wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Henry James
April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916
American and British writer (1843–1916)
Modern era
Edith Wharton
January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937
American writer and designer (1862–1937)
Modern era
Willa Cather
December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947
American writer (1873–1947)
Modern era
D. H. Lawrence
September 11, 1885 – March 2, 1930
English writer and poet (1885–1930)
Modern era
E. M. Forster
January 1, 1879 – June 7, 1970
English novelist (1879-1970)
Modern era
Henrik Ibsen
March 20, 1828 – May 23, 1906
Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)
Modern era
George Bernard Shaw
July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950
Irish playwright, critic, and polemicist (1856–1950)
Modern era
W. H. Auden
February 21, 1907 – September 29, 1973
British-American poet (1907–1973)
Modern era
Dylan Thomas
October 27, 1914 – November 9, 1953
Welsh poet and writer (1914–1953)
Modern era
Wilfred Owen
March 18, 1893 – November 4, 1918
English poet and soldier (1893-1918)
Modern era
Seamus Heaney
April 13, 1939 – August 30, 2013
Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer (1939–2013)
Modern era
Jack London
January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916
American author, journalist and social activist (1876–1916)
Modern era
Upton Sinclair
September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968
American writer (1878–1968)
Modern era
Gertrude Stein
February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946
American author (1874–1946)
Modern era
e. e. cummings
October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962
American author (1894–1962)
Modern era
Dorothy Parker
August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967
American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist (1893-1967)
Modern era
Truman Capote
September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984
American writer (1924-1984)
Modern era
J. D. Salinger
January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
American author (1919–2010)
Modern era
Joseph Heller
May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999
American writer
Modern era
Flannery O'Connor
March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964
American writer (1925–1964)
Modern era
Ralph Ellison
March 1, 1914 – April 16, 1994
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Modern era
Alice Walker
b. February 9, 1944
American author and activist (born 1944)
Modern era
Joan Didion
December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021
American writer (1934-2021)
Modern era
Susan Sontag
January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004
American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist (1933–2004)
Modern era
Hunter S. Thompson
July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005
American journalist and author (1937–2005)
Modern era
Jack Kerouac
March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969
American writer (1922–1969)
Modern era
Allen Ginsberg
June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997
American poet and writer (1926–1997)
Modern era
Charles Bukowski
August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994
German-American writer (1920–1994)
Modern era
E. B. White
July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985
American author (1899–1985)
Modern era
Beatrix Potter
July 28, 1866 – December 22, 1943
British children's writer and illustrator (1866–1943)
Modern era
L. Frank Baum
May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919
American author of children's books (1856–1919)
Modern era
J. M. Barrie
May 9, 1860 – June 19, 1937
Scottish writer and playwright (1860–1937)
Modern era
Lucy Maud Montgomery
November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942
Canadian writer (1874–1942)
Modern era
Enid Blyton
August 11, 1897 – November 28, 1968
English author (1897–1968)
Modern era
Astrid Lindgren
November 14, 1907 – January 28, 2002
Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays (1907–2002)
Modern era
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
June 29, 1900 – July 31, 1944
French writer and aviator (1900–1944)
Modern era
Guy de Maupassant
August 5, 1850 – July 6, 1893
French writer (1850-1893)
Modern era
George Sand
July 1, 1804 – June 8, 1876
French novelist and memoirist (1804–1876)
Modern era
Emile Zola
April 2, 1840 – September 29, 1902
French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet (1840–1902)
Modern era
Federico Garcia Lorca
June 5, 1898 – August 18, 1936
Spanish poet, dramatist and prose writer (1898–1936)
Modern era
Fernando Pessoa
June 13, 1888 – November 30, 1935
Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher (1888–1935); creator of the heteronymic system including Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos, and Bernardo Soares
Modern era
Jose Saramago
November 16, 1922 – June 18, 2010
Portuguese novelist (1922–2010)
Modern era
Machado de Assis
June 21, 1839 – September 29, 1908
Brazilian writer (1839–1908)
Modern era
Clarice Lispector
December 10, 1920 – December 9, 1977
Ukrainian-Brazilian writer, poet, and journalist (1920–1977)
Modern era
Gabriela Mistral
April 7, 1889 – January 10, 1957
Chilean poet, diplomat and educator (1889–1957)
Modern era
Julio Cortazar
August 26, 1914 – February 12, 1984
Argentine writer and translator (1914–1984)
Modern era
Mario Vargas Llosa
March 28, 1936 – April 13, 2025
Peruvian, Spanish and Dominican novelist and writer (1936–2025)
Modern era
Ivan Turgenev
October 28, 1818 – September 3, 1883
Russian writer (1818–1883)
Modern era
Maxim Gorky
March 16, 1868 – June 18, 1936
Russian and Soviet writer (1868–1936)
Modern era
Boris Pasternak
February 10, 1890 – May 30, 1960
Russian writer (1890–1960)
Modern era
Mikhail Bulgakov
May 3, 1891 – March 10, 1940
Russian author (1891–1940)
Modern era
Anna Akhmatova
June 11, 1889 – March 5, 1966
Russian poet (1889–1966)
Modern era
Stefan Zweig
November 28, 1881 – February 23, 1942
Austrian writer (1881–1942)
Modern era
Erich Maria Remarque
June 22, 1898 – September 25, 1970
German-born novelist (1898–1970)
Modern era
Gunter Grass
October 16, 1927 – April 13, 2015
German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, and sculptor (1927-2015)
Modern era
Milan Kundera
April 1, 1929 – July 11, 2023
Franco-Czechoslovak poet and novelist (1929—2023)
Modern era
Umberto Eco
January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016
Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist (1932–2016)
Modern era
Italo Calvino
October 15, 1923 – September 19, 1985
Italian journalist and writer (1923-1985)
Modern era
Lu Xun
September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936
Chinese novelist and essayist (1881–1936)
Modern era
Natsume Soseki
February 9, 1867 – December 9, 1916
Japanese novelist