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Ten Most Famous Authors

Ten Most Famous Authors

Everyone has their own favorite author, but only a few can make it on this list. Here we present ten of the most famous authors of all time. Sure, you can argue with who is not on the list, and that will always be up for discussion. But you can’t argue with the majority of these writers—they should be listed in at least the top twenty. So read on and enjoy, and perhaps pick up one of their books and start reading it.

There are probably many books out there that we were all supposed to read, but never did, that includes a large selection of the so-called classics. Which classic book(s) have you not read? Which ones do people think you’ve read? Which ones have you told people you’ve read, but, in fact, you have not? Let’s be honest: I admit that I have not read any book or books by_____________.

10. OSCAR (OSCY) WILDE

Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. His actual name is Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde and he was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. In the early 1890s, he became the most famous playwrights in all of London, and he is remembered by his plays now. He was imprisoned which later led to his early demise. He was married to Constance Lloyd and his most notable works include The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

9. JAMES (JIMMY) JOYCE

Another Irish novelist and poet. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 and was considered to be very influential at the time. He is best known for Ulysses, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Finnegan’s Wake. You can find a statue of James Joyce on the North Earl Street in Dublin, Ireland.

8. FYODOR (FEE) DOSTOEVSKY

This writer comes from Russia. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born on November 11, 1821. He wrote novels, short stories and essays. His works would generally talk about human psychology and the troubled political and social society of the Russian world. His most notable works include Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons and The Brothers and Karamzov. He was married to Maria Dmitriyevna Isayeva who died in 1864. Fyodor died on February 9, 1881.

7. WILLIAM (BILLY) FAULKNER

William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897. He is a Nobel laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. He was an American writer and wrote many novels, short stories, essays and screenplays. He’s popular for his novels and short stories, though most of them are set in a fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is known for The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom! and A Rose for Emily. He was married to Estelle Oldham and he died on July 6, 1962.

6. ERNEST (ERNIE) HEMINGWAY

Another writer that needs no introduction. Earnest Miller Hemmingway was born on July 21, 1899, and was an American author and journalist. He had a strong influence on the 2oth century fiction. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He has published around seven novels, several short story collections and two nonfiction works. He was married many times in his lifetime (four), and the longest one he stayed in for fifteen years. Earnest died on July 2, 1961.

5. VIRGINIA (GINNY) WOOLF

She was an American writer but had a British nationality. Adeline Virginia Woolf was born on January 25, 1882. Her most famous works include To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando: A Biography and A Room of One’s Own. She was married to Leonard Woolf which ended in the year 1941 with her death. She died onMarch 28, 1941 when she was 59 years old.

4. J.K. (JOJO) ROWLING

Most of you young ones out there probably were not familiar with the writers mentioned above but J.K. Rowling is particularly famous with a lot of age groups. She is a British novelist and became famous with her series of seven books by the name of ‘Harry Potter’. She was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. She is currently married to Neil Murray and has two daughters and one son.

3. GEORGE (GEORGIE BOY) ORWELL

His actual name is Eric Arthur Blair and he was born on June 25, 1903. He was an English journalist and novelist. He died on January 21, 1950 and is known for Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. He was first married to Eileen O’Shaughnessy and that marriage ended with her death. He was then married to Sonia Borwnell and that marriage ended with his death.

2. CHARLES (CHUCKY) DICKENS

Charles John Huffan Dickens was born on February 7, 1812. He was an English writer and social critic. We had to read many of his stories back in school. He is most notable for his works The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. He was married to Catherine Thomson Hogarth and had a whole lot of children. He started writing early and he shot to fame in 1836 when he wrote The Pickwick Papers and within a few years of that his fame crossed the international borders.

1. WILLIAM (BILLY) SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare needs no introduction. He was born on April 26, 1564 in England. He is regarded as the best writer in the English speaking world and is often referred to as the National Poet of England. It is not known exactly how many plays he wrote, but if you considered the ones that survived plus a few collaborations, it comes to a total of 38 different plays with ten being the greatest of all time. He died in England on April 23, 1616.