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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 9 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 #401)

  1. 401Michel HouellebecqMichel HouellebecqNovelist who won the Prix Goncourt for The Map and the Territory and caused controversy with Atomised.🇫🇷French · Born February 26, 1956View profile
  2. 402Boris VianBoris VianWriter and jazz trumpeter whose novel L'Écume des jours, or Froth on the Daydream, is his best-known work.🇫🇷French · Born March 10, 1920 · Died June 22, 1959View profile
  3. 403Ilya EhrenburgIlya EhrenburgSoviet writer whose novel "The Thaw" gave its name to the post-Stalin era, and who reported widely on the Second World War.🇷🇺Russian · Born January 14, 1891 · Died August 31, 1967View profile
  4. 404William S. BurroughsWilliam S. BurroughsBeat Generation writer whose fragmented, cut-up novel Naked Lunch became a landmark of experimental fiction and an obscenity-trial case.🇺🇸American · Born February 5, 1914 · Died August 2, 1997View profile
  5. 405G. K. ChestertonG. K. ChestertonWriter of paradoxical essays and the Father Brown detective stories, he also defended Christian tradition in Orthodoxy.🇬🇧British · Born May 29, 1874 · Died June 14, 1936View profile
  6. 406Jacinto BenaventeJacinto BenaventeSpanish playwright who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Literature, best known for the comedy Los intereses creados.🇪🇸Spanish · Born August 12, 1866 · Died July 14, 1954View profile
  7. 407Ludvig HolbergLudvig HolbergWrote the comedy Jeppe of the Hill, and is regarded as the founder of Danish-Norwegian literature.🇳🇴Norwegian · Born December 3, 1684 · Died January 28, 1754View profile
  8. 408Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsPlaywright of A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, two landmarks of twentieth-century American theatre.🇺🇸American · Born March 26, 1911 · Died February 24, 1983View profile
  9. 409Georg TraklGeorg TraklExpressionist poet whose dark, haunting collections include Sebastian in Dream, and who died young during the First World War.Austria–Hungary · Born February 3, 1887 · Died November 3, 1914View profile
  10. 410Jules MicheletJules MicheletHistorian of France who popularised the term Renaissance.🇫🇷French · Born August 21, 1798 · Died February 9, 1874View profile
  11. 411J. M. BarrieJ. M. BarrieCreated Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up, first seen in a London stage play.🇬🇧British · Born May 9, 1860 · Died June 19, 1937View profile
  12. 412Pierre de RonsardPierre de RonsardLed the Pléiade group of poets and celebrated love in sonnet cycles such as Sonnets pour Hélène.🇫🇷French · Born September 11, 1524 · Died December 27, 1585View profile
  13. 413Richard BachRichard BachAviator-author whose short fable Jonathan Livingston Seagull sold millions of copies worldwide in the 1970s.🇺🇸American · Born June 23, 1936View profile
  14. 414Vasily GrossmanVasily GrossmanWrote the epic novel Life and Fate, set around the Battle of Stalingrad, after reporting from the front as a war correspondent.🇷🇺Soviet · Born November 29, 1905 · Died September 14, 1964View profile
  15. 415Jacques Bénigne BossuetJacques Bénigne BossuetBishop and court preacher to Louis XIV famed for his funeral orations.🇫🇷French · Born September 27, 1627 · Died April 12, 1704View profile
  16. 416Nâzım HikmetNâzım HikmetCommunist poet who brought free verse to Turkish literature and spent many years in prison for his politics.Ottoman · Born November 30, 1901 · Died June 3, 1963View profile
  17. 417Osip MandelstamOsip MandelstamAcmeist poet whose collection Stone and later verse mocking Stalin led to his arrest and death in a Soviet camp.🇷🇺Soviet · Born January 2, 1891 · Died December 27, 1938View profile
  18. 418Hugo von HofmannsthalHugo von HofmannsthalLibrettist for several Richard Strauss operas, including "Der Rosenkavalier", he also wrote the play "Jedermann" for the Salzburg Festival.🇦🇹Austrian · Born February 1, 1874 · Died July 15, 1929View profile
  19. 419Camille FlammarionCamille FlammarionAstronomer who popularised science with his bestselling book Astronomie populaire.🇫🇷French · Born February 26, 1842 · Died June 3, 1925View profile
  20. 420Enid BlytonEnid BlytonProlific children's author who created the Famous Five and Secret Seven adventure series and the Noddy stories.🇬🇧British · Born August 11, 1897 · Died November 28, 1968View profile
  21. 421Jean PaulJean PaulGerman Romantic author of the humorous novel Titan, admired for his digressive, inventive and comic prose.Roman · Born March 21, 1763 · Died November 14, 1825View profile
  22. 422Frances Hodgson BurnettFrances Hodgson BurnettChildren's author whose novel The Secret Garden remains widely read, alongside Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.🇬🇧British · Born November 24, 1849 · Died October 20, 1924View profile
  23. 423Miguel Ángel AsturiasMiguel Ángel AsturiasGuatemalan novelist and diplomat who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Literature and wrote the novel El Señor Presidente.Guatemalan · Born October 19, 1899 · Died June 9, 1974View profile
  24. 424Anaïs NinAnaïs NinDiarist whose multi-volume Diary and erotic stories such as Delta of Venus brought lasting fame.🇫🇷French · Born February 21, 1903 · Died January 14, 1977View profile
  25. 425Madame de LafayetteMadame de LafayetteNovelist behind La Princesse de Clèves, a psychological story of restraint and duty at the French court.🇫🇷French · Born March 16, 1634 · Died May 25, 1693View profile
  26. 426Camilo José CelaCamilo José CelaSpanish novelist who wrote The Family of Pascual Duarte and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989.🇪🇸Spanish · Born May 11, 1916 · Died January 17, 2002View profile
  27. 427Alice MunroAlice MunroShort story writer who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, with collections such as Dear Life.🇨🇦Canadian · Born July 10, 1931 · Died May 13, 2024View profile
  28. 428Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinScience fiction writer whose novels Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers shaped the genre in the twentieth century.🇺🇸American · Born July 7, 1907 · Died May 8, 1988View profile
  29. 429Matilde CamusMatilde CamusCantabrian poet who published many collections of verse and also wrote non-fiction, becoming a prominent literary figure in Santander.🇪🇸Spanish · Born September 26, 1919 · Died April 28, 2012View profile
  30. 430Elie WieselElie WieselHolocaust survivor whose memoir Night became a classic of witness literature and who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.🇺🇸American · Born September 30, 1928 · Died July 2, 2016View profile
  31. 431Tom ClancyTom ClancyWrote The Hunt for Red October, the debut thriller that launched a bestselling run of techno-thrillers featuring Jack Ryan.🇺🇸American · Born April 12, 1947 · Died October 1, 2013View profile
  32. 432Anthony BurgessAnthony BurgessWriter and composer best remembered for A Clockwork Orange, his dystopian satire of youth violence later filmed by Stanley Kubrick.🇬🇧British · Born February 25, 1917 · Died November 22, 1993View profile
  33. 433Salvatore QuasimodoSalvatore QuasimodoSicilian poet and leading figure of Italian hermeticism, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1959.🇮🇹Italian · Born August 20, 1901 · Died June 14, 1968View profile
  34. 434Beatrix PotterBeatrix PotterAuthor and illustrator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, who later used her earnings to protect Lake District farmland.🇬🇧British · Born July 28, 1866 · Died December 22, 1943View profile
  35. 435Juan Ramón JiménezJuan Ramón JiménezAwarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature for lyrical poetry, he is also remembered for the prose poem Platero y yo.🇪🇸Spanish · Born December 23, 1881 · Died May 29, 1958View profile
  36. 436Sayat-NovaSayat-NovaArmenian poet and musician, an ashugh court singer, famed for love songs composed in Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani.Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti · Born June 14, 1712 · Died September 22, 1795View profile
  37. 437Arthur KoestlerArthur KoestlerWrote Darkness at Noon, a novel about a veteran Bolshevik destroyed by Stalin's show trials.🇭🇺Hungarian · Born September 5, 1905 · Died March 1, 1983View profile
  38. 438
    SS
    Sidney SheldonScreenwriter and novelist who won an Oscar for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer before becoming a best-selling author of thrillers.🇺🇸American · Born February 11, 1917 · Died January 30, 2007View profile
  39. 439Alfred JarryAlfred JarryWriter whose scandalous play Ubu Roi anticipated later absurdist and surrealist theatre.🇫🇷French · Born September 8, 1873 · Died November 1, 1907View profile
  40. 440Klaus EbnerKlaus EbnerViennese writer, poet and translator who has published essays, short prose and poetry, often working across several languages.🇦🇹Austrian · Born August 8, 1964View profile
  41. 441Alexander HerzenAlexander HerzenExiled thinker who published the London journal The Bell and wrote the memoir My Past and Thoughts.🇨🇭Swiss · Born March 25, 1812 · Died January 9, 1870View profile
  42. 442Maya AngelouMaya AngelouWrote the acclaimed memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and read her poem at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration.🇺🇸American · Born April 4, 1928 · Died May 28, 2014View profile
  43. 443Ivan KrylovIvan KrylovRussia's best-known fabulist, he wrote memorable fables in verse, including "The Crow and the Fox", that entered everyday speech.🇷🇺Russian · Born February 2, 1769 · Died November 9, 1844View profile
  44. 444Washington IrvingWashington IrvingCreated the stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, becoming one of the first American authors celebrated abroad.🇺🇸American · Born April 3, 1783 · Died November 28, 1859View profile
  45. 445John DonneJohn DonneMetaphysical poet of witty love lyrics and Holy Sonnets, who ended his career as Dean of St Paul's.🇬🇧British · Born January 22, 1572 · Died March 31, 1631View profile
  46. 446Bai JuyiBai JuyiTang dynasty poet famed for accessible verse such as The Song of Everlasting Sorrow.Tang dynasty · Born February 28, AD 772 · Died September 23, AD 846View profile
  47. 447
    PS
    Patrick SüskindWrote the bestselling novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, about an obsessive perfumer in eighteenth-century France.🇩🇪German · Born March 26, 1949View profile
  48. 448Bohumil HrabalBohumil HrabalCzech author of Closely Watched Trains and I Served the King of England, admired for his comic, richly digressive prose.🇨🇿Czech · Born March 28, 1914 · Died February 3, 1997View profile
  49. 449George EliotGeorge EliotNovelist who wrote Middlemarch, Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss, taking a male pen name to be taken seriously.🇬🇧British · Born November 22, 1819 · Died December 22, 1880View profile
  50. 450William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackeraySatirical novelist best remembered for Vanity Fair, a panoramic story of social ambition featuring the scheming Becky Sharp.🇬🇧British · Born July 18, 1811 · Died December 24, 1863View 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

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