# List of essayists

This is a list of essayists—people notable for their essay-writing.
Note: Birthplaces (as listed) do not always indicate nationality.

## A

* Augurio Abeto (1900–1977, Philippines)
* André Aciman (born 1951, Egypt)
* Joseph Addison (1672–1719, England)
* Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969, Germany)
* Sheetal Agashe (born 1977, India)
* José de Alencar (1829–1877, Brazil)
* Kingsley Amis (1922–1995, United Kingdom)
* Martin Amis (1949–2023, United Kingdom)
* Oswald de Andrade (1890–1954, Brazil)
* Jacob M. Appel (born 1973, United States)
* Helena Araújo Ortiz (1934–2015, Colombia)
* Matthew Arnold (1822–1888, United Kingdom)
* Anastasia Ashman (born 1964, United States)
* Margaret Atwood (born 1939, Canada)
* Isaac Asimov (1920–1992, Russia)
* W. H. Auden (1907–1973, United Kingdom)
* Joxe Azurmendi (born 1941, Spain)

## B

* Rebeca Baceiredo (born 1979, Spain)
* Rambriksh Benipuri (1902–1968, India)
* Francis Bacon (1561–1626, England)
* Walter Bagehot (1826–1877, England)
* James Baldwin (1924–1987, United States)
* Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825, England)
* John Perry Barlow (1947–2018, United States)
* Julian Barnes (born 1946, United Kingdom)
* Jacques Barzun (1907–2012, France)
* Enis Batur (born 1952, Turkey)
* Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867, France)
* Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953, United Kingdom)
* Walter Benjamin (1892–1940, Germany)
* Wendell Berry (born 1934, United States)
* Jens Bjørneboe (1920–1976, Norway)
* Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986, Argentina)
* Alain de Botton (born 1969, Switzerland)
* Giannina Braschi (born 1953, Puerto Rico)
* William Brandon (1914–2002, United States)
* Alfred Brendel (born 1931, Czech Republic)
* Christopher Buckley (born 1952, United States)
* Anthony Burgess (1917–1993, United Kingdom)
* Richard de Bury (1287–1345, England)

## C-D

* Erskine Caldwell (1903–2007, United States)
* Italo Calvino (1923–1985, Italy)
* Albert Camus (1913–1960, Algeria)
* Rafael Cansinos Assens (1882–1964, Spain)
* Orson Scott Card (born 1951, United States)
* John Carey (born 1934, United Kingdom)
* Simon Carmiggelt (1913–1987, Netherlands)
* Otto Maria Carpeaux (1900–1978, Austria)
* Harriet Frances Carpenter (1868/75 – 1956, United States)
* Saveria Chemotti (born 1947, Italy)
* Kelly Cherry (born 1940, United States)
* G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936, United Kingdom)
* Panashe Chigumadzi (DOB unknown, living, Zimbabwe)
* Noam Chomsky (born 1928, United States)
* Winston Churchill (1874–1965, Great Britain)
* Emil Cioran (1911–1995, Romania)
* J. M. Coetzee (born 1940, South Africa)
* William Cobbett (1763–1835, Great Britain)
* Anthony Collins (1676–1729, England)
* Charles Caleb Colton (1780–1832, Great Britain)
* Cyril Connolly (1903–1974, United Kingdom)
* Abraham Cowley (1618–1667, Great Britain)
* A. J. Cronin (1896–1981, Scotland)
* Samuel McChord Crothers (1857–1927, United States)
* Richard Dawkins (born 1941, United Kingdom)
* Mike Daisey (born 1976, United States)
* Theodore Dalrymple (born 1949, United Kingdom)
* Nik De Dominic (born 1981, United States)
* Joan Didion (1934–2021, United States)
* Annie Dillard (born 1945, United States)
* Babacar Sedikh Diouf (born 1928, Senegal)
* Alfred Döblin (1878–1957, Germany)
* John Dolan (1955–1981, United States)
* Joe Dolce (born 1947, Australia)
* Denis Donoghue (1928–2021, Ireland)
* John Dryden (1631–1700, England)

## E-G

* Klaus Ebner (born 1964, Austria)
* Umberto Eco (1932–2016, Italy)
* T. S. Eliot (1888–1965, United States)
* Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882, United States)
* Joseph Epstein (born 1937, United States)
* Filip Erceg (born 1979, Croatia)
* Barbara Ehrenreich (born 1941, United States)
* Jaime Eyzaguirre (1908–1968, Chile)
* Anne Fadiman (born 1953, United States)
* Femi Fani-Kayode (born 1960, Nigeria)
* Frantz Fanon (1925–1961, Martinique)
* Richard Farmer (1735–1797, England)
* Gérard Fauré (born 1946, Morocco)
* Benito Jerónimo Feijoo e Montenegro (1676–1764, Spain)
* Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021, United States)
* Predrag Finci (born 1946, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* Élisabeth de Fontenay (born 1934, France)
* E. M. Forster (1879–1970, England)
* John Foster (1770–1843, United Kingdom)
* Ian Frazier (born 1951, United States)
* Robert Fulghum (born 1937, United States)
* Joan Fuster (1922–1992, Spain)
* Harry Gamboa, Jr. (born 1951, United States)
* William H. Gass (1924–2017, United States)
* Karl-Markus Gauß (born 1954, Austria)
* Malcolm Gladwell (born 1963, United Kingdom)
* Adam Gopnik (born 1956, United States)
* Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002, United States)
* Mohammed Lotfy Gomaa (1886–1953, Egypt)
* Paul Graham (born 1964, England)
* Clement Greenberg (1909–1994, United States)
* A. C. Grayling (born 1949, United Kingdom)
* Gordon Grice (born 1965, United States)
* Stanka Gjurić (born 1956, Croatia)

## H-J

* Carla Harryman (born 1952, United States)
* William Hazlitt (1778–1830, England)
* Peter Handke (born 1942 Griffen, Austria)
* Saeko Himuro (1957–2008, Japan)
* Fumi Hirano (born 1955, Japan)
* Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011, United Kingdom)
* Peter Hitchens (born 1951, United Kingdom)
* Hugh Hood (1928–2000, Canada)
* Langston Hughes (1902–1967, United States)
* David Hume (1711–1776, United Kingdom)
* Hamid Rashidi (1961–2020, Iran)
* Leigh Hunt (1784–1859, England)
* Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894–1963, England)
* Lucie Fulton Isaacs (1841–1916, United States)
* Shigesato Itoi (born 1948, Japan)
* Molly Ivins (1944–2007, United States)
* Jwalamukhi (1938–2008, India)
* Michael Johns (born 1964, United States)
* Diane Johnson (born 1934, United States)
* Electa Amanda Wright Johnson (1938–1929, United States)
* Samuel Johnson (1709–1784, England)
* June Jordan (1936–2002, United States)
* Rebecca Richardson Joslin (1846–1934, United States)

## K-L

* Steven G. Kellman (born 1947, United States)
* Ted Kaczynski (1942–2023, United States)
* Shakuntala Karandikar (1931–2018, India)
* Frank Kermode (1919–2010, United Kingdom)
* Tracy Kidder (born 1945, United States)
* Chuck Klosterman (born 1972, United States)
* Rudy Kousbroek (1929–2010, Netherlands)
* Hans Krieger (born 1933, Germany)
* Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981, Croatia)
* Tomislav Ladan (1932–2008, Serbia)
* Laila Lalami (born 1968, Morocco)
* Anne Richelieu Lamb (1807–1878, Scotland)
* Charles Lamb (1775–1834, England)
* Shankar Lamichhane (Nepal)
* Anne Lamott (born 1954, United States)
* Corinne Lee (United States)
* Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716, Germany)
* Albert Leung (born 1961, Hong Kong)
* C. S. Lewis (1898–1963, Ireland)
* Li Ao (1935–2018, China, Taiwan)
* Liang Shiqiu (1903–1987, China, Taiwan)
* Lin Yutang (1895–1976, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong)
* Alan Lightman (born 1948, United States)
* Tim Lilburn (born 1950, Canada)
* Lin Wenyue (born 1933, Taiwan)
* Joan Lindsay (1896–1984, Australia)
* María López Sández (born 1973, Spain)
* E. V. Lucas (1868–1938, England)
* Lu Xun (1881–1936, China)

## M-N

* Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), Belgium)
* Norman Mailer (1923–2007, United States)
* Jorge Majfud (born 1969, Uruguay)
* Laura Mancinelli (1933–2016, Italy)
* Francis T. McAndrew (born 1953, Germany)
* Nathan McCall (born 1955, United States)
* Mary McCarthy (1912–1989, United States)
* Tim McKay (1947–2006, United States)
* John McPhee (born 1931, United States)
* Louis Menand (born 1952, United States)
* H. L. Mencken (1880–1956, United States)
* Arthur Miller (1915–2005, United States)
* Pankaj Mishra (born 1969, India)
* Donald Grant Mitchell (1822–1908, United States)
* Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592, France)
* Angela Morales (born 1966, United States)
* Michele Moramarco (born 1953, Italy)
* V. S. Naipaul (1932–2018, Trinidad and Tobago)
* Nakane Kōtei (1839–1913, Japan)
* Ukichiro Nakaya (1900–1962, Japan)
* Marie NDiaye (born 1967, France)
* John Neal (1793–1876, United States)
* Virgil Nemoianu (born 1940, Romania)
* Natias Neutert (born 1941, Germany)
* Kathleen Norris (born 1947, United States)

## O-R

* Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938, United States)
* George Orwell (1903–1950, United Kingdom)
* Borislav Pekić (1930–1992, Serbia)
* Noel Perrin (1927–2004, United States)
* Samuel F. Pickering Jr. (born 1941, United States)
* Stanley Plumly (1939–2019, United States)
* Mestrius Plutarch (46–127, Boeotia, Ancient Greece)
* Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849, United States)
* Katherine Ann Porter (1890–1980, United States)
* Rebecca N. Porter (1883-1963, United States)
* Anna M. Longshore Potts (1829–1912, United States)
* J.B. Priestley (1894–1984, England)
* Kevin Prufer (born 1969, United States)
* Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859, England)
* Indra Bahadur Rai (1927–2018, India)
* Fanny Raoul (1771–1833, France)
* María del Carmen Reina Jiménez (born 1942, Spain)
* Emily Browne Powell (1847-1938, United States)
* Gabrielle Réval (1869–1938, France)
* Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1985, United States)
* Marilynne Robinson (born 1943, United States)
* Tjalie Robinson (1911–1974, Netherlands)
* Richard Rodriguez (born 1944, United States)
* Arundhati Roy (born 1961, India)
* Bertrand Russell (1872–1970, United Kingdom)

## S

* Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963, India)
* Edward Said (1935–2003, Palestine)
* John Ralston Saul (born 1947, Canada)
* Dan Schneider (born 1965, United States)
* Robert Schumann (1810–1856, Germany)
* Roger Scruton (1944–2020, England)
* David Sedaris (born 1956, United States)
* John Robert Seeley (1834–1895, England)
* Rafael Calvo Serer (1916–1988, Spain)
* George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950, Ireland)
* Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822, England)
* Fannie Isabelle Sherrick (fl. 1860–1880, United States)
* David Shields (born 1956, United States)
* Clay Shirky (born 1964, United States)
* Simeon Simev (born 1949, Republic of Macedonia)
* Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (1908–1974, India)
* Matias Skard (1846–1927, Norway)
* Jean Edward Smith (1932–2019, United States)
* Zadie Smith (born 1975, England)
* Amelia Solar de Claro (1836–1915, Chile)
* Walid Soliman (born 1975, Tunisia)
* Rebecca Solnit (born 1961, United States)
* Susan Sontag (1933–2004, United States)
* Dejan Stojanović (born 1959, Serbia)
* Lytton Strachey (1880–1932, United Kingdom)
* Cheryl Strayed (born 1968, United States)

## T-Z

* Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941, India)
* Nassim Nicholas Taleb (born 1960, Lebanon)
* Alain Tasso (born 1962, Lebanon)
* Vijay Tendulkar (1928–2008, India)
* Issa Laye Thiaw (1943–2017, Senegal)
* Colm Tóibín (born 1955, Ireland)
* Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910, Russia)
* Lionel Trilling (1905–1975, United States)
* George W. S. Trow (1943–2006, United States)
* Andrew Vachss (1942–2021, United States)
* Paul Valéry (1871–1945, France)
* Erico Verissimo (1905–1975, Brazil)
* Gore Vidal (1925–2012, United States)
* Voltaire (1694–1778, France)
* Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007, United States)
* Richard Wagner (1813–1883, Germany)
* David Foster Wallace (1962–2008, United States)
* Rebecca West (1892–1983, United Kingdom)
* E. B. White (1899–1985, United States)
* Oscar Wilde (1852–1900, Ireland)
* Tom Wolfe (1931–2018, United States)
* Virginia Woolf (1882–1941, United Kingdom)
* Yang Jiang (1911–2016, China)
* Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987, France)
* Asunción de Zea-Bermúdez (1862–1936, Spain)