Celebrations of America’s 250th birthday seem to be weekly affairs this summer, and we didn’t want to miss out. But how to honor our nation while not going over the top with the red, white, and blue, and maintaining the high quality of writing you’ve come to expect from Aoide? In the end, we decided that there’s no better way to highlight writing than to honor America’s 250th most influential writers.
A couple of technical notes before we begin.
Being American means being from somewhere else. We are a nation of immigrants and our writers are as much a reflection of the culture they left behind as they are a window into a new America. Their last names, like mine, may have too many vowels (or consonants). Their food may smell funny to you. Some of these writers even pray to a different God. Our celebration of these facts is what makes us all Americans.
There are a great many factors that tally to make a write influential. They may have won a major award, founded or co-founded a literary movement, be the first person of their ethnicity to win a major award, and, of course, produce the high-quality writing that leaves readers pondering the story long after they’ve closed the book. They make more than a ripple in our American ethos.
Disclaimer: The writers are listed in the order we thought of them. That is, they are in no particular order. Absolutely NO consideration has been given to sex, race, religion, politics, or cultural cancelation. People who may have been cancelled by our culture, but who still created influential works are included here. Despite their character flaws, their writing still has the power to influence minds both big and small, open and otherwise. These few writers can pay for their sins in other ways that don’t include depriving the world of their genius.
Robert Frost
- Abraham Lincoln
One of America’s most consequential Presidents, his Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of the South from further servitude.
- Thomas Jefferson
Primary author of one of the most important documents in the history of the United States – the Declaration of Independence – his document permanently severed colonial ties with England.
- James Madison
Nicknamed the “father of the Constitution,” for his role in the completion of the document defining the legal framework of the new nation, he also penned the Bill of Rights, which delineate America’s most treasured freedoms.
- Thomas Paine
Considered one of the great philosophers of his age, his pamphlets Common Sense and The American Crisis framed the Patriot’s argument for independence from England. His Rights of Man advanced arguments for human rights decades ahead of their time.
- Cotton Mather
The very first American evangelical, he was also a major New England intellectual who helped lead the Revolt of 1689. Besides testifying in the Salem Witch Trials, Mather is best known for his history of New England from its founding, Magnalia Christi Americana.
- Benjamin Franklin
America’s founding philosopher, scientist, diplomat, publisher, governor, yet a founding father that did not sit in the oval office, Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac is published to this day. Contrary to popular opinion, he did not write the Declaration of Independence but was on the 5-man draft committee.
- Alexander Hamilton
War hero, economists, industrialist, and the first secretary of Treasury currently known for the eponymous play still on Broadway, and as a writer he is credited with the Federalist Papers, which were his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
- Washington Irving
Author of such stories as The Legend of Sleepy Hallow and Rip Van Winkle, Irving also penned biographies of Muhammad and George Washington.
- James Fenimore Cooper
This writer won fame and fortune in his lifetime for his epic adventures including The Last of the Mohicans and the Leatherstocking Series featuring interracial friendships between Natty Bumpo and the native Americans.
- Matthew Carey
An Irish writer and economist who was mentored by Benjamin Franklin and become the largest publisher in the U.S. He took on the cause of parliamentary reform, instantly attracting the wrath of the Federalists, but retaining democratic sympathies. However, he broke with the Democratic Party by offering a defense of economic protectionism with the Whigs.
Arthur Miller
- Daniel Raymond
He was an early political economist in the United States whose influence shaped the American School of Political Economy. He authored Thoughts on Political Economy and The Elements of Political Economy.
- Edgar Allan Poe
Everybody’s favorite Halloween poet and short story author, every word of the Poe canon has been enjoyed by generation after generation since it was written. His most memorable works include The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and Fall of the House of Usher.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Abolitionist and poet who led the transcendentalist movement, his Essays featured his thoughts on Self-Reliance, Experience, and Nature that would influence rugged American individualists for centuries to come.
- Frederick Douglas
A former slave who gained fame for his abolitionist oratory, Douglas wrote three autobiographies in support of his cause: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. All were best-sellers.
- Harriet Ann Jacobs
An African-American abolitionist whose autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is now considered an American classic, Jacobs broke early ground for feminists with her writing.
- Henry David Thoreau
American naturalist, philosopher, poet, and essayist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a tome espousing the benefits of living simply among nature.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Best known for The Scarlet Letter, much of Hawthorne’s writing is decidedly anti-puritan and ahead of its time.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe
Her powerful novel depicting the harsh conditions experienced under slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a best-seller in its time and an eye-opener to many myopic northerners.
Washington Irving
- Herman Melville
The world knows him for Moby Dick. Literature students remember his character Bartleby the scrivener repeating, “I prefer not to.”
- Emily Dickenson
Mostly unknown and unpublished in her lifetime, her poetry is considered stylistically groundbreaking. Of her 1,800 poems, only ten were published while she was still alive.
- Walt Whitman
The first proudly naked American, his book of poems, Leaves of Glass, rained down American optimism and exceptionalism on everyone who read him.
- Mark Twain
Satirist, essayist, political thorn in the side to anyone who crossed reason and logic, there isn’t an American child who doesn’t know Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
- Ernest Hemingway
Winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize for Literature, “Papa” Hemingway wrote 7 novels and six short story collections in his lifetime including A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
- Scott Fitzgerald
The image of the roaring twenties socialite, Fitgerald lived the excesses of the Jazz Age he wrote about in classics The Great Gatsby and The Beautiful and the Damned.
- John Steinbeck
Author of 33 books, winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature, keen social observer, and bane of American high school students, his best-known works include Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
- William Faulkner
People in fictional Yoknapatawpha County would fete the cantankerous author, screenwriter and whiskey aficionado – if only it were a real place and not in Faulkner’s imagination. Faulkner would become best known for his novels Light in August, Sanctuary, The Sound and the Fury and Knight’s Gambit among other works
- Toni Morrison
Her works are lauded for addressing the dehumanizing and demoralizing results of racism in the United States and the Black American experience. She won the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. Song of Solomon and Beloved are but two of her best-known works.
- James Baldwin
Widely known for his fiery oratory and essays, Baldwin’s fiction garnered plenty of accolades as he outlined his views and his vision for the future of Black Americans. Widely published during his lifetime, today his best-known novels include If Beal Street Could Talk and Go Tell It On the Mountain.
- JD Salinger
Loss of innocence and desire for experience have rung true in the hearts of adolescents since Salinger published his first shirt story in The New Yorker. He’s best known for his novel, Catcher in the Rye.
- Harper Lee
On school syllabi since 1960, there isn’t an American teen who didn’t read To Kill a Mockingbird in school or see the Oscar-winning movie starring Gregory Peck.
- Maya Angelou
Her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was the first of seven autobiographies that, along with her poetry and activism, elevated Angelou to national treasure status.
- Theodore Seuss “Ted” Geisel
Childhood wouldn’t be the same without Dr. Seuss to show us the joys of silliness. His best sellers include Green Eggs & Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
- Ray Bradbury
This author, screenwriter, and godfather of American science fiction brought the world classics like Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man.
Sylvia Plath
- Arthur C. Clarke
His science fiction writing earned him the moniker “Prophet of the Space Age”. He was best known for his Space Odyssey series and Rendezvous with Rama.
- Isaac Asimov
Wrote and edited over 500 books in his lifetime and is most lauded for his novel Foundations.
- Truman Capote
Best known for In Cold Blood, he also penned the Hollywood classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
- Louisa May Alcott
The author of Little Women and Little Men (among other novels) was an ardent feminist and stayed single her entire life.
- Alice Walker
The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, her novel The Color Purple. She also wrote seventeen other novels and several books of essays and poetry.
- Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Best known for Slaughterhouse Five, he inspired many writers to take up the pen to posthumously honor him by continuing his quest to understand the absurdity inherent in our reality. You might also know him from novels such as Cat’s Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and The Sirens of Titan.
- Joseph Heller
If you’ve ever used the phrase “Catch-22” and never read the book, you owe Joseph Heller royalties.
- Arthur Miller
The Death of a Salesman writer had enough game to wed Marilyn Monroe!
- Frank Baum
Watching The Wizard of Oz became a rite of passage for American childhood when the book was made into the eponymous film.
- E. Hinton
Writing about the social difficulties of growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Hinton’s works include The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now.
- Ken Kesey
Driver of the magic bus, his novel One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest is taught in every high school in America. The movie starring Jack Nicholson won 5 Oscars.
- Jack Kerouac
Author of the original “great American novel,” On the Road set a generation on fire with wanderlust.
- William Bourroughs
A Beat Generation writer who also beat (and shot) his wife, fed all of us a Naked Lunch.
Pearl S. Buck
- Alan Ginsberg
His poem Howl still rings true generations after he originally wrote it about the Beat Generation.
- Sylvia Plath
She was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems, published posthumously one month after her suicide. She is best known for her confessional fiction and poetry such as The Bell Jar and Ariel.
- John Kennedy Toole
Toole was a more popular professor than he was a novelist. His Confederacy of Dunces went through so many edits that it could only be published after the author’s suicide. Nevertheless, he won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
- Tennessee Williams
Considered one of the top three playwriters of the twentieth century, he found success with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire.
- Jack London
Author, adventurer, and architect of the American image of the wild northern frontier, his Call of the Wild was heard around the world.
- Willa Cather
Best known for her novels about life on the Great Plains and the frontier, but recognition came when she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, One of Ours, which was set in World War I.
- Cormac McCarthy
Widely regarded as one of the great America novelists, his graphic depictions of violence and sparse punctuation define his works, which included All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road.
- Jonathan Franzen
Considered one of America’s greatest writers, he’s given us Crossroads and The Corrections, which garnered both critical acclaim and a spat with Oprah.
- Neil Gaimen
Master of the myth, Gaimen’s work is defined by mythological characters with modern problems and vice versa. His recent television show on Amazon Prime, Good Omens, starred Michael Sheen and David Tennant.
- Raymond Chandler
This author’s works had an immense stylistic influence on the detective novels and shows of modernity. His best-known works include The Big Sleep, which was made into a film noir classic starring Humphrey Bogart.
- John Updyke
One of only four writers to with the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once, he published more than twenty novels, a dozen short story collections, as well as poetry and art criticism. Updike is, perhaps, best known for his Rabbit novels, The Witches of Eastwick, and The Scarlett Letter trilogy. XXX
John Steinbeck
- Philip Roth
He received the National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain, and Everyman, a second National Book Award for Sabbath’s Theater, and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. The list goes on like this…
- S. Eliot
Known for reinvigorating the art of poetry through his use of language, writing style, and verse structure, Eliot’s best-known work is the epic poem The Wasteland is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th Century. It certainly was the most analyzed poem of his time.
- Pearl S. Buck
She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her debut novel, The Good Earth.
- Henry James
In literary circles, he’s called one of the greatest novelists of the English Language. His works were increasingly experimental, and his later writings were considered to be a sort of literary impressionism.
- Ralph Ellison
Named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, perhaps it was fated that he would go on to write The Invisible Man, one of the most important novels of the civil rights movement.
- Robert Penn Warren
The only person to ever win the Pulitzer for both Fiction and Poetry, he penned All the King’s Men and founded the literary magazine, The Southern Review.
- Bob Woodward
He helped bring down a president with an anonymous source named Deepthroat and has since interviewed every American president during their term in office.
- Sherwood Anderson
Despite a personal life including more wives than published novels, he did manage to crank out an enduring work of related short stories called Winesburg, Ohio.
- Charles Frazier
He won the National Book Award for Fiction for his novel Cold Mountain, which went on to become a Hollywood hit starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.
- Sinclair Lewis
Champion of safety in the workplace, his book The Jungle took on Big Sausage and showed American laborers that their lives were worth more than their wages.
- Zora Neale Hurston
Her most popular novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was also her most powerful. Her life as an African-American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker portraying the struggles of African-Americans was a testament to creativity conquering all.
- Alice Sebold
Feted author of The Almost Moon and The Lovely Bones, her work and professional life took a sharp turn when it was revealed that the man she accused of rape in her autobiography Lucky was innocent and spent 16 years in prison.
- Thomas Pynchon
His works are defined by absurdist humor, pop culture references, and paranoid tone but he is still considered one of America’s greatest novelists. Pynchon’s canon includes Gravity’s Rainbow, Shadow Ticket, and V.
- James Ellroy
By reinvigorating noir literature, Ellroy re-opened the door to a genre that had been stagnating for generations. Then he gave it a swift kick in the ass. He’s best known for his four-novel series, The L.A. Quartet.
- Vladamir Nabakov
With a decidedly Russian name, it’s important to note that he immigrated to the US in 1945. His novel Lolita has been ranked fourth on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best 20th-century novels.
- David Foster Wallace
Best known for his second novel, Infinite Jest, Wallace refused to use irony in his narrative and is famous for the prolific use of end notes.
James Baldwin
- Alex Haley
His novel Roots raised awareness of African American history for millions of Americans when his book was made into a TV mini-series starring Oprah Winfrey. The show opened to an audience of 130 million viewers.
- Brett Easton Ellis
A self-proclaimed satirist with an penchant for writing about extreme actions and opinions, Ellis wrote Less Than Zero and American Psycho among other notable novels.
- John Irving
The American and Canadian novelist and screenwriter is best known for his book The World according to Garp and his screenplay, The Cider House Rules, which won an Academy Award for best screenplay.
- Saul Bellow
Winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize and the only three-time winner of the National Book Award, Bellow was a prolific author whose works included Herzog, Mr. Sammler’s Planet, and Seize the Day.
- Kate Chopin
Writing about life in Louisiana, she was considered a feminist and a forerunner of Zelda Fitzgerald. Her works include At Fault and The Awakening.
- Langston Hughes
African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist, he is best known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published opinion pieces in local magazines that set the stage for the neighborhood’s rebirth.
- Thornton Wilder
He won Pulitzer Prizes for his novels The Bridge of San Luis Rey and for the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a U.S. National Book Award for the novel The Eighth Day.
- Hunter S. Thompson
Inventor of the gonzo style of journalism where the writer is as important as the story he’s telling, Thompson’s Hell’s Angels chronicled the year he lived with the outlaw biker gang.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder
Her Little House on the Prairie stories showed children growing up in the twentieth and twenty-first century how good they had it not having to chop wood or worry about being eaten by wolves.
- Carl Sandberg
A late-arrival to the Beat Generation, Sandberg won three Pulitzer prizes – two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln.
- Don Delillo
Delillo has as many major awards as he has novels. Known for tackling modern subjects ranging from consumerism to the digital age, his books include White Noise, Libra, Underworld, and so many more.
- Herman Wouk
The Washington Post called him the reclusive dean of American historical novelists. His best-known novel, The Cain Mutiny, was produced into a major Hollywood film with Humphrey Bogart.
- Dee Brown
Dorris was a novelist and librarian whose historical work Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was written from the Native American point-of-view (a radical notion at the time).
James Fenimore Cooper
- Pat Conroy
Southern author of many acclaimed novels, most of which were made into movies including The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and Prince of Tides.
- David Mamet
Playwright, author, and filmmaker, his credits include famous works like Glenn Gary Glenn Ross, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and The Untouchables.
- James Michener
His first book, Tales from the South Pacific, won him a Pulitzer and was eventually made into a Broadway musical. His work is sold by the pound at garage sales and airports across the country.
- Gore Vidal
An extremely vicious (catty?) political animal, Vidal spent most of his life watching or walking the corridors of power as his novels and essays took the temperature of American culture at a time when it was in great flux.
- John Cheever
Nicknamed “the Chekov of the suburbs” most of his work is set in the upper east side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, and old rural New England. His works include The Enormous Radio, The Five-Forty-Eight, and The Swimmer.
- Theodore Dreiser
An American novelist of the naturalist school, Dreiser’s work is characterized by his protagonist’s success despite their moral failings. He is best known for his novels Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy.
- E. Cummings
For his 2,900 poems in which he experiments with grammar and word placement, he is considered one of the masters of American poetry.
- Thomas Berger
Berger was known as a satirist and a comedic novelist. His most famous novel, Little Big Man, was made into a knee-slapping comedy starring Dustin Hoffman.
- Elmore Leonard
Quick-witted and fast-paced, he began writing westerns and moved on to become one of the most prolific crime fiction writers of his time. Hit titles include Maximum Bob, Rum Punch, and City Primeval, which was adapted for the show Justified.
Emily Dickinson
- David McCullough
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, he was also given the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his biographies of great Americans like Harry S. Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Wright Brothers.
- Tom Wolfe
The legendary author in the perennial white suit, Wolfe documents American life in a journalistic fashion to give us works exploring the current national ethos, including The Right Stuff, Bonfire of the Vanities, and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
- James Clavell
Best known for his Asian Saga novels, Clavell was also an accomplished screenwriter with credits including The Great Escape and The Fly.
- Donna Tart
Her Secret History revealed a much darker past than the one we may remember when, in fact, we may not be remembering correctly at all.
- Louise Eldrich
She has been hailed as the most significant part of the second wave of the Native American Renaissance and his written 28 books including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children’s books.
- Erik Larson
His historical fiction runs the gamut on subjects ranging from a serial killer at the World’s Fair (Devil in the White City) to the Lusitania’s last days (Dead Wake), among many other subjects he brings to life.
- Charles Bukowski
Everyone’s favorite drunken poet and novelist, Bukowski redefined realism for a plastic society and seemed to have a great time doing it in books like Hollywood, Post Office, and Ham on Rye.
- Tom Robbins
Prolific and award-winning as any writer on this list, Robbins best-known novel today is Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which was made into a movie.
- Kathy Reichs
A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Kathy Reichs gets credit for making it interesting for the rest of us in her books. She also produced the TV show based on her life, Bones, starring Emily DeChanel.
- Winston Groom
Two words, y’all: Forest Gump.
- Philip K. Dick
Science fiction as we know it would not exist without the twisted, schizophrenic, drug addled, genius mind of Dick – whose stories are seminal in the science fiction, speculative canon. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Minority Report, and The Man in the High Castle are but three of his works worth reading and watching.
- Judith Guest
She taught full time while she penned such memorable novels as Ordinary People and Second Heaven.
- Edward Albee
Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? Is perhaps his most famous work.
Ralph Ellison
- Henry James
Considered by many to be the greatest English language novelist, his novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analyzed and ambiguous ghost story and remains his most widely adapted work in other media.
- Colson Whitehead
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he wrote nine novels and is most famous for his books The Nickel Boys and Crook Manifesto.
- George R.R. Martin
Arguably, no one has done more to bring fantasy into the mainstream than the Game of Thronesauthor.
- Angie Thomas
She gained international recognition for her novel The Hate U Give, which addresses police violence and racism and was later made into a movie.
- Joan Didion
She was considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism along with Truman Capote, Thomas Wolfe, and Norman Mailer. In the ‘60s and ‘70s she published widely in national magazines about the counterculture. She has been lauded for her novel, Play It As It Lays, and her screenplay, A Star is Born.
- Jeffrey Euginides
Author of The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, and The Marriage Plot – and collector of awards – he’s presently hard at work on his next book.
- Trey Parker
Never afraid to take truth to power, this South Park creator had written and voice thirty seasons of the show.
- Matt Stone
Together with his writing partner, Trey Parker, are modern day Voltaires. Also, see above.
- Judy Bloom
Are You There God, It’s Me Margeret was a staple of every pre-teen girl (and some boys) that demystified growing up just enough to make it exciting.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Carl Sagan
Believe it or not, astronomy was growing by leaps and bounds back in 1981 when he published Cosmos to bring a simple understanding of the stars to the world.
- Douglas Adams
Best known for his comedic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he’s sold over 14 million copies in his lifetime.
- Robert Pirsig
His novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, tells the story of father and son on a motorcycle trip where the father imparts his wisdom on his son.
- Robert Penn Warren
He received the 1947 Pulitzer for All the King’s Men AND for poetry in in 1958 and 1979.
- C. Boyle
He published thirty-one novels and more than 150 short stories in his lifetime. His dark comedic bent showed his true colors in novels like The Road to Wellville, A Friend of the Earth and The Inner Circle.
- Thomas Wolfe
The author of Look Homeward, Angel shouldn’t be confused with Tom Wolfe, author and man in the white suit. This Wolfe has an enormous stone angel marking his grave in Ashville, NC.
- Norman Mailer
Founder of The Village Voice, Mailer had eleven best-selling books including The Naked and the Dead, An American Dream, and Oswald’s Tale.
- Celeste Ng
She has been published in a variety of literary journals and had one of her stories turned into a TV miniseries. Her most renowned works are her short stories. Girls at Play comes to mind. Her most recent novel, Our Missing Hearts, was published in 2022.
- Flannery O’Conner
She was a Southern writer of the Southern Gothic school. Her works were known for grotesque characters put into violent situations that face a moral choice. She wrote two novels and twenty-one short stories.
- Phyllis Wheatley
The first African-American to publish a book of poetry. Her book won praise high and wide from prominent people like George Washington. The Wheatley family emancipated Phyllis after she was published.
- Jesmyn Ward
She won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction for her second novel Salvage the Bones, a story about familial love and community in the face of Hurricane Katrina. She won in 2017 for her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing.
Harper Lee
- Tommy Orange
His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. In 2025, Orange was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
- K. Jemisson
In 2025, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named Jemisin the 42nd Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. She is perhaps best known for her Broken Earth series.
- Min Jin Lee
She is best known for writing Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her work deals with the Korean diaspora.
- Anthony Doerr
He gained widespread recognition and a Pulitzer Prize for his novel, All the Light We Cannot See.
- Matt Haig
The Midnight Library opens reader’s eyes to the different realities they missed by making poor decisions in life. Thoughtful, well-written, with a light touch approach to mental health issues – this book will have you analyzing your own life decisions in no time.
- Isabel Wilkerson
Journalist and first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, she wrote The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
- Kathyrn Stockett
Her first novel, The Help, was a New York Times best seller that sold 15 million copies and was translated into 39 languages.
- Maria Semple
American novelist and screenwriter, some of her most memorable television credits include Beveryly Hills 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan, and Ellen.
- Junot Diaz
He received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao and received a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” in 2012.
- Paul Beatty
American author and professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout.
Truman Capote
- Philip Caputo
He was best known for A Rumor of War, a best-selling memoir of his experiences during the Vietnam War. He has since written 18 additional books, including three memoirs, five books of general nonfiction, nine novels, and two books of short stories.
- Douglas Coupland
This man literally wrote the book on Generation X, which subsequently forced consecutive generations to be identified by the single letters, Y and Z. Then we got Millennials.
- Michael Chabon
His first novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was published when he was 24. He followed it with Wonder Boys and two short-story collections. In 2000, he published The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
- Tess Gunty
Her debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch, won the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. We definitely expect more great writing from her.
- Gary Schteyngart
This Russian immigrant author takes absurdity to new intellectual heights as the subtext of his books is almost always the difference between things in Russia and the United States. Check out Absurdistan and you won’t be disappointed.
- Mark Z. Danielewski
Winner of the New York Public Libraries Young Lion Awards for House of Leaves, Danielewski singlehandedly resurrected and redefined the structure of the novel and pioneered using footnotes to tell entire stories in and out of context. Difficult read, but brilliant in all other respects.
- Jenny Larson
Her debut book Broken was a New York Times Best Seller and showed millions of Americans how to laugh at themselves while struggling with depression and anxiety.
- Nikole Hannah-Jones
An investigative journalist known for her coverage of civil rights issues, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and her work on the 1619 Project.
- Sy Montgomery
She is the author of 38 non-fiction books including The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness and the epic Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell.
She also writes books for children.
- Robert Cowley
This famed military historian has penned many a historical tome meant for more strategic eyes than mine. For the rest of us, he wrote What If? The World’s Most Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been
- Mel Brooks
He brought the world visionary comedy including such massive hits as The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and The History of the World.
- Jhumpa Lahiri
This Indian-American author shot to fame with her best-selling first novel The Namesake, which was adopted into a film of the same name.
- Mindy Kaling
She brought her unique perspective as a writer and an actor in The Office and her own show The Mindy Project was a refreshing look at our collective insecurities.
William Faulkner
- Ezra Pound
He was a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a collaborator in Fascist Italy during World War II. His works include Ripostes, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, and The Cantos.
- Wallace Stevens
Although he spent most of his life as an insurance executive, he managed to find time to write poetry and published numerous books, including Harmonium, The Idea of Order at Key West, and Of Modern Poetry.
- Robert Frost
If you’ve attended a graduation ceremony, you already know his most famous poem, The Road Not Taken, encouraging young minds to find new frontiers.
- Emily Dickinson
Unknown during her lifetime, her work is now regarded as an essential part of the American canon.
- Carl Sandberg
With three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln, Sandberg’s Chicago Poems gained him literary attention.
- Hart Crane
Inspired by the modernists and the romantics, his work firmly cemented his place in the Avante Gard school. His poetry was known for its complexity. His poem, The Bridge, about the Brooklyn Bridge, remains his most famous.
- John Ashberry
Considered one of the most influential poets of his time, he published 20 volumes of poetry and won major prizes including the Pulitzer and the National Book Award.
- Elizabeth Bishop
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Award in 1970, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, she has been called, “the most purely gifted poet of the 20th century.”
- H. Auden
His poetry is notable for its stylistic variety, its engagement with existential subject matter like politics, morals, love, and religion. Some of his best known poems include Funeral Blues, The Shield of Achilles, and September 1, 1939.
Edgar Allan Poe
- Audre Lorde
This African-American poet and professor dedicated her life and talents to confronting all forms of injustice and oppression. She believed that there could be “no hierarchy of oppressions” among “those who share the goals of liberation and a workable future for our children,”
- Marianne Moore
She was awarded the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Bollingen Prize for her Collected Poems. The introduction is written by none other than T.S. Eliot.
- Ted Kooser
He won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate selected from the Great Plains, and is known for his conversational style of poetry.
- Billy Collins
He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 in addition to publishing over 20 books of poetry.
- William Stafford
American poet and pacifist, he was appointed the twentieth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1970. Despite not publishing until he was 48 years old, he managed to write 57 additional books before he died.
- Mary Oliver
In 2007, she was named the best-selling poet in the United States. She was a prolific writer, creating over 34 books of poetry and numerous non-fiction books.
- Aaron Sorkin
His unique dialogue punched up every script he wrote for productions including The West Wing, A Few Good Men, and The American President among many, many other scripts in his storied career.
- Quentin Tarantino
From Pulp Fiction to Kill Bill and The Hateful Eight, you get the sense Tarantino doesn’t live in the same world as the rest of us. His is much cooler.
- Woody Allen
Begrudgingly included in this list despite marrying his stepdaughter, Allan inarguably made many contributions to film writing and comedy – especially in Annie Hall.
- Billy Wilder
Wilder died with six Oscars under his cummerbund, for films like Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard, and Double Indemnity.
- Joel Cohen
Working closely with his brother Ethan, Cohen is a comedic visionary with the writing talent to remake The Odyssey as a comedy (O Brother Where Art Though?), plus create Fargo, True Grit, and Bridge of Spies.
- Ethan Cohen
See above
- William Goldman
This two-time Academy Award winning writer and script doctor knows a thing or two about great writing, considering he authored Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, and Marathon Man.
- Steven Zaillian
He’s an A-lister with writing credits for Moneyball, Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, American Gangster among other heavy hitting films.
- James Cameron
Titanic anyone? Oh, and the Terminator, Avatar, and Alien franchises? This writer’s cup runneth over.
- Paul Schrader
He wrote movies that made you think. Then later, you find yourself thinking about it again. His credits include Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.
- Lawrence Kasdan
He wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Not to mention The Big Chill. Mic drop.
- Eric Roth
He won an Oscar for Forrest Gump and has been nominated for The Insider, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star is Born, and Dune. He wrote Mr. Kurosawa’s Rhapsody in August, The Horse Whisperer, Ali, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
- Alan Ball
This writer won an Academy Award for his work on American Beauty. He’s also credited with breathing life into True Blood on HBO.
- Paul Thomas Anderson
He cut his teeth on 8mm film as a child but went on to create movies including There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia.
Edith Wharton
- Walter Hill
His versatility brought a variety of genres to his writing desk, including work on Alien, The Warriors, and 48 Hours.
- John Hughes
His films defined reality according to Generation X with such greats as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Uncle Buck.
- David Lynch
This oddball writer director gave the world thought provoking television like Twin Peaks, and films including Blue Velvet and Mullholland Drive.
- Robert Towne
Part of the “New Hollywood” Generation, he brought us films including Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, Days of Thunder, and the first two Mission: Impossible movies.
- Paddy Chayefsky
His scripts brought the trials and tribulations of ordinary people to life. The film Network is often regarded as a masterpiece.
- Leigh Braskett
Known as the “queen of the space opera” for her science fiction screenplays and short stories, her best known for her novel The Long Tomorrow. She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back.
- John Logan
His film work includes Gladiator, The Last Samurai, The Aviator, Hugo, Michael, and the James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre. He has been nominated for awards galore.
- Ernest Lehman
Nominated for six Academy Awards, Lehman had a hand in the scripts of Sabrina, The King and I, North by Northwest, and West Side Story.
- David Simon
Television writer best known for his work on HBO’s The Wire.
- Vince Gilligan
His name will forever be synonymous with Breaking Bad, but he also had a hand in several episodes of The X-Files and the superhero movie, Hancock.
- David Chase
Best known for his work on The Soprano’s, Chase also wrote for The Rockford Files, I’ll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure.
- David Milch
This writer redefined the police procedural with NYPD Blue. He also wrote for HBO’s Deadwood.
- Matthew Weiner
He launched his television career writing for Becker and worked on several other sitcoms before authoring the pilot episode of Mad Men. He later joined the writing staff of The Sopranos in its fifth season.
- Larry David
The man behind Seinfeld and The Larry David Show has a comedic mind unlike any other and he’s not afraid to break some norms to score some yuks.
- Norman Lear
Writer of some of televisions finest classic shows including All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son and Mary Hartman transformed the American cultural landscape with his writing.
- James L. Brooks
Two words: The Simpsons.
- Tina Fey
Saturday Night Live alum, she went on to write the hit show 30 Rock and her best-selling autobiography, Bossypants.
Scott Fitzgerald
- Chuck Lorre
He’s rocked the entertainment industry with shows like Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, and The Big Bang Theory.
- Rod Sterling
Best known for The Twilight Zone, the show that delved into controversial subject matter such as racism, the Cold War, and the horrors of war. He eventually pushed the boundaries at the network too far and was driven from network television.
- David Benioff
He’s an American novelist and screenwriter with some big credits to his name: Game of Thrones, The Kite Runner, and Troy.
- B. Weiss
He’s best known for his writing collaboration with David Benioff. See above for abbreviated list of credits.
- Sam Esmail
He introduced the world to Mr. Robot. Nuff said.
- Frank Pugliese
Winner of a WGA Award for Homicide: Life on the Street and co-show runner on House of Cards, he’s best known as a playwright. Pugliese’s plays include: Aven’U Boys, The King of Connecticut and The Talk.
- Noah Hawley
Best known for writing and directing FX’s Fargo, he also wrote for Bones, Legion, and Alien: Earth.
- David Simon
He’s best known for his stories of poor Baltimore neighborhoods in shows like The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street.
- Alan Ball
He won the Academy Award for best screenplay with American Beauty, but he also had a hand in writing Six Feet Under and True Blood.
- Jenji Kuhan
Creator, writer, and showrunner of Netflix hits like Orange is the New Black and Weeds.
- David E. Kelley
His list of television hits include Doogie Howser, M.D. (remember him?!), Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Goliath, Big Little Liesand Big Sky.
- Nic Pizzolatto
He’s best known for creating and writing the HBO series True Detective and has published numerous short stories.
- Brannon Braga
Beam him up! His work on Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: First Contact firmly qualifies him to be on the bridge.
- Lance Gentile
He broke new ground in television with the medical drama ER and created Somethings Gotta Give and State of Emergency.
- Gennifer Hutchinson
She’s the young writer/producer behind Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.
Willa Cather
- Tom Hanks
One of the most influential men in Hollywood with more award nominations than fingers and toes was also the author of Castaway.
- Ken Burns
This auteur documentarian has educated the world in spectacular fashion with films including The Central Park Five, Baseball, and the Civil War.
- Lisa Joy
Writer on the staff of Burn Notice and Pushing Daisies, she also is a co-creator of HBO’s West World.
- Jonathan Nolan
This writer/producer also worked on West World, but also worked on the script of Interstellar, The Prestige, and Memento.
- Amy Sherman-Palladino
Originally a dancer, she once had a callback for Cats while writing on-staff at Roseanne. She’s also known for The Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
- Zachary Reiter
He is best known for his work on CSI: New York, Narcos, and Daredevil: Born Again.
- Bill Wrubel
Every show he creates breaks new ground, including Modern Family, Ted Lasso, and Sports Night.
- David Hoselton
Best known for bringing House to life, he penned other medical dramadies including The Good Doctor. He also wrote the screenplay for the Richard Gere vehicle First Knight.
- Gurtrude Stein
She broke every rule in the book when it came to how women should behave and wrote about her own lesbian affair at a time when homosexuality was still a crime.
- Djuna Barbes
This American artist, illustrator, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel Nightwood, a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist literature.
- Nathaniel West
He is best remembered for his two darkly satirical novels: Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust.
- Mary McCarthy
She was an America novelist and critic, who is best known for her novel The Group and her storied feud with playwright Lillian Hellman.
- Katherine Dunn
A novelist and a boxing journalist, she wrote three books with very familiar titles: Geek Love, Attic, and Toad among many other stories.
- Helen DeWitt
She is best known for her debut novel, The Last Samurai, which was made into an epic film starring Tom Cruise.
- Joy Williams
Beyond teaching creative writing at universities across the
country, Williams shares her talent through novels like Harrow, State of
Grace, and The Quick and the Dead.
- Steven Bochco
This writer/producer redefined the cop drama for network television with such hit shows as Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. He also worked on L.A. Law and Doogie Howser, M.D.
Mark Twain
- Dick Wolf
A giant broadcast television, he created, wrote, and produced franchises including Law & Order, Chicago, and FBI.
- Steven King
The feted master of horror has written over seventy books and has had nearly sixty movies based on his short stories and novels.
- David Balducci
The master of political thrillers suffered 20 years of rejections before his novel Absolute Powerbroke out from the pack and became a best seller. He currently has 50 novels to his name, but will probably publish number 51 in the time it takes to write this article.
- Tom Clancy
Auter of the cold war political thriller, Tom Clancy brought the world books like The Hunt for the Red October and Cardinal in the Kremlin, many of which were made into films.
- Elizabeth Gilbert
Journalist and author, Gilbert’s breakout autobiographical account of her travels and emotional struggles in Eat, Pray, Love sold 12 million copies in thirty languages.
- Suzanne Collins
This author and screenwriter gave the world the dystopian thriller series The Hunger Games.
- Zane Grey
His western adventure novels and short stories are forever married to images of the idealized American frontier. Riders of the Purple Sage was his best-selling book.
- Louis L’Amour
There was a time when dozens of L’Amour books were on sale at your local independent bookstore. Today, he is best known for his novels Last of the Breed, Hondo, and Shalako. He also wrote non-fiction, science fiction, and poetry.
- Larry McMurtry
With over thirty novels and fifty screenplays, he was one of the most prolific writers of his time, winning awards galore. His best-known works include Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show, and Terms of Endearment.
- Walter van Tilburg Clark
He used Western themes to explore the human psyche and delve into deep psychological issues. His best-known works are The Ox-Bow Incident and The Track of the Car – both novels were adapted to film.
- R. Burnett
He wrote over 100 stories and five novels by the time he was 28 and none of them saw light of day. Perchance, he got screenwriting jobs with a series of directors, eventually producing hardboiled noir films like The Asphalt Jungle, High Sierra, and The Beast of the City.
Herman Melville
- Orson Welles
His creative work in film, radio, and theatre culminated in his becoming one of the most influential writers, actors, directors, and producers in the history of Hollywood. Citizen Kane is his masterpiece.
- John Huston
He wrote the screenplays for many of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are considered classics today, including The Maltese Falcon, The Man Who Would Be King, and The Asphalt Jungle.
- Earl Warren
This justice of the eponymous Warren Report was so full of holes, it spawned thousands of conspiracy theories in the minds of millions of people.
- Conan O’Brien
Most famous from his eponymous late-night show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, he also wrote for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.
- Clive Cussler
American adventure novelist and underwater explorer, his novels have been on the New York Times Best Sellers List twenty times. He’s most renowned for his Dirk Pitt series with titles including The Mediterranean Caper and Iceberg.
- Michael Crichton
A prolific author of high-tech thrillers, his work found a favorite audience in director Steven Spielberg…who soon brought the world the Jurassic Park series.
- Amor Towles
An investment banker who switched sides to become an author, saw his first novel, Rules of Civility, succeed beyond expectations. Followed by A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway, Towles career exploring the inner working of the American mind is sure to continue flourishing.
- Glen David Gold
His bestselling novels explore the roles of entertainment and popular culture in historical America. His first novel, Carter Beats the Devil is a book you might just buy for its cover.
- Ann Rice
Author of gothic fiction and erotic literature, her stories glamorized and humanized vampires at once. Her best-known novels were all adapted into film: Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned.
- Chuck Schultz
This writer and illustrator brightened the mornings of millions of people with his Peanutscartoon starring Charlie Brown and the gang.
- The final spot I leave blank out in the spirit of someday adding a new name to this list, who has aspired to and found, greatness.
Eugene O’Neill
