Sentence:  His denials of extensive reading notwithstanding , it is no doubt safe to assume that he has spent time schooling himself in Southern history and that he has gained some acquaintance with the chief literary <WSD>authors</WSD> who have lived in the South or have written about the South . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)