Who Shares My Birthday.

Browse by occupation

Famous Writers

The best-known novelists, poets and playwrights in our archive, ranked by historical popularity.

957 writers in our database, ranked by historical popularity. Page 13 of 20.

Most famous writer

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Highest historical popularity score (HPI 93.2)

Most common birth month

February

92 of 957 were born in February

Living vs deceased

119 / 838

12% are still living

Most common nationality

American

186 people, 19% of the list

Editor-written profiles

289

30% have a full original profile so far

The ranked list (from #601)

  1. 601Theodor FontaneTheodor FontaneWrote the realist novel Effi Briest, a leading work of nineteenth-century German fiction about a young wife and a rigid social code.Prussian · Born December 30, 1819 · Died September 20, 1898View profile
  2. 602Wilkie CollinsWilkie CollinsWrote The Woman in White and The Moonstone, pioneering works of sensation fiction and the English detective novel.🇬🇧British · Born January 8, 1824 · Died September 23, 1889View profile
  3. 603Charles Marie René Leconte de LisleCharles Marie René Leconte de LisleLed the Parnassian school of French poetry, publishing collections such as Poèmes antiques and Poèmes barbares.🇫🇷French · Born October 22, 1818 · Died July 17, 1894View profile
  4. 604Samuel RichardsonSamuel RichardsonEpistolary novelist whose Clarissa, told entirely through letters, became one of the longest and most admired novels in English.🇬🇧British · Born August 19, 1687 · Died July 4, 1761View profile
  5. 605Pierre-Jean de BérangerPierre-Jean de BérangerSongwriter whose satirical chansons mocked the restored monarchy and made him a hugely popular national figure in nineteenth-century France.🇫🇷French · Born August 18, 1780 · Died July 16, 1857View profile
  6. 606H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardWrote the adventure novel King Solomon's Mines, introducing Allan Quatermain and helping establish the lost world genre.🇬🇧British · Born June 22, 1856 · Died May 14, 1925View profile
  7. 607Italo SvevoItalo SvevoTriestine novelist whose comic psychological work "Zeno's Conscience" became a landmark of modern Italian fiction.🇮🇹Italian · Born December 19, 1861 · Died September 13, 1928View profile
  8. 608Mercè RodoredaMercè RodoredaCatalan novelist whose book La plaça del Diamant, published in 1962, became the most widely translated novel written in Catalan.🇪🇸Spanish · Born October 10, 1908 · Died April 13, 1983View profile
  9. 609Joseph CampbellJoseph CampbellMythologist who wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, setting out the idea of a single universal hero's journey.🇺🇸American · Born March 26, 1904 · Died October 30, 1987View profile
  10. 610
    CT
    Christopher TolkienEdited his father's posthumous works, including The Silmarillion and the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth.🇬🇧British · Born November 21, 1924 · Died January 16, 2020View profile
  11. 611Rubén DaríoRubén DaríoPoet who launched the modernismo movement, transforming Spanish-language verse with his collection Azul.Nicaraguan · Born January 18, 1867 · Died February 6, 1916View profile
  12. 612Ľudovít ŠtúrĽudovít ŠtúrCodified the standard Slovak literary language and led the Slovak national movement during the 1848 revolutions.🇦🇹Austrian · Born October 28, 1815 · Died January 12, 1856View profile
  13. 613Katherine MansfieldKatherine MansfieldModernist short story writer whose collections include Bliss and The Garden Party, celebrated for their subtle, sharply observed style.New Zealand · Born October 14, 1888 · Died January 9, 1923View profile
  14. 614Alfred TennysonAlfred TennysonVictorian Poet Laureate who wrote In Memoriam A.H.H. and The Charge of the Light Brigade.🇬🇧British · Born August 6, 1809 · Died October 6, 1892View profile
  15. 615Jan NerudaJan NerudaCzech writer whose Malostranské povídky, tales of Prague's Lesser Town, made him a leading figure of Czech Realism.🇦🇹Austrian · Born July 9, 1834 · Died August 22, 1891View profile
  16. 616Ján KollárJán KollárSlovak Lutheran pastor and poet whose sonnet cycle Slávy dcera became a landmark text of Pan-Slavic thought.🇦🇹Austrian · Born July 29, 1793 · Died January 24, 1852View profile
  17. 617Jules RenardJules RenardWrote Poil de carotte, a bitter, ironic novel drawn from an unhappy childhood, and kept a celebrated diary.🇫🇷French · Born February 22, 1864 · Died May 22, 1910View profile
  18. 618Zelda FitzgeraldZelda FitzgeraldWriter and painter who published the novel Save Me the Waltz and became an emblem of the Jazz Age.🇺🇸American · Born July 24, 1900 · Died March 10, 1948View profile
  19. 619Johan Ludvig RunebergJohan Ludvig RunebergPoet whose verses for Vårt land became the words of Finland's national anthem, though he wrote in Swedish.Grand Duchy of Finland · Born February 5, 1804 · Died May 6, 1877View profile
  20. 620Madame de SévignéMadame de SévignéAristocrat whose vivid letters to her daughter chronicle life under Louis XIV and became classics of French prose.🇫🇷French · Born February 5, 1626 · Died April 17, 1696View profile
  21. 621Ernesto SabatoErnesto SabatoArgentine novelist best known for The Tunnel, and for chairing the commission whose report Nunca Más documented the disappearances under military rule.🇦🇷Argentine · Born June 24, 1911 · Died April 30, 2011View profile
  22. 622Vicente Blasco IbáñezVicente Blasco IbáñezNovelist whose First World War epic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse became a successful Hollywood film.🇪🇸Spanish · Born January 29, 1867 · Died January 28, 1928View profile
  23. 623John UpdikeJohn UpdikeChronicled American suburban life in the Rabbit novels, two of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.🇺🇸American · Born March 18, 1932 · Died January 27, 2009View profile
  24. 624Benito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez GaldósRealist novelist who chronicled modern Spanish life in the Episodios Nacionales and Fortunata y Jacinta, often ranked just behind Cervantes.🇪🇸Spanish · Born May 10, 1843 · Died January 4, 1920View profile
  25. 625Cormac McCarthyCormac McCarthyNovelist whose bleak road story The Road won the Pulitzer Prize, and whose No Country for Old Men became an Oscar-winning film.🇺🇸American · Born July 20, 1933 · Died June 13, 2023View profile
  26. 626Frank WedekindFrank WedekindWrote Spring Awakening, a play about adolescent sexuality that scandalised audiences, and the Lulu plays.Prussian · Born July 24, 1864 · Died March 9, 1918View profile
  27. 627Jean GiraudouxJean GiraudouxFrench diplomat and playwright whose The Trojan War Will Not Take Place was a leading drama between the world wars.🇫🇷French · Born October 29, 1882 · Died January 31, 1944View profile
  28. 628
    RC
    Raymond CarverMaster of spare, minimalist short stories, including those collected in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.🇺🇸American · Born May 25, 1938 · Died August 2, 1988View profile
  29. 629Hélène CixousHélène CixousHer essay The Laugh of the Medusa became a landmark text of French feminist theory and writing.🇫🇷French · Born June 5, 1937View profile
  30. 630Philip PullmanPhilip PullmanAuthor of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, which begins with Northern Lights and follows the young heroine Lyra.🇬🇧British · Born October 19, 1946View profile
  31. 631Lawrence DurrellLawrence DurrellNovelist best known for The Alexandria Quartet, a four-part work set in Egypt, and for Mediterranean travel writing.🇬🇧British · Born February 27, 1912 · Died November 7, 1990View profile
  32. 632Sherwood AndersonSherwood AndersonAuthor of the linked short stories Winesburg, Ohio, a landmark of American fiction that influenced Hemingway and Faulkner.🇺🇸American · Born September 13, 1876 · Died March 8, 1941View profile
  33. 633Vasily ZhukovskyVasily ZhukovskyPoet and translator who brought German and English Romantic verse into Russian and tutored the future Alexander II.🇷🇺Russian · Born January 29, 1783 · Died April 12, 1852View profile
  34. 634Thomas WolfeThomas WolfeWrote the autobiographical first novel Look Homeward, Angel, drawing on his upbringing in Asheville, North Carolina.🇺🇸American · Born October 3, 1900 · Died September 15, 1938View profile
  35. 635Branislav NušićBranislav NušićSerbian playwright and satirist whose comedies, including A Dignified Mourning and Mrs Minister, remain staples of Balkan theatre.Yugoslavia · Born October 8, 1864 · Died January 19, 1938View profile
  36. 636John GrishamJohn GrishamFormer lawyer whose courtroom thrillers, including A Time to Kill and The Firm, sold in enormous numbers.🇺🇸American · Born February 8, 1955View profile
  37. 637Joseph von EichendorffJoseph von EichendorffRomantic poet and novelist whose lyrical verse and the novella From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing became classics of German literature.Prussian · Born March 10, 1788 · Died November 26, 1857View profile
  38. 638
    AN
    Aziz NesinTurkish satirist who wrote over a hundred books and founded the Nesin Foundation to support children's education.🇹🇷Turkish · Born December 20, 1915 · Died July 6, 1995View profile
  39. 639Bettina von ArnimBettina von ArnimWriter whose book Goethe's Correspondence with a Child, drawn from her friendship with the poet, made her famous.Free City of Frankfurt · Born April 4, 1785 · Died January 20, 1859View profile
  40. 640E. M. ForsterE. M. ForsterNovelist who wrote A Room with a View, Howards End and A Passage to India, exploring class and empire in Edwardian England.🇬🇧British · Born January 1, 1879 · Died June 7, 1970View profile
  41. 641Nellie BlyNellie BlyReporter who faked madness to expose an asylum and raced around the world in 72 days.🇺🇸American · Born May 5, 1864 · Died January 27, 1922View profile
  42. 642Henri TroyatHenri TroyatProlific Russian-born French author who won the Prix Goncourt for L'Araigne and wrote celebrated biographies of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.🇫🇷French · Born October 19, 1911 · Died March 2, 2007View profile
  43. 643Yevgeny YevtushenkoYevgeny YevtushenkoPoet who won a vast audience with Babi Yar, his poem protesting Soviet silence over the massacre of Kyiv's Jews.🇷🇺Russian · Born July 18, 1932 · Died April 1, 2017View profile
  44. 644Fyodor TyutchevFyodor TyutchevWrote compact, philosophical lyric poems on nature and Russia while serving for years as a diplomat in Germany.🇷🇺Russian · Born November 23, 1803 · Died July 15, 1873View profile
  45. 645Nicolas ChamfortNicolas ChamfortMoralist whose posthumously collected maxims and epigrams captured the cynicism of pre-Revolutionary French society.🇫🇷French · Born April 6, 1740 · Died April 13, 1794View profile
  46. 646Clément MarotClément MarotCourt poet to Francis I who helped popularise the epigram and elegy and produced a verse translation of the Psalms.🇫🇷French · Born December 2, 1495 · Died September 12, 1544View profile
  47. 647
    JF
    John FowlesNovelist whose The French Lieutenant's Woman playfully offered readers alternative endings to a Victorian love story.🇬🇧British · Born March 31, 1926 · Died November 5, 2005View profile
  48. 648Ann RadcliffeAnn RadcliffePioneer of the Gothic novel, she achieved lasting popularity with the atmospheric tale of suspense The Mysteries of Udolpho.🇬🇧British · Born July 9, 1764 · Died February 7, 1823View profile
  49. 649Hryhorii SkovorodaHryhorii SkovorodaWandering philosopher and poet who wrote the verse collection The Garden of Divine Songs.🇷🇺Russian · Born November 22, 1722 · Died November 9, 1794View profile
  50. 650Madeleine de ScudéryMadeleine de ScudéryWriter of the lengthy romance Clélie, which featured the celebrated Map of Tenderness and shaped Parisian salon culture.🇫🇷French · Born November 15, 1607 · Died June 2, 1701View profile

How we rank and select

  • Ranking: people are ordered by their Historical Popularity Index (HPI) from Pantheon. HPI combines how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about a person, how many page views those articles get, how evenly the views are spread across languages and how long ago the person lived. People Pantheon does not yet cover are listed after them, ordered by our own popularity score (the number of Wikipedia language editions with an article about them).
  • Membership: each person appears in one occupation list only, based on their primary occupation as classified by Pantheon (for example, a queen who wrote poetry is listed as royalty, not as a writer). Kings, queens, emperors, sultans and royal consorts are not listed as politicians or writers: anyone who held a monarch's office on Wikidata, and never served as a president or head of government, counts as royalty. For the few people Pantheon does not cover, we use the primary field recorded in our database.
  • One-line summaries: each summary is an original line written for this site with AI assistance under our editorial rules, then checked against the Wikipedia introduction so no wording is copied.
  • Statistics: every figure on this page is calculated live from our database each time the page loads, so it changes as we add people.

Further reading

Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026

More occupations