Famous Fiction Authors a to z

Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist and author of Things Fall Apart, a work that in part led to his being called the "patriarch of the African novel."

James Agee was a film critic for TIME magazine, penned the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Death in the Family.

Louisa May Alcott was an American author who wrote the classic novel Little Women, as well as various works under pseudonyms.

Ciro Alegria was a Peruvian novelist who wrote about the struggles of the Peruvian Indians, and whose militant pro-Indian activism led to his arrest and exile.

Isabel Allende is a Chilean author best known for penning novels in the style of magic realism. She is the niece of former Chilean president Salvador Allende.

The theme of being caught between two cultures is covered in writer Julia Alvarez's poetry and fiction, including How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.

Rodolfo Anaya is a Mexican-American writer best known for his Chicano-themed books such as Bless Me, Ultima, Heart of Aztlán and Tortuga.

Sherwood Anderson was a U.S. short-story writer and novelist known for his groundbreaking characterization and narrative forms.

Maya Angelou is a poet and prize-winning memoirist. She is the author of the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Philosopher, novelist and scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah is known for his contributions to political philosophy, moral psychology and the philosophy of culture.

Scottish mathematician, physician and satirist John Arbuthnot is known for his satirical writings, which include a political allegory, The History of John Bull.

Actor and director Alan Arkin is a three-time Academy Award nominee, whose notable films include Catch-22 and Wait Until Dark.

Brooke Astor was a philanthropist who served on the boards of many cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian award-winning writer best known for her poetry, short-stories and novels such as The Circle Game, The Handmaid’s Tale, Snowbird and The Tent.

W.H. Auden was a literary chameleon known for his poetry but who also wrote librettos, essays and verse dramas.

Chuck Baldwin is a politician, writer, conservative pastor and radio talk show host. He was the Constitution Party's presidential candidate for the 2008 election.

Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.

Writer and filmmaker Clive Barker is largely considered a master of the horror genre. His Books of Blood and Hellraiser films are among his best-known works.

Sir James Matthew Barrie was a Scottish dramatist, best known for writing the play Peter Pan.

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet best known for his controversial volume of poems, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil).

Children's book writer Frank Baum created the popular Wizard of Oz series. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued to write the series after his death.

English Restoration author, playwright and poet Aphra Behn wrote the short work of fiction Oroonoko, a love story about an African slave in Surinam.

Saul Bellow was a celebrated novelist who won the Pulitzer, the Nobel Prize for Literature and the National Book Award for Fiction three times.

Wendell Berry’s nature poetry, novels of America's rural past and essays on ecological responsibility grew from his experiences as a farmer.

Maeve Binchy was the author of various literary works, including 16 novels. Her most popular books include Light a Penny Candle, Echoes, Circle of Friends and Tara Road.

Author Judy Bloom is a writer and illustrator of books for children and young adults, including Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, and Tiger Eyes.

American poet and activist Robert Bly is best known for writing Iron John: A Book About Men which is credited for starting the Mythopoetic men's movement.

Arna Bontemps was an African-American author best known for his novels, children’s books and poems written during the 1930s-1970s.

Elizabeth Bowen is the author of novels and short-story collections such as The House in Paris (1935), The Heat of the Day (1938) and The Demon Lover (1945).

American fantasy and horror author Ray Bradbury is best known for his novels Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles.

Anne Bradstreet was a 17th century writer who is credited as being one of the first English poets in the colonies.

Maeve Brennan was an Irish short story writer and journalist known for her wit, charm and tragic end.

Self-described ‘street reporter’ Jimmy Breslin wrote columns for a sequence of New York papers. Also a novelist, he won a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

André Breton was a French writer, editor and critic who was a key figure in the Dada and Surrealist art movements.

Anne Brontë, sister of fellow writers Emily and Charlotte, penned the classic 19th century novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Charlotte Brontë was an English 19th century writer whose novel Jane Eyre is considered a classic of Western literature.

Christy Brown was a writer with cerebral palsy who penned the autobiography My Left Foot, which was adapted into a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

Dan Brown is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code. He is known for the intricate plotting and detail in his books.

Prolific author Pearl S. Buck earned a Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Good Earth. She was also the first female to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Author and poet Charles Bukowski wrote the gritty poetry book Love is a Dog from Hell, and the novels Barfly and Factotum, both of which were made into films.

Anthony Burgess was an English novelist and composer best known for his novel A Clockwork Orange, which became a popular 1971 Stanley Kubrik film.

William S. Burroughs was a Beat Generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture, most famously in the book Naked Lunch.

Algerian born writer Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for literature in part due to his embrace of existentialism in books like The Stranger.

Helen Churchill Candee was a writer and a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster.

Truman Capote was a trailblazing writer of Southern descent known for the works Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, among others.

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish essayist, historian and satirical writer. His best know works include Life of Schiller, Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution.

Dale Carnegie is the author of How To Win Friends and Influence People, one of the bestselling self-help books of all time.

Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson, author of the children's classics "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass."

Willa Cather was a writer of poetry and novels known for such works as O Pioneers! and My Antonia.

Michael Chabon is an acclaimed, bestselling author who's won the Pulitzer Prize. He's known for several books, including The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and for his work as a screenwriter on Spider-Man 2 and John Carter.

English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the unfinished work, The Canterbury Tales. It is considered one of the greatest poetic works in English.

U.S. short-story writer and novelist John Cheever’s story collections include The Stories of John Cheever, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978.

Anton Chekhov is best known for his short stories and plays, including The Proposal, The Wedding and The Anniversary.

Charles Chesnutt was a trailblazing short-story author and novelist who presented African-American life in works like The Conjure Woman and The Colonel's Dream.

Alice Childress is an African-American playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She is also the author of several young adult novels.

Short-story writer and novelist Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening, a novel about a young mother who abandons her family, initially condemned but later acclaimed.

Agatha Christie was a mystery writer who was one of the world's top-selling authors with works like Murder on the Orient Express and The Mystery of the Blue Train.

Sandra Cisneros is a Latina American novelist who wrote the bestselling novel "The House on Mango Street."

Tom Clancy is a New York Times Best Selling American author, best known for his thrillers that include themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology.

An author of more than 100 books, Arthur C. Clarke’s imagination and insight influenced modern science via works like his classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Jean Cocteau was a French poet, playwright, artist and film director. He was associated with the group Les Six.

American writer Suzanne Collins is the author of the bestselling The Hunger Games series and The Underland Chronicles.

English novelist and short-story writer Joseph Conrad’s works include the novels Lord Jim, Nostromo and The Secret Agent and the story “Heart of Darkness”.

James Fenimore Cooper was a 19th-century American novelist, best known for his Leatherstocking Tales, which included The Last of the Mohicans.

Stephen Crane was a 19th century American writer best known for his novels The Red Badge of Courage and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.

Michael Crichton was an American author best known for his sci-fi and medical thrillers. The movie based on his book, Jurassic Park, was one of the highest-grossing films in history.

American illustrator and artist Robert Crumb is best known for his distinctive style and satirical tone and creating the cartoon character Fritz the Cat.

Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac was a French author and playwright best known for his political satire and science fantasy, including the play The Pedant Imitated (1654).