Authors Summaries

American historian Author Works Nonfiction: The Lost British Policy: Britain and Spain Since 1700, 1938 Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour, 1956 The Zimmermann Telegram, 1958 The Guns of August, 1962 The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914, 1966 Stilwell and the American Experience […]

Russian poet Author Works Poetry: Vecherny albom, 1910 Volshebny fonar, 1912, 1979 Iz dvukh knig, 1913 Versty I, 1922 Stikhi k Bloku, 1922, 1978 Razluka, 1922 Psikheya, 1923 Remeslo, 1923 Posle Rossii, 1928 (After Russia, 1992) Lebediny stan, 1957 (The Demesne of the Swans, 1980) Selected Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva, 1971 Poem of the End: […]

American novelist and screenwriter Biography Born in Montrose, Colorado, in 1905, James Dalton Trumbo was the son of Orus Trumbo and Maud Tillery Trumbo, parents with limited financial resources who nevertheless were ambitious for their son. The family moved from Montrose to Grand Junction, Colorado, the site of most of Trumbo’s fiction, where they lived […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Neighbor Jackwood, 1856 Cudjo’s Cave, 1863 Short Fiction: Coupon Bonds, and Other Stories, 1871 Poetry: The Vagabonds, and Other Poems, 1869 Biography John Townsend Trowbridge (TROH-brihj) considered his forty-odd novels as little more than hack work. He believed his only serious and great literary efforts were the series of […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English novelist Born: April 24, 1815 Birthplace: London, England Died: December 6, 1882 Place of death: London, England Biography The father of Anthony Trollope, Thomas Anthony Trollope, was an eccentric barrister who lost his wealth in wild speculations; his mother, Frances Trollope, kept the family together by fleeing to Belgium to escape creditors […]

American critic Author Works Nonfiction: Matthew Arnold, 1939 E. M. Forster, 1943 The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society, 1950 Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture, 1955 The Opposing Self, 1955 (criticism) A Gathering of Fugitives, 1956 (criticism) Beyond Culture: Essays on Learning and Literature, 1965 Sincerity and Authenticity, 1972 (criticism) Mind in […]

Russian novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Studenty, 1950 (Students, 1953) Utoleniye zhazhdy, 1963 (Thirst Acquenched, 1964) Otblesk kostra, 1965 Obmen, 1969 (novella; The Exchange, 1978) Predvaritel’nye itogi, 1970 (novella; Taking Stock, 1978) Dolgoe proshchaniye, 1971 (novella; The Long Goodbye, 1978) Neterpenie, 1973 (The Impatient Ones, 1978) Drugaya zhizn’, 1975 (Another Life, 1983) […]

Irish short-story writer, novelist, and playwright Author Works Short Fiction: The Day We Got Drunk on Cake, and Other Stories, 1967 The Ballroom of Romance, and Other Stories, 1972 The Last Lunch of the Season, 1973 Angels at the Ritz, and Other Stories, 1975 Lovers of Their Time, and Other Stories, 1978 Beyond the Pale, […]

English historian Author Works Nonfiction: England in the Age of Wycliffe, 1899, revised 1904 England Under the Stuarts, 1904, revised 1925 Garibaldi’s Defence of the Roman Republic, 1907 Garibaldi and the Thousand, 1909 Garibaldi and the Making of Italy, 1911 History of England, 1926, revised 1937, corrected 1952 England Under Queen Anne, 1930-1934 (3 volumes) […]

English novelist and short-story writer Biography Rose Tremain, born Rose Thomson, began writing at the age of ten, when her father’s sudden abandonment of his family motivated her to express her feelings through the written word. It was only after being encouraged by the novelist Angus Wilson in a university course that she began seriously […]

American playwright and journalist Author Works Drama: An Unwritten Chapter, pr. 1915 (adaptation of her serial “How I Got My Husband and How I Lost Him”) Claws, pr. 1918 Gringo, pr. 1922 O, Nightingale, pr. 1925 Machinal, pr. 1928 Ladies Leave, pr. 1929 For Saxophone, wr. 1934 Plumes in the Dust, pr. 1936 Hope for […]

Novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Das Totenschiff, 1926 (The Death Ship, 1934) Der Wobbly, 1926 (The Cotton-Pickers, 1956) Der Schatz der Sierra Madre, 1927 (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1934) Die Brücke im Dschungel, 1929 (The Bridge in the Jungle, 1938) Die weisse Rose, 1929 (The White Rose, 1965) Der Karren, […]

Swedish poet Author Works Poetry: 17 dikter, 1954 Hemligheter på vâgen, 1958 Den halvfärdiga himlen, 1962 Klanger och spår, 1966 Mörkerseende, 1970 (Night Vision, 1971) Twenty Poems of Tomas Tranströmer, 1970 Windows and Stones: Selected Poems, 1972 (May Swenson, translator) Elegy: Some October Notes, 1973 Citoyens, 1974 Selected Poetry of Paavo Haavikko and Tomas Tranströmer, […]

Austrian poet Author Works Poetry: Gedichte, 1913 Sebastian im Traum, 1914 Die Dichtungen, 1918 Aus goldenem Kelch, 1939 Decline: Twelve Poems, 1952 Twenty Poems of Georg Trakl, 1961 Selected Poems, 1968 Poems, 1973 Georg Trakl: A Profile, 1983 Drama: Fata Morgana, pr. 1906 (lost) Totentag, pr. 1906 (lost) Miscellaneous: Gesammelte Werke, 1949-1951 (3 volumes) Dichtungen […]

English poet Author Works Poetry: A Serious and Patheticall Contemplation of the Mercies of God, 1699 (better known as Thanksgivings) The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, 1903 Traherne’s Poems of Felicity, 1910 Nonfiction: Roman Forgeries, 1673 Christian Ethicks, 1675 Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation, 1717 Centuries of Meditations, 1908 Biography The seventeenth […]

English historian Author Works Nonfiction: Nationality and the War, 1915 The New Europe, 1915 The Western Question in Greece and Turkey, 1922 Greek Historical Thought from Homer to the Age of Heraclitus, 1924 Greek Civilisation and Character, 1924 The World After the Peace Conference, 1925 Turkey, 1926 (with K. P. Kirkwood) A Journey to China, […]

French novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Vendredi: Ou, Les Limbes du Pacifique, 1967, revised 1978 (Friday: Or, The Other Island, 1969) Le Roi des Aulnes, 1970 (The Ogre, 1972; also known as The Erl-King) Les Météores, 1975 (Gemini, 1981) Gaspard, Melchior, et Balthazar, 1980 (The Four Wise Men, 1982) Gilles et Jeanne, […]

English playwright Author Works Drama: The Revenger’s Tragedy, pr. 1606-1607 (authorship uncertain) The Atheist’s Tragedy: Or, The Honest Man’s Revenge, pr. c. 1607 The Plays of Cyril Tourneur, pb. 1978 Poetry: The Transformed Metamorphosis, 1600 Miscellaneous: The Works of Cyril Tourneur, 1929, 1963 (Allardyce Nicoll, editor) Biography Cyril Tourneur (TUR-nur), about whom little is known, […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Toinette, 1874 (as Henry Churton; better known as A Royal Gentleman, 1881) A Fool’s Errand, 1879 Bricks Without Straw, 1880 Hot Plowshares, 1883 Murvale Eastman, Christian Socialist, 1890 Nonfiction: The Code of Civil Procedure of North Carolina, 1868 A Digest of Cited Cases, 1878 The Invisible Empire, 1880 Biography […]

American memoirist Author Works Nonfiction: Blooming: A Small-Town Girlhood, 1981 (autobiography) Ivy Days: Making My Way Out East, 1984 (autobiography) How to Prepare for Your High-School Reunion, and Other Midlife Musings, 1988 A House of One’s Own: An Architect’s Guide to Designing the House of Your Dreams, 1991 (with James Stageberg) My Love Affair with […]

American poet Identity: African American Author Works Poetry: “Banking Coal,” in Crisis, 1922 Cane, 1923 (prose and poetry) “Blue Meridian,” in New American Caravan, 1936 The Wayward and the Seeking, 1980 (prose and poetry; Darwin T. Turner, editor) The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer, 1988 Drama: “Balo,” in Alain Locke’s Plays of Negro Life, pb. […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: A Confederacy of Dunces, 1980 The Neon Bible, 1989 Biography John Kennedy Toole will perhaps always be touted more for his potential than for his accomplishments, for his first published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, was not printed until eleven years after his death. Born in 1937 in New […]

English novelist and travel writer Author Works Long Fiction: Gallions Reach, 1927 All Our Yesterdays, 1930 The Snows of Helicon, 1933 Mars His Idiot, 1935 All Hands!, 1937 (also known as Pipe All Hands!) The Day Before, 1939 Morning Light, 1946 The Trumpet Shall Sound, 1957 Nonfiction: The Sea and the Jungle, 1912 (travel) Old […]

English poet Author Works Poetry: Relations and Contraries, 1951 The Necklace, 1955, rev. ed. 1966 Seeing Is Believing, 1958, 1960 A Peopled Landscape, 1963 American Scenes, and Other Poems, 1966 The Way of a World, 1969 Renga: A Chain of Poems, 1971 (with Octavio Paz, Jacques Roubaud, and Edoardo Sanguineti) Written on Water, 1972 The […]

Italian novelist and essayist Author Works Long Fiction: Il gattopardo, 1958 (The Leopard, 1960) Short Fiction: Racconti, 1961 (partial translation as Two Stories and a Memory, 1962) Nonfiction: “Lezioni su Stendhal,” 1959 (in Paragone IX, April) Miscellaneous: The Siren, and Selected Writings, 1995 Biography Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (toh-MAH-see dee lahm-pay-DEW-zah) was born into an […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Russian novelist Born: September 9, 1828 Birthplace: Yasnaya Polyana, Russia Died: November 20, 1910 Place of death: Astapovo, Russia Biography Among the world’s greatest novelists, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (TAWL-stoy) also wrote an important body of nonfiction advocating pacifism and social justice. The fourth son of Princess Marya Nikolayevna Volkonsky and Nikolay Ilyich Tolstoy, […]

Russian novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: Kys, 2001 (The Slynx, 2003) Short Fiction: Na zolotom kryl’tse sideli, 1987 (On the Golden Porch, 1989) Sleepwalker in a Fog, 1992 Nonfiction: “Intelligentsia and Intellectuals,” 1989 “In a Land of Conquered Men,” 1989 “Apples as Citrus Fruit,” 1990 “President Potemkin,” 1991 Pushkin’s Children: Writings on […]

American poet Identity: African American Author Works Poetry: A Gallery of Harlem Portraits, wr. 1932, pb. 1979 Rendezvous with America, 1944 Libretto for the Republic of Liberia, 1953 Harlem Gallery: Book I, The Curator, 1965 “Harlem Gallery,” and Other Poems of Melvin B. Tolson, 1999 Drama: A Fire in the Flint, pr. 1952 (adaptation of […]

German playwright Identity: Jewish Author Works Drama: Die Wandlung, pr., pb. 1919 (Transfiguration, 1935) Masse-Mensch, pr. 1920 (Masses and Man, 1924) Die Maschinenstürmer, pr., pb. 1922 (The Machine-Wreckers, 1923) Hinkemann, pr., pb. 1923 (English translation, 1926) Der entfesselte Wotan, pb. 1923 Die Rache des verhöhnten Liebhabers, pr. 1923 (The Scorned Lover’s Revenge, 1936) Hoppla, wir […]

Last reviewed: June 2017 English writer, poet, and philologist. Born: January 3, 1892 Birthplace: Bloemfontein, South Africa Died: September 2, 1973 Place of death: Bournemouth, England Biography John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, one of two sons of Arthur Reuel and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. When he was four years old, his father died, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Political theorist Born: July 29, 1805 Birthplace: Paris, France Died: April 16, 1859 Place of death: Cannes, France Biography Alexis de Tocqueville (tawk-veel) was born in Paris in 1805. As a child he displayed great powers of intelligence, and he was fortunate enough to be allowed to develop them through study and travel. […]

Spanish playwright Author Works Drama: El vergonzoso en palacio, wr. 1611(?), pb. 1624 (The Bashful Man at Court, 1991) Marta la piadosa, wr. 1615, pb. 1636 Don Gil de las calzas verdes, wr. 1615, pb. 1635 (Don Gil of the Green Breeches, 1991) El condendado por desconfiado, wr. 1615(?), pb. 1634 (The Saint and the […]

American historian, feminist, and sociologist Author Works Nonfiction: The Rebellious Century, 1830-1930, 1975 (with Charles Tilly and Richard Tilly) Women, Work, and Family, 1978, 2d edition 1987 (with Joan W. Scott) Computer Chips and Paper Clips: Technology and Women’s Employment, 1986 (with Heidi Hartmann and Robert Kraut) Politics and Class in Milan, 1881-1901, 1992 Individual […]

American novelist Identity: African American Biography Wallace Henry Thurman may have seen the death of the Harlem Renaissance after Infants of the Spring, but while it was alive his imagination and critical attention helped to keep it healthy. Thurman was born on August 16, 1902, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Beulah and Oscar Thurman. […]

American short-story writer Author Works Short Fiction: Is Sex Necessary?, 1929 (with E. B. White) The Owl in the Attic, and Other Perplexities, 1931 The Seal in the Bedroom, and Other Predicaments, 1932 My Life and Hard Times, 1933 The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze, 1935 Let Your Mind Alone!, and Other More or […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Ancient Greek historian. Born: c. 460 BCE Birthplace: Probably Athens, Greece Died: c. 402 BCE Place of death: Unknown Biography Thucydides (thyew-SIHD-uh-deez) was the son of Olorus, an Athenian citizen. The date of his birth is uncertain; it has been put as early as 471 BCE and as late as 455 BCE. He […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American nature writer and poet Born: July 12, 1817 Birthplace: Concord, Massachusetts Died: May 6, 1862 Place of death: Concord, Massachusetts Biography Henry David Thoreau (thuh-ROH), defier of labels, was born before his time. If written thirty or forty years later, Walden might have surged to success on the tide of nature interest […]

Scottish poet and playwright Author Works Poetry: Winter, 1726 Summer, 1727 Spring, 1728 Autumn, 1730 The Seasons, 1730, revised 1744 (includes 4 previous titles) A Hymn, 1730 Liberty, 1735-1736 The Castle of Indolence: An Allegorical Poem, 1748 Drama: The Tragedy of Sophonisba, pb. 1730 Agamemnon, pr., pb. 1738 Edward and Eleonora, pb. 1739 Alfred, pr., […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American journalist Born: July 18, 1937 Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky Died: February 20, 2005 Place of death: Woody Creek, Colorado Biography Hunter Stockton Thompson—“gonzo” journalist, legendary wild man, and would-be local politician—was born in Louisville in 1937 to Jack R. and Virginia Thompson; his father was an insurance agent. Thompson stood out as an […]

English poet, biographer, and critic Author Works Poetry: Poems, 1893 (includes “The Hound of Heaven”) Sister Songs, 1895 New Poems, 1897 Nonfiction: Health and Holiness: A Study of the Relations Between Brother Ass the Body and His Rider the Soul, 1905 Shelley, 1909 Saint Ignatius Loyola, 1909 The Life and Labours of Saint John Baptist […]

Scottish scientist and classicist Author Works Nonfiction: A Glossary of Greek Birds, 1895, newedition 1936 On Aristotle as a Biologist, 1911 On Growth and Form, 1917, newedition 1942 Science and the Classics, 1940 A Glossary of Greek Fishes, 1947 Translations: The Fertilisation of Flowers, 1893 (of Hermann Müller’s Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten) Historia […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Adventures of Timothy Peacock, Esq., 1835 The Green Mountain Boys, 1839 Locke Amsden: Or, The Schoolmaster, 1847 The Rangers, 1851 Biography Born of an old American family that reached Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century, and with an ancestor supposed to have been killed at the Battle of […]

Italian theologian Identity: Catholic Author Works Nonfiction: Scriptum super “Libros sententiarum,” 1252-1256 (English translation, 1923) Summa contra gentiles, c. 1258-1264 (English translation, 1923) Summa theologiae, c. 1265-1273 (Summa Theologica, 1911-1921) Biography Thomas Aquinas (TAHM-uhs uh-KWI-nuhs) is generally agreed to be the towering figure in medieval theology, and to him goes the principal credit for applying […]

German ecclesiastic and essayist Author Works Nonfiction: Imitatio Christi, c. 1427 (The Imitation of Christ, c. 1460-1530) Biography Thomas à Kempis (TAHM-uhs uh KEHM-puhs), born Thomas Hammerken (or Hemerken), probably in 1379, was the son of a peasant whose wife was the keeper of an old-fashioned dame school for small children. At the age of […]

American essayist and science writer Author Works Nonfiction: The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, 1974 The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher, 1979 Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, 1983 The Youngest Science, 1983 (memoir) Et Cetera, Et Cetera: Notes of a Word-Watcher, 1990 […]

American novelist, poet, and playwright Identity: African American Author Works Long Fiction: Marked by Fire, 1982 Bright Shadow, 1983 Water Girl, 1986 The Golden Pasture, 1986 When the Nightingale Sings, 1992 House of Light, 2001 Drama: A Song in the Sky, pr. 1976 Look! What a Wonder!, pr. 1976 Magnolia, pr. 1977 Ambrosia, pr. 1978 […]

Welsh poet Biography Dylan Marlais Thomas, born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914, is widely considered to be the greatest British poet of his generation. In addition to poetry, he wrote a famous radio play (Under Milk Wood), an autobiography, and highly imaginative short stories as well as screenplays and essays. He gained celebrity in Great […]

American novelist and travel writer Author Works Long Fiction: Waldo, 1967 Fong and the Indians, 1968 Murder in Mount Holly, 1969 Girls at Play, 1969 Jungle Lovers, 1971 Saint Jack, 1973 The Black House, 1974 The Family Arsenal, 1976 Picture Palace, 1978 The Mosquito Coast, 1981 Half Moon Street: Two Short Novels, 1984 O-Zone, 1986 […]

Greek poet Author Works Poetry: Idylls, c. 270 B.C.E. (English translation, 1684) Biography Theocritus (thee-AHK-ruht-uhs), a lyric and semidramatic poet, is regarded as the father of pastoral poetry. Little factual biographical information exists. Much of what has sometimes passed for fact about him has been inferred from his writings, and in some cases doubt has […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 English novelist Born: July 18, 1811 Birthplace: Calcutta, India Died: December 24, 1863 Place of death: London, England Biography William Makepeace Thackeray (THAK-uh-ree) was born in Calcutta, India (where his father was in the service of the East India Company), in 1811, and died in London in 1863. At least until 1859, when […]

American playwright Author Works Drama: Ex-Miss Copper Queen on a Set of Pills, pr. 1963 Calm Down Mother, pr. 1965 Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place, pr. 1965 Comings and Goings, pr. 1966 The Gloaming, Oh My Darling, pr. 1966 Viet Rock: A Folk War Movie, pr., pb. 1966 (music by Marianne de […]

American journalist and historian Author Works Nonfiction: Giants of Jazz, 1957, revised 1975 Division Street: America, 1967 Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, 1970 Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, 1974 Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times, 1977 American […]

Roman playwright Author Works Drama: Andria, 166 B.C.E. (English translation, 1598) Hecyra, 165 B.C.E. (The Mother-in-Law, 1598) Heautontimorumenos, 163 b.c.e. (The Self-Tormentor, 1598) Eunuchus, 161 B.C.E. (The Eunuch, 1598) Phormio, 161 B.C.E. (English translation, 1598) Adelphoe, 160 B.C.E. (The Brothers, 1598) Biography Publius Terentius Afer, known as Terence (TEHR-uhnts), was probably born in the North […]

English poet Author Works Poetry: Poems by Two Brothers, 1827 (with Charles Tennyson and Frederick Tennyson) Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, 1830 Poems, 1832 (imprinted 1833) Poems, 1842 The Princess, 1847 In Memoriam, 1850 Maud, and Other Poems, 1855 Idylls of the King, 1859-1885 Enoch Arden, and Other Poems, 1864 The Holy Grail, and Other Poems, 1869 […]

French theologian and paleontologist Identity: Catholic Author Works Nonfiction: Early Man in China, 1941 Le Phénomène humain, 1955 (The Phenomenon of Man, 1955) L’Apparition de l’homme, 1956 (The Appearance of Man, 1965) Lettres de voyage (1923-1939), 1956 (partial translation as Letters from a Traveler, 1962) Le Milieu divin, 1957 (The Divine Milieu, 1960) Nouvelles Lettres […]

Swedish poet Author Works Poetry: Svea, 1811 (English translation, 1840) Nattvardsbarnen, 1820 (The Children of the Lord’s Supper, 1841) Axel, 1822 (English translation, 1838) Frithiofs saga, 1825 (Frithiof’s Saga, 1833) Nonfiction: Esaias Tegnérs brev, 1953-1976 (11 volumes; Nils Palmborg, editor) Biography Esaias Tegnér (tehng-NAYR), born in the Värmland district of Sweden in 1782, was the […]

American short-story writer Author Works Short Fiction: A Long Fourth, and Other Stories, 1948 The Widows of Thornton, 1954 Happy Families Are All Alike, 1959 Miss Leonora When Last Seen, and Fifteen Other Stories, 1963 The Collected Stories of Peter Taylor, 1968 In the Miro District, and Other Stories, 1977 The Old Forest, and Other […]

American novelist Identity: Mexican American, gay or bisexual Author Works Long Fiction: Faultline, 1982 Spring Forward/Fall Back, 1985 Southbound, 1990 Coachella, 1998 Poetry: Slow Dancing at Miss Polly’s, 1989 Nonfiction: Emily Dickinson: A Bibliography, 1850–1966, 1968 Imaginary Parents, 1996 Biography Sheila Ortiz Taylor is often considered the first Chicana lesbian novelist. Her first and most […]

American novelist Identity: African American Author Works Children’s/Young Adult Literature: Song of the Trees, 1975 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, 1976 Let the Circle Be Unbroken, 1981 The Friendship, 1987 The Gold Cadillac, 1987 The Road to Memphis, 1990 Mississippi Bridge, 1990 The Well: David’s Story, 1995 The Land, 2001 Biography Mildred Delois Taylor […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: At Mrs. Lippincote’s, 1945 Palladian, 1946 A View of the Harbour, 1947 A Wreath of Roses, 1949 A Game of Hide and Seek, 1951 The Sleeping Beauty, 1953 Angel, 1957 In a Summer Season, 1961 The Soul of Kindness, 1964 The Wedding Group, 1968 Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 American poet Born: c. 1645 Birthplace: Near Sketchley, Leicestershire, England Died: June 24, 1729 Place of death: Westfield, Massachusetts Biography The manuscripts that contained some three hundred poems by New England mystic Edward Taylor had lain untouched for more than two centuries before they were resurrected by Thomas H. Johnson in 1937. Johnson […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: The Lost Pilot, 1967 The Oblivion Ha-Ha, 1970 Hints to Pilgrims, 1971, 1982 Absences: New Poems, 1972 Viper Jazz, 1976 Riven Doggeries, 1979 Constant Defender, 1983 Reckoner, 1986 Distance from Loved Ones, 1990 Selected Poems, 1991 Worshipful Company of Fletchers, 1994 Shroud of the Gnome, 1997 Police Story, 1999 Memoir […]

American poet and biographer Biography John Orley Allen Tate was born in Winchester, Kentucky, on November 19, 1899, the third son of Eleanor Varnell and John Orley Tate. His early education was somewhat sporadic, but in 1918 he entered Vanderbilt University, where he began to dedicate himself to literature in the company of such writers […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Italian poet and playwright Born: March 11, 1544 Birthplace: Sorrento, Kingdom of Naples (now in Italy) Died: April 25, 1595 Place of death: Rome, Papal States (now in Italy) Biography Torquato Tasso was the son of Bernardo Tasso, a famous Italian poet exiled from Naples during his son’s childhood. Tasso spent his early […]

Russian director and screenwriter Author Works Screenplays: Katok i skripka, 1960 (with Andrey Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky; The Steamroller and the Violin, 1981) Ivanovo detstvo, 1962 (with Mikhail Papava and Vladimir Bogomolov; based on Bogomolov’s novella Ivan; My Name Is Ivan, 1963, also known as Ivan’s Childhood) Andrei Rublev, 1966 (with Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky; English translation, 1968 [censored version], 1983 […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Gentleman from Indiana, 1899 Monsieur Beaucaire, 1900 The Conquest of Canaan, 1905 His Own People, 1907 The Flirt, 1913 Penrod, 1914 The Turmoil, 1915 Penrod and Sam, 1916 Seventeen, 1916 The Magnificent Ambersons, 1918 Ramsey Milholland, 1919 Alice Adams, 1921 Gentle Julia, 1922 The Midlander, 1923 Growth, 1923 […]

Japanese novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Itansha no kanashimi, 1917 Chijin no ai, 1924-1925 (serial), 1925 (book; Naomi, 1985) Kōjin, 1926 Tade kuu mushi, 1928-1929 (serial), 1936 (book; Some Prefer Nettles, 1955) Manji, 1928-1930 Bushūkō hiwa, 1931-1932 (serial), 1935 (book; The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi, 1982) Sasameyuki, 1943-1948 (serial), 1949 (book; The […]

American novelist Identity: Chinese American Author Works Long Fiction: The Joy Luck Club, 1989 The Kitchen God’s Wife, 1991 The Hundred Secret Senses, 1995 The Bonesetter’s Daughter, 2001 Nonfiction: “The Language of Discretion,” 1990 (in The State of the Language, Christopher Ricks and Leonard Michaels, editors) Children’s/Young Adult Literature: The Moon Lady, 1992 The Chinese […]

American playwright and screenwriter Author Works Drama: Terra Nova, pr. 1977 Hooters, pr., pb. 1978 Coming Attractions, pr. 1980 Silver Linings, pr. 1981 Little Footsteps, pr., pb. 1986 Screenplays: White Palace, 1990 (adaptation of Glenn Savan’s novel) The Silence of the Lambs, 1991 (adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel) The Juror, 1996 (adaptation of George D. […]

French essayist Author Works Nonfiction: Essai sur les fables de La Fontaine, 1853 (revised as La Fontaine et ses fables, 1861) Voyages aux eaux des Pyrénées, 1855 (A Tour Through the Pyrenees, 1874) Essai sur Tite-Live, 1856 Les Philosophes français du XIXe siècle, 1857 (revised as Les Philosophes classiques du XIX siècle en France, 1868) […]

Indian poet, playwright, novelist, and short-story writer Author Works Poetry: Saisab sangit, 1881 Sandhya sangit, 1882 Prabhat sangit, 1883 Chabi o gan, 1884 Kari o komal, 1887 Mānashi, 1890 Sonār tari, 1893 (The Golden Boat, 1932) Chitra, 1895 Chaitāli, 1896 Kanika, 1899 Kalpana, 1900 Katha o kahini, 1900 Kshanikā, 1900 Naivedya, 1901 Sisu, 1903 (The […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Roman orator, historian, and public official. Born: c. 56 Birthplace: Unknown Died: c. 120 Place of death: Probably Rome (now in Italy) Biography The life of Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (TAS-uht-uhs) is known only from autobiographical allusions in the extant parts of his works and from eleven letters written to him by […]

Polish poet Author Works Poetry: Dlatego żyjemy, 1952 Pytania zadawane sobie, 1954 Wołanie do Yeti, 1957 Sól, 1962 Sto pociech, 1967 Poezje, 1970 Wszelki wypadek, 1972 Wielka liczba, 1976 Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts: Seventy Poems by Wisława Szymborska, 1981 Ludzie na moście, 1986 (People on a Bridge, 1990) Poems, 1989 Koniec i początek, 1993 View with […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Irish playwright Born: April 16, 1871 Birthplace: Rathfarnham, Ireland Died: March 24, 1909 Place of death: Dublin, Ireland Biography John Millington Synge (sihng) was long considered the greatest Irish dramatist until his eminence was challenged by Sean O’Casey, who was not the superior of the older playwright in tragic or comic power, or […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: The Merry Heart, 1909 The Casement, 1911 The Happy Family, 1912 Nocturne, 1917 September, 1919 Coquette, 1921 The Three Lovers, 1922 Young Felix, 1923 The Elder Sister, 1925 Summer Storm, 1926 A Brood of Ducklings, 1928 Sketch of a Sinner, 1929 The Georgian House, 1932 Elizabeth, 1934 Harvest Comedy, […]

English poet and playwright Author Works Poetry: Poems and Ballads, 1866 A Song of Italy, 1867 Ode on the Proclamation of the French Republic, 1870 Songs Before Sunrise, 1871 Songs of Two Nations, 1875 Poems and Ballads: Second Series, 1878 Songs of the Springtides, 1880 The Heptalogia, 1880 Tristram of Lyonesse, and Other Poems, 1882 […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Irish novelist and essayist Born: November 30, 1667 Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland Died: October 19, 1745 Place of death: Dublin, Ireland Biography Jonathan Swift, with perhaps the keenest mind and sharpest wit in an age marked by intellectual brilliance, was a mass of contradictions. He was dedicated to the ideals of rationality and common […]

English novelist Biography Graham Colin Swift is one of England’s important contemporary novelists. Born in London in 1949, he did not directly experience the momentous events of the Depression-ridden 1930’s, World War II, or the difficult postwar problems of social and economic recovery, but his work has consistently concerned itself with history and its subtle […]

American poet Author Works Poetry: Another Animal: Poems, 1954 A Cage of Spines, 1958 To Mix with Time: New and Selected Poems, 1963 Half Sun Half Sleep, 1967 Iconographs, 1970 New and Selected Things Taking Place, 1978 In Other Words, 1987 The Love Poems of May Swenson, 1991 Nature: Poems Old and New, 1994 May […]

Swedish philosopher and theologian Author Works Nonfiction: Opera philosophica et mineralia, 1734 Prodromus philosophiae ratiocinantis de infinito et causa finali creationis, 1734 Œconomia regni animalis, 1740-1741 (The Economy of the Animal Kingdom, 1846) Regnum animale, 1744-1745 (The Animal Kingdom, 1843-1844) Arcana coelestia quae in scriptura sacra seu verbo Domini sunt detecta, 1749-1756 (8 volumes; The […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Willow Run, 1943 They Came to Cordura, 1958 Where the Boys Are, 1960 Welcome to Thebes, 1962 The Cadillac Cowboys, 1964 The Eagle and the Iron Cross, 1966 Loveland, 1968 Bless the Beasts and Children, 1970 The Tin Lizzie Troop, 1972 Luck and Pluck, 1973 The Shootist, 1975 The […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Italian novelist Born: December 19, 1861 Birthplace: Trieste, Austrian Empire (now in Italy) Died: September 13, 1928 Place of death: Motta di Livenza, Italy Biography Italo Svevo (SVAY-voh) is an important author whose works have never quite achieved popular success. He was born Aron Hector Schmitz, in Trieste, in what was then Austria, […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities, 1838 Handley Cross: Or, The Spa Hunt, 1843, expanded 1854 Hillingdon Hall: Or, The Cockney Squire, 1845 Hawbuck Grange: Or, The Sporting Adventures of Thomas Scott, Esq., 1847 Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour, 1853 “Ask Mamma”: Or, The Richest Commoner in England, 1858 “Plain or Ringlets?,” […]

English poet Author Works Poetry: An Excellent Epitaffe of Syr Thomas Wyat, 1542 Songes and Sonettes, 1557 (also known as Tottel’s Miscellany) The Poems of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 1920, 1928 (Frederick Morgan Padelford, editor) Translations: The Fourth Boke of Virgill, 1554 Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenaeis, 1557 Biography Henry Howard, earl of Surrey […]

American sociologist Author Works Nonfiction: A History of American Currency, 1874 Andrew Jackson as a Public Man, 1882 Discipline, 1883 What Social Classes Owe to Each Other, 1883 What Is the “Proletariat”?, 1886 What Is Free Trade?, 1886 Legislation by Clamor, 1887 Alexander Hamilton, 1890 Robert Morris, 1892 The Absurd Effort to Make the World […]

French poet Author Works Poetry: Stances et poèmes, 1865 Les Épreuves, 1866 Croquis italiens, 1866-1868 Les Solitudes, 1869 Impressions de la guerre, 1870 La France, 1870 Les Destins, 1872 La Révolte des fleurs, 1874 Les Vaines Tendresses, 1875 La Justice, 1878 Le Bonheur, 1888 Les Épaves, 1908 Nonfiction: Préface à la Traduction du Premier Chant […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Roman biographer Born: c. 69 c.e. Birthplace: Possibly Rome (now in Italy) Died: After 122 c.e. Place of death: Possibly Rome (now in Italy) Biography Because his father was military tribune of the XIII Legion, Gaius Suetonius (sew-TOH-nee-uhs) Tranquillus may have been born in Rome, Britain, or Africa; the year was around 69 […]

French novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Plik et Plok, 1831 Latréaumont, 1838 (English translation, 1845) Jean Cavalier, 1840 (The Protestant Leader, 1849) Les Mystères de Paris, 1842-1843 (The Mysteries of Paris, 1843) Le Juif errant, 1844-1845 (The Wandering Jew, 1868) Short Fiction: Les Sept Péchés capitaux, 1848-1852 Biography Born in Paris on January 20, 1804, […]

Indian playwright Author Works Drama: Mrcchakatika, pr. between second century b.c.e. and sixth century c.e. (The Little Clay Cart, 1905) Biography Sudraka (SHEW-druh-kuh), also spelled Shudraka or Çudraka, is possibly a legendary prince who never really existed. Tradition has it that he lived in the first or second century before Christ, and The Little Clay […]

German playwright and novelist Author Works Drama: Die Ehre, pr., pb. 1889 (Honor, 1915) Sodoms Ende, pr. 1890 (A Man and His Picture, 1903) Heimat, pr., pb. 1893 (Magda, 1895) Die Schmetterlingsschlacht, pr. 1894 Das Glück im Winkel, pr. 1895 (The Vale of Content, 1915) Teja, pr., pb. 1896 (English translation, 1897) Fritzchen, pr., pb. […]

American novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Country People, 1924 The Bonney Family, 1928 The Kramer Girls, 1930 The Folks, 1934 New Hope, 1942 The John Wood Case, 1959 Short Fiction: Iowa Interiors, 1926 Children and Other People, 1931 Some Others and Myself, 1952 Biography Ruth Suckow (SEW-koh) was the grandchild of German immigrants on both […]

English poet and playwright Author Works Poetry: Fragmenta Aurea, 1646 The Last Remains of Sir John Suckling, 1659 Drama: Aglaura, pr., pb. 1638 The Goblins, pr. 1638 Brennoralt, pr. 1646 The Works of Sir John Suckling: The Plays, pb. 1971 (L. A. Beaurline, editor) Miscellaneous: The Works of Sir John Suckling: The Non-dramatic Works, 1971 […]

Cuban-born American novelist and poet Identity: Cuban American Author Works Long Fiction: Latin Jazz, 1989 The Cutter, 1991 Havana Thursdays, 1995 Going Under, 1996 Short Fiction: Welcome to the Oasis, and Other Stories, 1992 Poetry: You Come Singing, 1998 Garabato Poems, 1999 In the Republic of Longing, 1999 Palm Crows, 2001 Banyan, 2001 Guide to […]

American novelist Biography William Styron (STI-ruhn) was born in Newport News, Virginia, which he later called “a very Southern part of the world.” His mother, Pauline Margaret Abraham Styron, was from the North, but his father, William Clark Styron, a shipyard engineer, came from an old, if not aristocratic, land-poor Virginia family, and Styron remembered […]

American novelist and short-story writer Author Works Long Fiction: The Dreaming Jewels, 1950 (also known as The Synthetic Man) More than Human, 1953 I, Libertine, 1956 (as Frederick R. Ewing; with Jean Shepherd) The King and Four Queens, 1956 The Cosmic Rape, 1958 Venus Plus X, 1960 Some of Your Blood, 1961 Voyage to the […]

American short-story writer and novelist Author Works Short Fiction: Head o’W-Hollow, 1936 Men of the Mountains, 1941 Tales from the Plum Grove Hills, 1946 Clearing in the Sky, and Other Stories, 1950 Plowshare in Heaven: Tales True and Tall from the Kentucky Hills, 1958 Save Every Lamb, 1964 My Land Has a Voice, 1966 Come […]

Russian novelists Author Works Long Fiction: Izvne, 1960 Strana bagrovykh tuch, 1960 (The Country of the Crimson Clouds, n.d.) Popytka k begstvu, 1962 (Escape Attempt, 1982) Dalekaya raduga, 1964 (Far Rainbow, 1967) Khishchnye veshchi veka, 1965 (The Final Circle of Paradise, 1976) Ponedel’nik nachinayetsya v subbotu, 1965 (Monday Begins on Saturday, 1977) Trudno byt’Bogom, 1966 […]

English novelist Author Works Long Fiction: Dewer Rides, 1929 The Jealous Ghost, 1930 The Garden, 1931 The Brothers, 1932 Sea Wall, 1933 Corporal Tune, 1934 The Seven Arms, 1935 The Last Enemy, 1936 The Swift Shadow, 1937 Laughter in the West, 1937 The Open Sky, 1939 The Bay, 1941 The Directory, 1944 Trevannion, 1948 The […]

Last reviewed: June 2018 Swedish playwright Born: January 22, 1849 Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden Died: May 14, 1912 Place of death: Stockholm, Sweden Biography Johan August Strindberg was born in Stockholm on January 22, 1849. His father, a bankrupt shipping agent, married Strindberg’s mother, a servant, just before August’s birth; three boys had been born before the marriage, […]

German playwright and novelist Author Works Drama: Peer Gynt: Nach Henrik Ibsen, pb. 1971 Die Hypochonder, pr., pb. 1972 (The Hypochondriacs, 1977) Prinz Friedrich von Homburg: Nach Heinrich von Kleist, pb. 1972 Bekannte Gesichter, gemischte Gefühle, pb. 1974 (Familiar Faces, Confused Feelings, 1976) Sommergäste: Nach Maxim Gorky, pb. 1974 Trilogie des Wiedersehens, pr. 1975 (Three […]