Writing is an essential tool to express our deepest thoughts. Writers need inspirations to mold a masterpiece that reflects society and all concepts. America has been a home to thousands of incredible literary works. Here is our list of the greatest American authors who have exuded undying passion to writing:
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804 – 1864
Hawthorne was a novelist and short story writer who has been labeled of his dark romantic theme which suggests that sin, guilt, and evil are natural qualities of mankind. His works which are set in a past New England showcases historical fiction with concepts of ancestral sin, guilt, and retribution. His most famous novel is “The Scarlet Letter”.
Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 –1849
Poe was a writer, editor and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories which center mystery and suspense. He is even considered the inventor of detective fiction. His works were not only popular in America, but also in Europe. Some of his notable poems are “The Raven” and “The Bells”. He was also known for his stories The Masque of the Red Death and The Pit and the Pendulum.
Walt Whitman, 1819-1892
Whitman became a prominent poet in the world for his disregard for traditional rhyme and meter to celebrate democracy of thoughts and sensual, please. One of his masterpieces is “Leaves of Grass”, a collection of poems studied by various poets and critics and was transformed into songs and numerous languages. His influence can be found everywhere – feature films, musical works, and best seller lists.
Emily Dickinson, 1830 – 1886
Dickinson is considered one of the most powerful voices of American culture. During her lifetime, she was not known as a poet. In fact, after she died, her sister found almost 2, 000 poems. She experimented poetry and deviated from the conventional first person point of view. The speakers of some of her poems are observers in the society. Her works include “The Soul has Bandaged Moments” and “Fame is a Fickle Food”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896 – 1940
Fitzgerald was a novelist regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his “The Great Gatsby” which is a story of doomed love between a man and a woman, in the grip of greed and hollow pursuit of pleasure. This became a constant best-seller which sold millions of copies. He also wrote “The Beautiful and Damned” and “This Side of Paradise”.
Ernest Hemingway, 1899 – 1961
Hemingway was a popular novelist, short story writer, and journalist who published seven novels, six short story collections and two non-fiction literary works. His pieces depend on the themes of love, war, wilderness, and loss. He is notable for his “Indian Camp”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “Death in the Afternoon” and “The Old Man and the Sea”. He has received Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. In 1961, he committed suicide just like his father, brother, and sister.
Henry James, 1843 – 1916
James is considered one of the key figures of the 19th-century literary realism. He is notable for his writings that center a character’s point of view. He used interior monologues and narrators in his stories, which brought a new depth to narrative fiction. Some of his prominent works are “The Portrait of a Lady” and “The Wings of the Dove”
Have you read some of their works?
