Italo Calvino (1923-1985)
- Born in Cuba, lived in Italy.
- Jounalist and a writer of short stories and novels.
- Best known work includes 'Our Ancestors' trilogy, the 'Cosmicomics' collection of short stories and novels 'Invisible Cities' and 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveller'.
- Inspired by folk tales and oral storytelling.
- Modern/postmodern.
- 'Invisible Cities' - a collection of short stories with one overarching narrative (fiction).
Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
- English author, comic radio dramatist and musician.
- Best known for the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series (originally started on the radio).
- He co-wrote some of the Doctor Who television series.
- Interested in the environment and technology.
- Science-fiction.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
- German language novelist and short story writer.
- His writing fuses realism and the fantastic together.
- Interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety and absurdity.
- Best known writing is 'The Metamorphosis', 'The Trial' and 'The Castle'.
- He only published a few short stories and never finished any of his novels.
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)
- Irish novelist, playwright, theatre director and poet.
- His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature with black comedy and gallows humour.
- Considered one of the last modernists.
- Best known for 'Waiting for Godot', which has been interpreted as a somber summation on man's never ending search for meaning.
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
- Best selling fiction writer of all time.
- She write 80 crime novels and 14 plays, as well as many other books.
- Often used familiar settings in her stories.
- Many of the murders in her novels involved poison.
- Best known books are 'And then there were None' and 'Murder on the Orient Express'.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
- Brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, as well as women coming back from the dead.
- Short stories, novels, textbooks and hundreds of essays.
- Acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story.
- Best known for his tales of terror and his haunting poetry.
- Poe is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure that lurks in old cemeteries.
Susan Songtag (1933-2004)
- American novelist, critical essayist, cultural analyst and film-maker.
- Best known for writing such as 'On Photography, 'Illness as Metaphor' and 'The Volcano Lover'.
- Non-fiction.
- 'On Photography'(a collection of 6 essays) focuses on how photography has destroyed the boundaries and definitions of art.
Harper Lee (1926-2016)
- American novelist.
- Literature and fiction.
- Wrote 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which she saw as a simple love story.
- Based on her observations of family and friends, based in her hometown.
- The novel was inspired by the racist attitudes of the ear (especially based on an incident that happened in her hometown.
Wole Soyinka (1934-Present)
- Nigerian playwright and poet.
- He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and it's struggle for independence with Great Britain.
- Best known for 'Death and the King's Horsemen' and 'The Years of Childhood'.
George Orwell (1903-1950)
- English author and journalist.
- Marked by intelligence and wit, as well as an awareness of social injustice.
- Between 1941-1943 he worked on propaganda for the BBC.
- Best known for books '1984' and 'Animal Farm'.
