After the release of his acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe became known as one of the most prominent names in African literature. His works are notable for their use of African folklore and oral tradition.

Sherman Alexie has transformed his experiences as a Native American growing up on a reservation into a prolific writing career. He is particularly known for his incisive, sometimes humorous, short stories, collected in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. He is also the author of the YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Isabel Allende is one of the most popular voices in Latino literature. She matches her commercial success with finely-wrought stories and memorable characters, and her writing combines magical realism with autobiographical elements.

Julia Alvarez succeeded as an author by blending memories of her childhood in the Dominican Republic with her experience living in the U.S. as a Dominican-American. Her novels examine the meeting point between different cultures, languages, and identities.

Best known for his first novel, Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya's writing stems from his New Mexican background and his fascination with the oral tradition of Chicano stories. He is also the author of children's books, including The Farlitos of Christmas and No More Bullies!

Early in his career, Sherwood Anderson declared he wanted to express the realities and experiences of commonplace American people. He is regarded as a distinguished short story writer who influenced the careers of authors like Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.

Although she held a number of diverse occupations throughout her life, Maya Angelou wrote prolifically. She was a prominent social activist and many of her works, though highly autobiographical, are essential components of African-American culture.

It is difficult to name a single author more important to the genre of science fiction than Isaac Asimov. He was a prolific writer who published both fiction and nonfiction material on countless topics, and is remembered for his stories about robotics.

Margaret Atwood is one of the most successful contemporary authors. Her literary works include numerous award-winning poems, novels, and short stories. She commonly writes about dystopias, the oppression of women, and the Canadian identity.

Often referred to as the greatest mind of the 20th century, W.H. Auden's poetry brought him success both in his native England and in America. His poems deal with themes like love, loss, and religion, and are praised for their smooth, lyrical diction.

Jane Austen's literary fame lasted after her death, although she enjoyed popularity and acclaim during her life. Her novels are known for their wit and insight into human relationships, especially the social pressures faced by women to find husbands.

James Baldwin's childhood in Harlem shaped his development as a writer. He was one of the first African-Americans to tackle the ignored questions of race, sexuality, and identity in a time when discrimination and social tensions were rampant.

Alison Bechdel is an award-winning cartoonist whose work explores gay and lesbian themes, as well as the drama inherent in family relationships. She is the author of the graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic and has been inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.

Irish playwright, novelist, and poet Samuel Beckett enjoys an almost legendary status in the world of literary modernism. His works are known for their minimalism, dark humor, and tragicomic elements, which allow for multiple interpretations.

Although she was not a prolific writer, her varied life experiences and memories of her travels provided Elizabeth Bishop with ample poetic material. She infuses her writing with a microscopic attention to detail and an emphasis on place and geography.

A poet and visual artist, William Blake often shocked his contemporaries with his eccentricity and his idiosyncratic ideas. Today he is recognized as an irreplaceable name in 19th century Romanticism.

Ray Bradbury is one of the most beloved science fiction writers in literature, though he disagreed with the science fiction label. Dystopian worlds, settlements on Mars, and explorations of the strangeness of human nature feature prominently in his repertoire.

Charlotte Brontë’s most famous work is the novel Jane Eyre. Though she led a short and isolated life, she was acclaimed as a novelist for her intense focus on the personal experiences and impressions of her characters.

Emily Brontë is known as the author of Wuthering Heights. It was her only novel, yet it shocked its Victorian readers with its passionate language and characters. She died a year after the novel's publication.

After releasing her second book of poems, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize. Her poetry was inspired by her experiences growing up in Chicago. She is one of the most acclaimed poets in American literature.

Victorian poet Robert Browning is recognized for having mastered the art of the dramatic monologue in his lengthy, complex poems. His poetry exhibits the use of everyday, idiomatic expressions and often function as extended philosophical inquiries.

Science fiction author Octavia E. Butler integrated themes of racial and sexual awareness into novels set in the future and concerned with genetic engineering, alien beings, and the nature and proper use of power.

Although he has been associated with existentialism and nihilism, Albert Camus avoided direct links with any one ideology. He was a controversial figure during his time, but he is one of the most influential authors in French and absurdist literature.

Raymond Carver's legacy rests on his contributions to the short story genre. Carver hailed from a poor family and struggled with alcoholism, experiences that influenced his writing and resulted in his association with the movement of dirty realism.

Willa Cather's perceptiveness and gift for storytelling resulted in some of the most eloquent and lyrical portrayals of the immigrant experience in the American Midwest. The themes of foreignness and isolation are frequently found within her writings.

Geoffrey Chaucer's works form the bedrock of English literature. He is credited with writing in Middle English, which was the language of the masses in a time period when French and Latin were dominant, furthering the development of written English.

Renowned for his short stories and a revolutionary in the field of drama, Anton Chekhov's impact is immeasurable. Though his life was short, Chekhov's stories and plays influenced generations of writers to come.

Kate Chopin shocked critics and readers with her second novel The Awakening. After her death, however, her writing began to garner more appreciation, solidifying her reputation as a leading feminist Southern author.

Known for using her experiences as a woman going back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico, Sandra Cisneros is a major reference in Chicana literature. Her writing is characterized by social critique and her sense of cultural displacement.

Writer, essayist, and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates focuses on cultural, political, and social issues that affect African Americans. He is the author of Between the World and Me, a work of nonfiction which was written as a letter to his teenage son and is a severe commentary on racism in the U.S.

If Samuel Taylor Coleridge must be known for a single achievement, it could be for launching the Romantic Era of British literature. He also wrote prose, poetry, and literary criticism, and his influence is still felt in Western literature today.

Joseph Conrad's literary importance is magnified by the fact that he was a Polish national whose fourth language was English. His writing had the peculiarities of a non-native speaker and had a mood of anxiety that anticipated modern 20th century fiction.

Stephen Crane's short and intense life had an undeniable impact on his works, which today are recognized as classics. His use of metaphor and psychological realism established him as one of the innovators of early American literature.

e.e. cummings is perhaps one of the most unconventional voices in 20th century poetry. Cummings is known for the lack of punctuation and capitalization in his verses, as well as his emphasis on the visual appearance of his poems.

Much like Chaucer in England, Dante Alighieri is also credited with bringing literature to the laypeople by writing in colloquial Italian instead of Latin. His Divine Comedy is celebrated as one of the finest works of literature in the world.

Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian immigrant to the U.S., incorporates the history and culture of Haiti in her award-winning works, including the short story collection Krik? Krak! And the novels Breath, Eyes, Memory, The Dew Breaker, and Everything Inside.

Daniel Defoe's literary significance was due to his novel Robinson Crusoe, which was one of the first examples of the novel being used as a literary form. It was highly successful during his lifetime, and is still considered a classic today.

Junot Diaz is the author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a novel that follows three generations of a family living amidst turmoil in the Dominican Republic. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Diaz was born in the Dominican Republic.

Charles Dickens was one of the most famous and most popular Victorian authors. He wrote prolifically, and was known for his social critiques and memorable characters. His serialized novels also revolutionized the way books were published in his time.

Author of the famous poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," Emily Dickinson is regarded as one of the most innovative and important American literary figures. Her unconventional style and haunting poetic voice enthrall readers to this day.

Often referenced by classic and modern authors alike, John Donne led a turbulent life as a lawyer and clergyman in 17th century England. He is associated with metaphysical poetry, which entailed intense philosophizing and witty metaphorical language.

Hailing from the Golden Age of Russian literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky had immense influence on authors around the world. His novels are characterized by sweeping portraits of 19th century Russia, and contain searing psychological insights.

The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois is a landmark work of African-American literature. Trained as a sociologist, Du Bois documented widely the oppression of African Americans in the U.S., arriving at the conclusion that "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line."

T.S. Eliot's poetry influenced generations of authors, and his poetry had a profound influence on modernist writing. He is also known for being a respected literary critic, especially for his contributions to the American theory of New Criticism.

Regarded as the spokesperson for the American intellectual ethos, Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the most important thinkers of the 19th century. His writings address religion and philosophy, especially in regard to the Transcendentalist movement.

Louise Erdrich is an acclaimed Native American author. A member of the Ojibwe tribe, her writing focuses on the experiences of Native American people, their struggles, hardships, and the strength and beauty of their culture.

Known primarily as a poet, Martin Espada is an educator and former tenant lawyer who has worked throughout his career for Hispanic and other socially progressive causes. He is the author of the award-winning poetry collections Imagine the Angels of Bread and The Republic of Poetry.

William Faulkner is one of the most studied and celebrated authors in the canon of American literature. He is noted for the finely-wrought complexity of his writing and for his association with the Southern Renaissance movement.

More than any other American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the excess and decadence of the Jazz Age. His novel The Great Gatsby is hailed as one of the best books in the English language.

For about two years, Anne Frank hid from the Nazis with her family in Amsterdam, writing in a diary her father had given her. Following the war her diary came to represent the tragedy of the Holocaust and the resilience of the human spirit.

At the height of his fame in the early 20th century, Robert Frost was both a beloved and esteemed literary figure. He was the recipient of four Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry, which was known for its subtle realism and colloquial language.

Considered a master of storytelling, Gabriel García Márquez is credited for bringing Latin-American literature into the spotlight. He helped popularize the magical realist style, and many of his stories take place in the fictional town of Macondo.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is famous for her disturbing short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," in which she criticized the rest cures that were prescribed for women by doctors in the 19th century. Historically she is known as a vocal feminist and social reformer.

Nikki Giovanni is a writer whose works and ideas were inspired by the social changes affecting women, African-Americans, and civil rights during the 1960s. She is known for her assertive yet sensitive approach to controversial issues.

Susan Glaspell's significance to American drama is often underestimated since her death, even though she was one of the most popular writers of her time and even won a Pulitzer. Her work is only now being rediscovered and appreciated for its quality.

Known for his dystopian novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding wrote works that explore the full extent of human nature, from bestial to decent. With his wry sense of humor and economic writing style, he is one of the most respected English writers.

Xuefei Jin, known by his pen name Ha Jin, draws from his memories and experiences of early Communist China to write poetry and novels. He is one of the most lauded contemporary writers, and is associated with the Misty Poets movement.

Thomas Hardy's novels are famous for their critique of Victorian social norms. Religion, marriage, and social background represent forces with which his characters must contend. His writing aligns with realism and is known for its emotional impact.

Nathaniel Hawthorne became a revered name in American literature after the publication of his novel The Scarlet Letter. His writing is associated with Romanticism, and often contains gothic elements as well as symbolism.

In the world of literature, Seamus Heaney is spoken of as W.B. Yeats’ literary successor. His writing frequently addresses the conflict between the futility of poetry and its power to consolidate national identities and consciences.

In terms of satire, Joseph Heller's name is one of the first to come up in any conversation. He is best known for his novel Catch-22, which is about the absurdity of war and which introduced the term "catch-22" to refer to a paradoxical situation.

Famous for his sparse, declarative prose, Ernest Hemingway's novels are landmarks in 20th century American fiction. He is associated with the artists and writers of the Lost Generation, who were attempting to make sense of life after World War I.

One of the most important names in the classical literary canon, Homer is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, epic poems which have influenced the course of Western literature. Plato considered him the leader of Greek culture.

Gerard Manley Hopkins spent his life trying to reconcile his passion for poetry with his devotion to Catholicism. His was an idiosyncratic style characterized by sprung rhythm and intricate language, using either archaic words or inventing new ones.

Langston Hughes was one of the thinkers who spearheaded the Harlem Renaissance. His jazz-inspired lyricism and his celebration of African-American life and identity solidified his status as a prominent writer who advocated for social justice.

Zora Neale Hurston gained fame during the first half of the 20th century for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was a controversial yet important figure during a time of racial tension and artistic rediscovery in African-American culture.

Aldous Huxley was practically predestined for literary stardom. He was born into a famous family of prominent intellectuals, and began writing in his youth. His writings express concerns about dystopian futures and government control.

After Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen is the most performed playwright in the world. His plays focused on themes such as the suffering of women and the threat of financial difficulty or ruin, and are associated with the rise of theatrical realism.

Shirley Jackson first experienced a taste of literary fame after the publication of her grisly short story "The Lottery." Her stories commonly feature supernatural elements, and explore the psychology of terror as well as the human capacity for violence.

Ben Jonson's reputation as a masterful dramatist and poet was such that he was often considered Shakespeare's rival. His writing titillated audiences, offending and delighting in equal measure. He is known for plays such as Volpone and The Alchemist.

James Joyce was the author of modernist classics such as Dubliners, Finnegans Wake, and Ulysses. This last novel in particular became known for Joyce's stream of consciousness technique. Joyce's works and style have influenced generations of writers.

Known for portraying the anxiety and absurdity of modern life, Franz Kafka's writing is fraught with alienated characters in unfamiliar worlds. His surname even became an adjective used to describe anything of senseless complexity.

Though his life was too short for him to build a lengthy catalogue of works, the little that John Keats did produce in his 25-year-long life was enough to cement his reputation as one of the most famous and respected Romantic poets in literary history.

Over the years Stephen King's writing has earned him the status of America's most famous and controversial horror writer. He is also one of the best-selling, and some of his works, like his novel The Shining, have indelibly influenced popular culture.

Award-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, author of Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems, infuses his works with such themes as the natural world, the inexplicable nature of war, the conflicts inherent in race and culture, and the pleasures of art.

Born of Bengali parents, Jhumpa Lahiri focuses much of her work on the intersection of Indian and Western cultures. She is the author of the Pulitzer-winning short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies and the novel The Namesake.

Although D.H. Lawrence is widely appreciated today, his writing, known for its sexual explicitness and unapologetic scrutiny of the rapidly shifting British social landscape, was often censured by publishers and denounced by authorities in his time.

Intensely private and almost reclusive, Harper Lee rose to prominence with the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel is renowned for its powerful portrayal of prejudice and innocence in a segregated Southern town.

Poet Li-Young Lee, who settled in the U.S. as a child with his Chinese-refugee parents, often draws on personal experience to explore universal questions in his works. He is the author of The City in Which I Love You: Poems and the memoir The Winged Seed: A Remembrance.

Jack London's novels, including the classic The Call of the Wild, became famous for their association with the literary movement of Naturalism. Common themes include the brutality of nature and the struggle to adapt to hostile environments.

During his era, Lord Byron's scandalous public image contributed to his celebrity status. He gained notoriety for works such as his epic poem "Don Juan," based on the legendary libertine, and he is the namesake of the Byronic hero archetype.

Poet Audre Lorde addressed the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia in her works. Her posthumous 2017 collection of essays, speeches, and poems, Your Silence Will Not Protect You, is particularly relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Although his writings drew scathing reviews from critics in his day, Herman Melville's works soon found an eager readership in the war-weary generations of the 20th century. His novel Moby-Dick is universally praised as a classic of American fiction.

Arthur Miller is counted among the select few classic American playwrights, and remains one of the most awarded. His plays were known for their focus on the undue pressures of American society and an individual's social responsibility to others.

Marianne Moore was a central figure in the development of literary modernism. As a poet and critic, she socialized with an elite circle of modernist poets, and her poetry collections won numerous awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

One of the most awarded writers in contemporary American fiction and one of the most recognizable African-American voices in literature, Toni Morrison gained prominence with her complex portrayals of race and identity and her deeply nuanced characters.

Among Canadian short story writer Alice Munro's many literary achievements is winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her short story collections include Dance of the Happy Shades and The Progress of Love.

An immigrant to the U.S. from Hong Kong, Celeste Ng is the author of Everything I Never Told You, a novel about a Chinese American family dealing with a wide range of issues, from family secrets and lies to love and issues of race, especially in connection with interracial marriages.

Notorious for the sheer volume of material written under her name, Joyce Carol Oates enjoys a strong presence and influence in the current community of contemporary authors. Her most prominent works are Blonde and them, both novels.

While Tim O'Brien's first book was published in 1973, he is most known for his 1990 novel, The Things They Carried. He draws upon his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War in order to examine the themes of violence, ignorance, and human survival.

Flannery O'Connor, whose struggle with lupus considerably shortened her life, achieved an impressive amount of critical attention and appreciation for her literary works. Her stories, mainly set in the South, often involve violence, grotesque imagery, and religious themes.

George Orwell was a respected intellectual, journalist, and novelist. He is famous for novels such as Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four, both of which explored themes common in his other works, such as tyranny, totalitarianism, and hypocrisy.

A heavyweight in the genre of confessional poetry, Sylvia Plath poured her anxieties and her struggle with depression into her poetry and one novel, The Bell Jar. She is remembered for her vivid, metaphorical diction and powerful imagery.

Despite his troubled life, Edgar Allan Poe's literary fame only grew after his death. He is often considered the inventor of the modern short story and is famous for his gothic and horror-inspired works, which include his poem "The Raven."

Private and reclusive, J.D. Salinger was the author of the 20th century classic The Catcher in the Rye. The novel revolutionized the genre of the confessional protagonist at odds with the world, and continues to influence writers of all ages.

Perhaps the most influential literary figure in the English-speaking world, William Shakespeare authored numerous plays and sonnets in his lifetime. Many expressions that are considered clichés today come from Shakespeare's plays.

Although Sophocles wrote over 100 plays, only a few, such as Oedipus Rex and Antigone, survived, and these have become seminal works in the history of drama. His plays have influenced Western thought and are held up as standards of excellence.

John Steinbeck joined the ranks of esteemed literary figures with the publication of novels like Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden. His works focus on the vulnerability of the working class, poverty, alienation, and independence.

Amy Tan, whose works include The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife, is one of contemporary literature's most unique voices. Her writing is concerned with mother-daughter relationships and with the experiences of Chinese-Americans.

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas's debut novel for young adults. was inspired by events that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. Thomas draws on her experience witnessing the conflicting racial politics that follow the shooting of a young black man by a white police officer.

Possibly the most important contributor to fantasy literature, J.R.R. Tolkien drew on his knowledge of language and mythology as well as his experience in World War I to create the universe of Middle Earth, the setting for many of his works.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or Mark Twain as he is most commonly known, enjoyed fame and prestige as a writer during his lifetime. His masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is considered one of the great American novels.

For John Updike, the mundanity and repressed conflicts of American middle class life are the best subjects for a good story. With his widely admired style of prose, Updike's "Rabbit" tetralogy solidified his status as one of America's great authors.

Popular for the dark, satiric humor of his novels, Kurt Vonnegut is known for combining science fiction with relevant social and political issues. His books touched on themes such as war, religious belief, dystopian societies, and class conflict.

A heavyweight in contemporary African-American fiction, Alice Walker achieved fame as a writer after the publication of her novel The Color Purple. She is a passionate social activist and her writing frequently deals with racism, sexism, and oppression.

Eudora Welty is one of the most distinguished chroniclers of Southern American life. Much of her writing stems from her interest in portraying local customs and idioms as well as the relationships between individuals and the places they inhabit.

Colson Whitehead is the author of several highly regarded novels, including The Underground Railroad (2016) and The Nickel Boys (2019), both of which won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He is also the recipient of a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship "genius grant."

A classic American poet, Walt Whitman is known for his collection Leaves of Grass, which he revised until his death. It is famous for its celebration of the speaker's life and personhood, most notably in the poem "Song of Myself."

Best known for the Holocaust memoir Night, Elie Wiesel wrote more than fifty books in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Incorporating social activism, religious exploration, and artistic expression, his writings are unified by his experience as a Holocaust survivor.

A writer in 19th century Victorian England associated with the Aesthetic movement, Oscar Wilde's career was frequently interrupted by scandal and public accusations. His witty epigrams and the biting satire of his plays contribute to his enduring popularity.

Tennessee Williams drew on his Southern heritage and chaotic personal life to write some of the best plays of the 20th century. His works had elements of realism, and often recognized the minute details and gestures that characterized people and places.

William Carlos Williams launched his career as a poet while working as a pediatrician. His poetry has strong ties to Modernism and Imagism, and frequently explored the question of American identity in the 20th century.

August Wilson, one of America's leading playwrights, voiced the drama of the African-American experience through such plays as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, and The Piano Lesson. His plays have won numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes and five New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.

One of the most respected authors to emerge from the 20th century, Virginia Woolf's use of stream-of-consciousness and her ability to transcend the confines of fixed setting and perspective made her writing essential to Modernist literature.

William Wordsworth is strongly associated with Romanticism. His poetry is famous for its allusions to earlier classical works and for its preoccupation with nature and spiritual matters. His most famous work is the autobiographical poem The Prelude.

Richard Wright was a precursor of writers such as Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, and his works were vital to the development of African-American literature. His experience with racism and discrimination formed the basis of many of his works.

Zitkala-Sa (also known as Gertrude Bonnin) was a prominent leader of the Pan-Indian Movement in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s. Educated outside of the Yankton Sioux reservation at Quaker and Christian schools, her works examine the consequences of cultural assimilation.