, 1909 (novella; English translation, 1970) “Vehaya he’akov lemishor,” 1912 Me’az ume’ata, 1931 Sipure ahavim, 1931 Sefer hama’asim, 1932, 1941, 1951 Beshuva vanachat, 1935 Elu ve’elu, 1941 Shevu’at emunim, 1943 (Betrothed, 1966) Ido ve’Enam, 1950 (Edo and Enam, 1966) Samukh venir’e, 1951 Ad hena, […]

American novelist and screenwriter Biography James Rufus Agee (AY-jee) was less successful as a creator of fiction than he was as a recorder of experiences. The event that marked a turning point in his early life was the death of his father, Hugh James Agee, in an automobile crash when Rufus, as his family called […]

Greek fable writer Author Works Short Fiction: Aesopea, fourth century b.c.e. (Aesop’s Fables, 1484, expanded translation as The Complete Fables, 1998). Biography Although many Greek cities claim to be the birthplace of Aesop (EE-sahp), most scholars believe he never existed. In a marble figure on the Villa Albani, Paris, he is depicted as a dwarf, […]

Irish poet and political philosopher Author Works Poetry: Homeward: Songs by the Way, 1894 The Earth Breath, and Other Poems, 1897 The Divine Vision, and Other Poems, 1903 The Nuts of Knowledge: Lyrical Poems Old and New, 1903 By Still Waters: Lyrical Poems Old and New, 1906 Collected Poems, 1913, 1919, 1926, 1935 Gods of […]

Greek playwright Author Works Drama: Of the more than eighty known plays of Aeschylus, only seven tragedies survive in more or less complete form: Persai, 472 b.c.e. (The Persians, 1777) Hepta epi Thēbas, 467 b.c.e. (Seven Against Thebes, 1777) Hiketides, c. 463 b.c.e. (The Suppliants, 1777) Oresteia, 458 b.c.e. (English translation, 1777; includes Agamemnōn [Agamemnon], […]

American novelist and journalist Author Works Long Fiction: Speedboat, 1976 Pitch Dark, 1983 Nonfiction: Toward a Radical Middle: Fourteen Pieces of Reporting and Criticism, 1969 A Year in the Dark: Journal of a Film Critic, 1968-69, 1969 Reckless Disregard: Westmoreland v. CBS et al., Sharon v. Time, 1986 Politics and Media: Essays, 1988 Gone: The […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English essayist, poet, playwright, and statesman Born: May 1, 1672 Birthplace: Milston, Wiltshire, England Died: June 17, 1719 Place of death: London, England Biography Joseph Addison is perhaps best remembered today as the journalistic partner of Richard Steele and as the creator of that quaint and fascinating country gentleman Sir Roger de Coverley. […]

American pacifist writer and social reformer Author Works Nonfiction: Democracy and Social Ethics, 1902 Newer Ideals of Peace, 1907 The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, 1909 Twenty Years at Hull House, 1910 A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil, 1912 The Women at the Hague, 1915 (with Emily Greene Balch and Alice Hamilton) […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Watership Down, 1972 Shardik, 1974 The Plague Dogs, 1977 The Girl in a Swing, 1980 Maia, 1984 Traveller, 1988 The Outlandish Knight, 2000 Short Fiction: The Unbroken Web: Stories and Fables, 1980 (originally as The Iron Wolf, and Other Stories) Tales from Watership Down, 1996 Nonfiction: Nature Through the […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American statesman and legal writer Born: October 30, 1735 Birthplace: Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy, Massachusetts) Died: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Quincy, Massachusetts Biography John Adams, the second president and the first vice president of the United States, was born in the settlement of Braintree in the colony of Massachusetts on October […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American historian and philosopher Born: February 16, 1838 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts Died: March 27, 1918 Place of death: Washington, D.C. Biography Henry Brooks Adams’s father was Charles Francis Adams, American statesman and minister to Great Britain; his grandfather was John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States; and his great-grandfather was […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 1979 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, 1980 Life, the Universe and Everything, 1982 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, 1984 Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, 1987 The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, 1988 Mostly Harmless, 1992 Short […]

American novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Careless Love, 1966 Families and Survivors, 1974 Listening to Billie, 1978 Rich Rewards, 1980 Superior Women, 1984 Second Chances, 1988 Caroline’s Daughters, 1991 Almost Perfect, 1993 A Southern Exposure, 1995 Medicine Men, 1997 After the War, 2000 Short Fiction: Beautiful Girl, 1979 To See You Again, […]

Russian-born French playwright Author Works Drama: La Parodie, pb. 1950 L’Invasion, pr., pb. 1950 La Grande et la petite manoeuvre, pr. 1950 Le Professeur Taranne, pr., pb. 1953 (Professor Taranne, 1960) Le Sens de la marche, pr., pb. 1953 Tous contre tous, pr., pb. 1953 Théâtre, pb. 1953-1968 (4 volumes) Le Ping- Pong, pr., pb. […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 Nigerian author, professor, poet, and literary critic. Born: November 16, 1930 Birthplace: Ogidi, Nigeria Died: March 21, 2013 Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts Biography Chinua Achebe (ah-CHAY-bay), who became known as the founder of the modern African novel, was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in Ogidi, eastern Nigeria, on November 16, 1930. His father, […]

South African novelist Biography Peter Henry Abrahams was the first nonwhite South African to publish a novel in English since Solomon Plaatje, whose Mhudi was published in 1930. Once his literary career began with the short-story collection Dark Testament in 1942 (a volume of poetry had previously been published by a small publisher), Abrahams established […]

French novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Les Mariages de Paris, 1856 Le Roi des montagnes, 1856 (The King of the Mountains, 1897) L’Homme à l’oreille cassée, 1861 (The Manwith the Broken Ear, 1872) Le Nez d’un notaire, 1862 (The Notary’s Nose, 1886) Le Roman d’un brave homme, 1880 Nonfiction: La Grèce contemporaine, 1854 (Greece and […]