Nonfiction Authors L-Z, MOR-OLS
Meet the essayists, biographers, historians, journalists, and other nonfiction writers whose work has informed readers, challenged assumptions, and brought the real world vividly to the page.
Nonfiction Authors L-Z Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Morley, Christopher
Christopher Morley was an American writer whose versatile works are lighthearted, vigorous displays of the English......
Morley, John Morley, Viscount
John Morley, Viscount Morley was an English Liberal statesman who was a friend and official biographer of W.E.......
Morrell, Lady Ottoline
Lady Ottoline Morrell was a hostess and patron of the arts who brought together some of the most important writers......
Morris, Wright
Wright Morris was an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and photographer who often wrote about the......
Morrison, Toni
Toni Morrison was an American writer noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience)......
Mortimer, Penelope
Penelope Mortimer was a British journalist and novelist whose writing, depicting a nightmarish world of neuroses......
Mosebach, Martin
Martin Mosebach is a German novelist and essayist whose social commentary is informed by his Roman Catholic faith.......
Moses of Khoren
Moses of Khoren was an author known as the father of Armenian literature. Traditionally believed to have lived......
Mosley, Nicholas
Nicholas Mosley was a British novelist whose work, often philosophical and Christian in theology, won critical......
Motion, Andrew
Andrew Motion is a British poet, biographer, and novelist who was especially noted for his narrative poetry. He......
Mowatt, Anna Cora
Anna Cora Mowatt was an American playwright and actress, best known as the author of the satirical play Fashion.......
Mphahlele, Esâkia
Esâkia Mphahlele was a novelist, essayist, short-story writer, and teacher whose autobiography, Down Second Avenue......
Mqhayi, S.E.K.
S.E.K. Mqhayi was a Xhosa poet, historian, and translator who has been called the âfather of Xhosa poetry.â Mqhayi,......
Mueller, Lisel
Lisel Mueller was a German-born American poet known for her warm introspective poetry. She was awarded the Pulitzer......
Muir, Edwin
Edwin Muir was a literary critic, translator, and one of the chief Scottish poets of his day writing in English.......
Mukammas, David al-
David al-Mukammas was a Syrian philosopher and polemicist, regarded as the father of Jewish medieval philosophy.......
Mukherjee, Bharati
Bharati Mukherjee was an Indian-born American novelist and short-story writer who delineated in her writing the......
Multatuli
Multatuli was one of the Netherlandsâ greatest writers, whose radical ideas and freshness of style eclipsed the......
Munthe, Axel Martin Fredrik
Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe was a Swedish physician, psychiatrist, and writer whose book The Story of San Michele......
Murakami, Haruki
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and translator whose deeply imaginative and often ambiguous......
Murasaki Shikibu
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genji monogatari (c. 1010;......
Murdoch, Iris
Iris Murdoch was an Irish-born British novelist and philosopher noted for her psychological novels that contain......
Murray, Albert
Albert Murray was an African American essayist, critic, and novelist whose writings assert the vitality and the......
Murray, Judith Sargent Stevens
Judith Sargent Stevens Murray was an American writer during the early republic, remembered largely for her essays......
Murray, Les
Les Murray was an Australian poet and essayist who in such meditative, lyrical poems as âNoonday Axemanâ and âSydney......
Murray, Pauli
Pauli Murray was a key figure who helped define the intellectual foundations of the 20th-century civil rights and......
Musgrave, Susan
Susan Musgrave is an American-born Canadian poet, novelist, and essayist who is one of Canadaâs most prominent......
Musset, Alfred de
Alfred de Musset was a French Romantic dramatist and poet, best known for his plays. Mussetâs autobiographical......
Mutis, Ălvaro
Ălvaro Mutis was a versatile Colombian writer and poet best known for his novels featuring his alter ego, a character......
Myers, F W H
F. W. H. Myers was an English poet, critic, and essayist whose later life was increasingly devoted to the work......
Mérimée, Prosper
Prosper MĂ©rimĂ©e was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and master of the short story whose worksâRomantic......
Möser, Justus
Justus Möser was a German political essayist and poet who was a forerunner of the Sturm und Drang (âStorm and Stressâ)......
MĂžller, Poul Martin
Poul Martin MĂžller was a Danish author whose novel of student life, the first in his countryâs literature that......
MĂŒller, Herta
Herta MĂŒller is a Romanian-born German writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009 for her works revealing......
MĂŒller, Karl Otfried
Karl Otfried MĂŒller was a German professor and scholar of classical Greek studies whose considerations of ancient......
MÄlik ibn Anas
MÄlik ibn Anas was a Muslim legist who played an important role in formulating early Islamic legal doctrines. Few......
MÄ«rkhwÄnd
MÄ«rkhwÄnd was one of the most important Persian chroniclers of Iran under the Timurid dynasty (15th century). He......
Nabokov, Vladimir
Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian-born American novelist and critic and the foremost of the post-1917 émigré authors.......
Naipaul, V.S.
V.S. Naipaul was a Trinidadian writer of Indian descent known for his pessimistic novels set in developing countries.......
Namora, Fernando Goncalves
Fernando Goncalves Namora was a Portuguese writer who wrote neorealist poetry and fiction, much of it inspired......
Narayanan, Kocheril Raman
Kocheril Raman Narayanan was an Indian politician and diplomat, who was the president of India from 1997 to 2002.......
Natsume SĆseki
Natsume SĆseki was an outstanding Japanese novelist of the Meiji period and the first to ably depict the plight......
Naughton, Bill
Bill Naughton was an Irish-born British playwright who is best remembered for a series of working-class comedies......
Naumann, Friedrich
Friedrich Naumann was a political and social theorist, publicist, and reformer who became one of the most influential......
NaÊżÄ«mah, MikhÄÊŸÄ«l
MikhÄÊŸÄ«l NaÊżÄ«mah was a Lebanese literary critic, playwright, essayist, and short-story writer who helped introduce......
Nearchus
Nearchus was an officer in the Macedonian army under Alexander the Great who, on Alexanderâs orders, sailed from......
Necker, Suzanne
Suzanne Necker was a Swiss writer, the hostess of a notable Parisian salon, and the wife of Jacques Necker, who......
Neihardt, John G.
John G. Neihardt was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer who described the history of Native Americans,......
Nelson, Kadir
Kadir Nelson is an American artist, illustrator, and author whose paintings have been featured in museum exhibits......
Nelson, Maggie
With such books as Bluets (2009) and The Argonauts (2015), American writer Maggie Nelson is known for works that......
Nemirovich-Danchenko, Vladimir
Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko was a Russian playwright, novelist, producer, and cofounder of the famous Moscow......
Nemours, Marie dâOrleans-Longueville, duchesse de
Marie dâOrleans-Longueville, duchesse de Nemours was the sovereign princess of NeuchĂątel (from 1699), best known......
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh antiquary who between 796 and about 830 compiled or revised the Historia Brittonum, a miscellaneous......
Nepos, Cornelius
Cornelius Nepos was a Roman historian, the earliest biographer to write in Latin. He was a correspondent and friend......
Nerval, GĂ©rard de
GĂ©rard de Nerval was a French Romantic poet whose themes and preoccupations greatly influenced the Symbolists and......
NesbĂž, Jo
Jo NesbĂž is a Norwegian writer and musician, best known internationally for a series of crime novels featuring......
Nestor
Nestor was a monk in Kievan Rus of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev (from about 1074), author of several works......
Nevins, Allan
Allan Nevins was an American historian, author, and educator, known especially for his eight-volume history of......
Newhall, Nancy
Nancy Newhall was an American photography critic, conservationist, and editor who was an important contributor......
Newman, St. John Henry
St. John Henry Newman ; beatified September 19, 2010, canonized October 13, 2019; feast day October 9) was an influential......
Ng, Celeste
Celeste Ng is an American writer who authored several best-selling novels, including Everything I Never Told You......
Ngubane, Jordan Kush
Jordan Kush Ngubane was a Zulu novelist, scholar, and editor for the South African publications Ilanga lase Natal......
Ngugi wa Thiongâo
Ngugi wa Thiongâo was a Kenyan writer who was considered East Africaâs leading novelist. His popular Weep Not,......
Nguyen, Viet Thanh
Viet Thanh Nguyen is an American writer known for his novel The Sympathizer (2015), which won the 2016 Pulitzer......
Nicander
Nicander was a Greek poet, physician, and grammarian. Little is known of Nicanderâs life except that his family......
Nice, Margaret Morse
Margaret Morse Nice was an American ethologist and ornithologist best known for her long-term behavioral study......
Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos
Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos was a Byzantine historian and litterateur whose stylistic prose and poetry exemplify......
Nicephorus I, Saint
Saint Nicephorus I ; feast day March 13) was a Greek Orthodox theologian, historian, and patriarch of Constantinople......
Nichols, John
John Nichols was a writer, printer, and antiquary who, through numerous volumes of literary anecdotes, made an......
Nichols, Mary Gove
Mary Gove Nichols was an American writer and advocate of womenâs rights and health reform. Nichols is best known......
Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson was an English orientalist who exercised a lasting influence on IslÄmic studies. Educated......
Nicole, Pierre
Pierre Nicole was a French theologian, author, moralist, and controversialist whose writings, chiefly polemical,......
Nicolson, Sir Harold
Sir Harold Nicolson was a British diplomat and author of more than 125 books, including political essays, travel......
Nijlen, Jan van
Jan van Nijlen was one of the most distinguished Flemish poets of his generation. Of a retiring nature, van Nijlen,......
Nin, AnaĂŻs
AnaĂŻs Nin was a French-born author of novels and short stories whose literary reputation rests on the eight published......
Nkosi, Lewis
Lewis Nkosi was a South African author, critic, journalist, and broadcaster. After attending a technical college......
Nochlin, Linda
Linda Nochlin was an American feminist art historian whose 1971 article âWhy Have There Been No Great Women Artists?â......
Noma Hiroshi
Noma Hiroshi was a Japanese novelist who wrote Shinkƫ chitai (1952; Zone of Emptiness), which is considered to......
Nooteboom, Cees
Cees Nooteboom was a Dutch writer known for his novels and travel writing. Nooteboomâs work explores memory, belonging,......
Nordal, Sigurdur JĂłhannesson
Sigurdur JĂłhannesson Nordal was an Icelandic philologist, critic, and writer in many genres, who played a central......
Nordström, Ludvig Anselm
Ludvig Anselm Nordström was a Swedish writer whose realistic, socially conscious works are set in the Norrland......
Norris, Frank
Frank Norris was an American novelist who was the first important naturalist writer in the United States. Norris......
North, Roger
Roger North was an English lawyer, historian, and biographer, known primarily for his biographies of three of his......
Northcote, James
James Northcote was an English portraitist and historical painter. Northcote was apprenticed to his father, a poor......
Northup, Solomon
Solomon Northup was an American farmer, labourer, and musician whose experience of being kidnapped and sold into......
Norton, Caroline
Caroline Norton was an English poet and novelist whose matrimonial difficulties prompted successful efforts to......
Nougé, Paul
Paul Nougé was a Belgian poet and intellectual theorist. He and René Magritte were the most important figures in......
Nunez, Sigrid
Sigrid Nunez is an American novelist and writer known for her spare, witty prose and oblique approach to existential......
NĂĄdas, PĂ©ter
PĂ©ter NĂĄdas was a Hungarian author, essayist, and playwright known for his detailed surrealist tales and prose-poems......
NÄáčŁer-e Khusraw
NÄáčŁer-e Khusraw was a poet, theologian, and religious propagandist, one of the greatest writers in Persian literature.......
Oates, Joyce Carol
Joyce Carol Oates is an American novelist, short-story writer, and essayist noted for her vast literary output......
Obama, Michelle
Michelle Obama is an American first lady (2009â17), the wife of Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States.......
Odoric of Pordenone
Odoric of Pordenone was a Franciscan friar and traveler of the early 14th century. The account of his journey to......
Okri, Ben
Ben Okri is a Nigerian novelist, short-story writer, and poet who used magic realism to convey the social and political......
Olcott, Henry Steel
Henry Steel Olcott was an American author, attorney, philosopher, and cofounder of the Theosophical Society, a......
Olesha, Yury Karlovich
Yury Karlovich Olesha was a Russian prose writer and playwright whose works address the conflict between old and......
Oliphant, Laurence
Laurence Oliphant was a British author, traveller, and mystic, a controversial figure whose quest to establish......
Oliver, Mary
Mary Oliver was an American poet whose work reflects a deep communion with the natural world as well as a belief......
Olsen, Tillie
Tillie Olsen was an American writer and social activist known for her powerful fiction about the inner lives of......
Olson, Charles
Charles Olson was an American poet and literary theorist, widely credited with first using the term postmodern......