Nonfiction Authors L-Z, SPR-TOK
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
Spring, Howard
Howard Spring was a Welsh-born British novelist whose chief strength lies in his understanding of provincial life......
Stafford, William
William Stafford was an American poet whose work explores man’s relationship with nature. He formed the habit of......
Stark, Freya
Freya Stark was a British travel writer who is noted for two dozen highly personal books in which she describes......
Staszic, Stanisław
Stanisław Staszic was the foremost political writer of the Enlightenment in Poland. Staszic came from a middle-class......
Stedman, Edmund Clarence
Edmund Clarence Stedman was a poet, critic, and editor, whose writing was popular in the United States during the......
Steel, Danielle
Danielle Steel is an American writer best known for her numerous best-selling romance novels. Steel was an only......
Steele, Sir Richard
Sir Richard Steele was an English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author......
Steffen, Albert
Albert Steffen was a Swiss novelist and dramatist, one of the leading writers of the anthroposophical movement......
Stegner, Wallace
Wallace Stegner was an American author of fiction and historical nonfiction set mainly in the western United States.......
Stein, Gertrude
Gertrude Stein was an avant-garde American writer, eccentric, and self-styled genius whose Paris home was a salon......
Steinbeck, John
John Steinbeck was an American novelist best known for The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which summed up the bitterness......
Steiner, George
George Steiner was an influential French-born American literary critic who studied the relationship between literature......
Stendhal
Stendhal was one of the most original and complex French writers of the first half of the 19th century, chiefly......
Stephen, Sir Leslie
Sir Leslie Stephen was an English critic, man of letters, and the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography.......
Stephens, Alfred George
Alfred George Stephens was an Australian literary critic and journalist whose writings in newspapers and periodicals......
Stern, Richard G.
Richard G. Stern was an American author and teacher whose fiction examines the intricacies of marital difficulties......
Sternheim, Carl
Carl Sternheim was a German dramatist best known for plainly written satiric comedies about middle-class values......
Stevens, Wallace
Wallace Stevens was an American poet whose work explores the interaction of reality and what man can make of reality......
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, best known for his......
Steves, Rick
When he was 14 years old, Rick Steves went to Europe on a family vacation. He did not want to go. It was the summer......
Stewart, J.I.M.
J.I.M. Stewart was a British novelist, literary critic, and educator who created the character of Inspector John......
Stewart, Maria
Maria Stewart was an American writer, lecturer, teacher, and activist who was the first known American woman to......
Stobart, Mabel St. Clair
Mabel St. Clair Stobart was an English medical relief worker, feminist, and author. Stobart founded the Women’s......
Stockton, Frank
Frank Stockton was an American popular novelist and short-story writer of mainly humorous fiction, best known as......
Stoddard, Richard Henry
Richard Henry Stoddard was an American poet, critic, and editor, more important as a figure in New York literary......
Stone, Irving
Irving Stone was an American writer of popular historical biographies. Stone first came to prominence with the......
Storey, David
David Storey was an English novelist and playwright whose brief professional rugby career and lower-class background......
Stow, John
John Stow was one of the best-known Elizabethan antiquaries, author of the famous A Survey of London (1598; revised......
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American writer and philanthropist, the author of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which......
Strachey, Lytton
Lytton Strachey was an English biographer and critic who opened a new era of biographical writing at the close......
Strange, Michael
Michael Strange was an American writer and performer who produced poetry and plays, acted onstage, and did readings......
Strong, Anna Louise
Anna Louise Strong was an American journalist and author who published numerous articles and books about developments......
Stubbs, William
William Stubbs was an influential English historian who founded the systematic study of English medieval constitutional......
Stumpf, Johannes
Johannes Stumpf was a Swiss chronicler and theologian, one of the most important personalities of the Swiss Reformation.......
Styron, William
William Styron was an American novelist noted for his treatment of tragic themes and his use of a rich, classical......
Su Song
Su Song was a Chinese scholar and administrative and financial expert in the imperial bureaucracy. His Illustrated......
Sudermann, Hermann
Hermann Sudermann was one of the leading writers of the German naturalist movement. Though first apprenticed to......
Suetonius
Suetonius was a Roman biographer and antiquarian whose writings include De viris illustribus (“Concerning Illustrious......
Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus was an early Christian ascetic, a chief authority for contemporary Gallo-Roman history, who is......
Summer, Donna
Donna Summer was an American singer-songwriter who was considered the “Queen of Disco” but also successful in rhythm......
Sutherland, Efua
Efua Sutherland was a Ghanaian playwright, poet, teacher, and children’s author, who founded the Drama Studio in......
Suttner, Bertha, Freifrau von
Bertha, baroness von Suttner was an Austrian novelist who was one of the first notable woman pacifists. She is......
Suyūṭī, al-
al-Suyūṭī was an Egyptian writer and teacher whose works deal with a wide variety of subjects, the Islamic religious......
Svevo, Italo
Italo Svevo was an Italian novelist and short-story writer, a pioneer of the psychological novel in Italy. Svevo......
Swift, Jonathan
Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish author who was the foremost prose satirist in the English language. Besides the......
Swinburne, Algernon Charles
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet and critic, outstanding for prosodic innovations and noteworthy......
Symonds, John Addington
John Addington Symonds was an English essayist, poet, and biographer best known for his cultural history of the......
Symons, A.J.A.
A.J.A. Symons was a British author and biographer best known for his brilliant and unconventional biography The......
Symons, Arthur
Arthur Symons was a poet and critic, the first English champion of the French Symbolist poets. Symons’s schooling......
Szentkuthy, Miklos
Miklos Szentkuthy was a Hungarian writer who wrote complex experimental fiction that explored the absurdity of......
Sábato, Ernesto
Ernesto Sábato was an Argentine novelist, journalist, and essayist whose novels are notable for their concern with......
Sévigné, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné was a French writer whose correspondence is of both historical and......
Słowacki, Juliusz
Juliusz Słowacki was a Polish poet and dramatic author, one of the most important poets of the Romantic period.......
Taggard, Genevieve
Genevieve Taggard was an American poet and biographer of Emily Dickinson who was much admired for her lyric verse......
Taine, Hippolyte
Hippolyte Taine was a French thinker, critic, and historian, one of the most-esteemed exponents of 19th-century......
Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon
Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux was a French writer of entertaining and informative Historiettes, or short biographies.......
Tan, Amy
Amy Tan is an American author best known for her novels about Chinese American women and the immigrant experience.......
Tanning, Dorothea
Dorothea Tanning was an American artist and author who, during her seven-decade career, moved between painting,......
Tasso, Torquato
Torquato Tasso was the greatest Italian poet of the late Renaissance, celebrated for his heroic epic poem Gerusalemme......
Tate, Allen
Allen Tate was an American poet, teacher, novelist, and a leading exponent of the New Criticism. In both his criticism......
Tayama Katai
Tayama Katai was a novelist who was a central figure in the development of the Japanese naturalist school of writing.......
Taylor, A.J.P.
A.J.P. Taylor was a British historian and journalist noted for his lectures on history and for his prose style.......
Taylor, Bayard
Bayard Taylor was an American author known primarily for his lively travel narratives and for his translation of......
Taylor, Gordon Rattray
Gordon Rattray Taylor was a British author who specialized in writing popular works on broad scientific and social......
Taylor, John
John Taylor was a minor English poet, pamphleteer, and journalist who called himself “the Water Poet.” The son......
Tench, Watkin
Watkin Tench was a British army officer whose two books about early Australia have become classics. Commissioned......
Tennant, Kylie
Kylie Tennant was an Australian novelist and playwright famed for her realistic yet affirmative depictions of the......
Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes
Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune was an American writer who achieved great success with both her romantic novels and......
Terkel, Studs
Studs Terkel was an American author and oral historian who chronicled the lives of Americans from the Great Depression......
Tertullian
Tertullian was an important early Christian theologian, polemicist, and moralist who, as the initiator of ecclesiastical......
Tharoor, Shashi
Shashi Tharoor is a prominent Indian diplomat and politician who, after a distinguished career at the United Nations,......
Theodorus Lector
Theodorus Lector was a Greek church historian, author of two significant epitomes of Byzantine history correlating......
Theodulf of Orléans
Theodulf of Orléans was a prelate, poet, and one of the leading theologians of the Frankish empire. A member of......
Theoleptus Of Philadelphia
Theoleptus Of Philadelphia was a Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Philadelphia and theological polemicist and writer......
Theophanes the Confessor, Saint
Saint Theophanes the Confessor ; feast day March 12) was a Byzantine monk, theologian, and chronicler, and a principal......
Theophylactus Simocattes
Theophylactus Simocattes was a Byzantine historian whose chronicles of the Eastern Roman Empire provide a unique......
Theotokás, Yórgos
Yórgos Theotokás was a Greek novelist known for his clarity of expression and civilized writing. Theotokás studied......
Theroux, Paul
Paul Theroux is an American novelist and travel writer known for his highly personal observations on many locales.......
Thiry, Marcel
Marcel Thiry was a Belgian poet, novelist, short-story writer, and essayist whose work reflects his experiences......
Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell is an American economist and social commentator and also one of the leading intellectual figures......
Thomas, Augustus
Augustus Thomas was a playwright important in the development of U.S. theatre for his consistent use of native......
Thomas, D.M.
D.M. Thomas was an English poet and novelist best known for his novel The White Hotel (1981), in which fantasy......
Thomas, Gwyn
Gwyn Thomas was a Welsh novelist and playwright whose works, many on grim themes, were marked with gusto, much......
Thomas, Lewis
Lewis Thomas was an American physician, researcher, author, and teacher best known for his essays, which contain......
Thomas, Lowell
Lowell Thomas was a preeminent American radio commentator and an explorer, lecturer, author, and journalist. He......
Thomas, R.S.
R.S. Thomas was a Welsh clergyman and poet whose lucid, austere verse expresses an undeviating affirmation of the......
Thompson, Dorothy
Dorothy Thompson was an American newspaperwoman and writer, one of the most famous journalists of the 20th century.......
Thompson, Francis
Francis Thompson was an English poet of the 1890s, whose most famous poem, “The Hound of Heaven,” describes the......
Thompson, Hunter S.
Hunter S. Thompson was an American journalist and author who created the genre known as gonzo journalism, a highly......
Thompson, Silvanus Phillips
Silvanus Phillips Thompson was a British physicist and historian of science known for contributions in electrical......
Thoreau, Henry David
Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher renowned for having lived the doctrines......
Thubron, Colin
Colin Thubron is a British travel writer and novelist whose works, often set in foreign locales, explore love,......
Thurber, James
James Thurber was an American writer and cartoonist, whose well-known and highly acclaimed writings and drawings......
Tietjens, Eunice
Eunice Tietjens was a poet, novelist, and editor, whose eclectic interest in the cultures of the Far East was the......
Tikhonov, Nikolay Semyonovich
Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov was a Soviet poet and prose writer, notable for his heroic war ballads and for his......
Timmermans, Felix
Felix Timmermans was a Flemish writer of regional and idyllic novels and stories. Timmermans, who was also a popular......
Timrod, Henry
Henry Timrod was an American poet who was called “the laureate of the Confederacy.” Timrod was the son of a bookbinder.......
Todd, Mabel Loomis
Mabel Loomis Todd was an American writer and editor who was largely responsible for editing the first posthumously......
Tokarczuk, Olga
Olga Tokarczuk is a Polish writer known for her wry and complex novels that leap between centuries, places, perspectives,......
Tokutomi Roka
Tokutomi Roka was a Japanese novelist, the younger brother of the historian Tokutomi Sohō. Tokutomi worked for......