Profiles in Literature - Writers
Profiles Index
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
(1835-1910) American writer. Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Missouri on November 30, 1835. Read more about Mark Twain's life and works.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792-1822) British writer. Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the famous poets of the Romantic period of English poetry. He drew from mythological figures to explore his poetic vision. Read more about the life and works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616) British writer. William Shakespeare is recognized as one of the greatest writers of all time, known for works like "Hamlet," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Othello," "The Tempest," and many other works. Read more about the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Aphra Behn
(1640-1689) British writer. Aphra Behn is one of the most famous women writers in literature, partly because she was one of the first women to make a living by her writing, but also because of the controversies that have surrounded her life and works. Read more about the life and works of Aphra Behn.
Edith Wharton
(1862-1937) American writer. Edith Wharton is an important figure in American literature, with works like "Ethan Frome," "Age of Innocence," "House of Mirth," and other works. She was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Read more about the life and works of Edith Wharton.
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)
O. Henry (pseudonym for William Sydney Porter) was born in on September 11, 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina; and he became famous for his short stories. Read more about the life and works of O. Henry.
Wilfred Owen
(1893–1918) British writer. Wilfred Owen is an important 20th-century British writer, famous for poems like "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and other dramatic poems. Read more about the life and works of Wilfred Owen.
Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin became famous for The Awakening, though she was largely forgotten after her book was banned. Read more about the life and works of Kate Chopin.
Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900) Irish writer. Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and dramatist, famous for The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. His controversial, open lifestyle caused him to be charged and eventually convicted for the crime of sodomy. Read more about the life and works of Oscar Wilde.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
(1860-1904) Russian Writer. Anton Chekhov is famous for plays like "Three Sisters" (1901), and "The Cherry Orchard." Although Chekhov wrote hundreds of short stories, he's most well-known for his plays. Read more about the life and works of Anton Chekhov.
Robert Browning
(1812-1889) British writer. Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812 in Camberwell, England, UK. He was the son of Robert Browning, a clerk, artist, and scholar, and Sarah Anna Wiedemann, a pianist. Read more about Browning's life and works.
William Bradford
(1590-1657) American writer. William Bradford was born in 1590 in Yorkshire, but he would become one of the most famous writers and leaders in American history, famous for the Mayflower Compact and History of Plimoth Plantation, (sic) which wasn't published in full until 1856. Read more about the life and works of William Bradford.
Clement Clarke Moore
(1779-1863) American writer. Clement Clarke Moore is perhaps most famous for A Visit from St. Nicholas, which is also called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Read more about the life and works of Clement Clarke Moore.
Margaret Mitchell
(1900-1949) American writer. Margaret Mitchell was born on November 8, 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia. She became famous for writing Gone With The Wind (1936).
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
(1860-1935) American writer. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is famous for her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," which is often read in literature survey courses, but she wrote a great many other works. Read more about the life and works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Geoffrey Chaucer
(ca. 1343-1400) British writer. Geoffrey Chaucer has been called "father of English literature," and he was certainly one of the most famous writers in British literature, known for his "Canterbury Tales." Read more about the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer.
Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941) British writer. Virginia Woolf was born on January 25, 1882, in London. Woolf became one of the most prominent literary figures of the early 20th century, with novels like Mrs. Dalloway (1925), Jacob's Room (1922), To the Lighthouse (1927), and The Waves (1931). Read more about the life and works of Virginia Woolf.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Hampshire, England, UK. Jane Austen became one of the most famous writers of the Romantic era. Read more about the life and works of Jane Austen.
Willa Cather
Willa Cather is perhaps most famous for My Antonia, along with other novels and stories. Cather was also a journalist and a teacher. Read more about the life and works of Willa Cather.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(1821-1881) Russian writer. Fyodor Dostoevski was born on November 11, 1821, in Moscow. He was to become one of the greatest 19th-century writers in Russia, famous for works like Crime and Punishment, Notes from the Underground, along with many more novels and short stories.
John Milton
John is one of the greatest poets of the 17th century. His best known work is the epic poem, Paradise Lost. Although his reputation as a great writer has been challenged by literary critics like F.R. Leavis and T.S. Eliot, Milton is still studied in classrooms. John Milton is an important figures in literary history.
Mary Shelley
Famous for Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, and the wife of the Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Read more about the life and works of Mary Shelley.
Thomas Hardy
(1840-1928) British writer. Thomas Hardy was one of the most famous novelists of the Victorian period, even though works like "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "Jude the Obscure" were so controversial that he said he would never write another novel. Read more about the life and works of Thomas Hardy.
Washington Irving
(1783-1859) American writer. Washington Irving's pseudonyms included: Dietrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle, and Geoffrey Crayon. Washington Irving was a short story writer, famous for works like "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Read about the life and works of Washington Irving.
Rupert Brooke
(1887-1915) British writer. Rupert Brooke was a poet who died during World War I. One of his most famous poems is "The Soldier."