Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American Transcendentalist poet, philosopher and essayist during the 19th century. One of his best-known essays is "Self-Reliance.”

• Poet, Philosopher, Journalist
  (1803–1882)

Physician Oliver Wendell Holmes served as dean of Harvard Medical School, but was best known for his poetry and "Breakfast-Table" essays.

• Educator, Poet, Author, Scientist, Doctor, Physiologist
  (1809–1894)

Jonathan Franzen is an American novelist and essayist whose sprawling, multilayered novels about contemporary America elicited critical acclaim.

• Author, Journalist
  (1959–)

Miguel de Unamuno was a Spanish philosopher and writer best known for his novel Abel Sánchez.

• Author, Poet, Scholar, Journalist, Philosopher, Educator
  (1864–1936)

Louis Bromfield was a novelist and essayist who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926 for his novel Early Autumn.

• Journalist, Author
  (1896–1956)

Stanley Kunitz was an American poet who served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1974; 2000). He won the Pulitzer Prize for his work Selected Poems 1928-1958 (1958).

• Poet, Educator
  (1905–2006)

Award-winning novelist Robert Stone is known for his dark humor and social commentary, having penned works like Dog Soldiers and Children of Light.

• Journalist, Author
  (1937–)

As literary editor for The Crisis, Jessie Fauset supported many new voices during the Harlem Renaissance. She also authored novels, essays and poems.

• Editor, Poet, Journalist, Educator, Author
  (1882–1961)