21st LIT authors

The literary tradition of China, which dates back to the 14th century BCE and includes renowned poets like Du Fu, Li Po, and Wang Wei.

Chinese Literature

Du Fu

Also known as Tu Fu, he is considered the greatest Chinese poet of all time and wrote the poem "The Ballad of the Army Cats" with hidden satire about the luxury of the court.

Li Po

Also known as Li Bai, a romantic Chinese poet known for his conversational tone and vivid imagery, wrote the poem "Alone and Drinking under the Moon" about the ancient social custom of drinking.

Wang Wei

A poet, painter, musician, and statesman during the Tang dynasty, he founded the respected Southern school of painter-poets and drew inspiration from the local landscape.

Mo Yan

A fictionist who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature, his best-known work is the novel "Red Sorghum," which tells the story of a family in rural China during the turbulent 1930s.

Yu Hua

A world-acclaimed short story writer known for his Chinese meta-fictional or postmodernist writing, his novel "To Live" depicts the struggles endured by the son of a wealthy land-owner during the Chinese Revolution.

Korean Literature

The literary tradition of Korea, greatly influenced by China, with notable authors like Ch'oe Nam-Seon, Yi Kwang-su, and Kim Ok.

Ch'oe Nam-Seon

A prominent historian, poet, and publisher, he was a leading member of the modern literary movement in Korea and wrote the widely acclaimed poem "The Ocean to the Youth" to bring modern knowledge to Korean youth.

Yi Kwang-su

A novelist who launched the modern literary movement in Korea, he wrote the first Korean novel "The Heartless," which explores the conflict between social realities and traditional ideals.

Kim Ok

A Korean poet included in the early modernism movement of Korean poetry, she wrote the first Korean collection of translations from Western poetry called "The Dance of Agony."

Japanese Literature

Japan's rich literary history, influenced by Chinese literature, with notable authors like Abe Kobo, Mishima Yukio, and Haruki Murakami.

Abe Kobo

A Japanese novelist and playwright, he wrote the play "Tomodachi" (Friends) and won the 1967 Akutagawa Award for his short novel "The Wall."

Mishima Yukio

One of the most important Japanese novelists of the 20th century, he wrote the novel "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and was a finalist for the 1963 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

The Father of the Japanese short story, he wrote the famous story "Rashomon" and the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's premier literary award, was named after him.

Haruki Murakami

A Japanese novelist known for his short stories, he won the international award Jerusalem Prize and wrote the novel "Hear the Wind Sing."

Middle East Arabic Literature

The literary tradition of the Middle East, influenced by Islam and other literary traditions, with notable authors like Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, Taha Hussein, and Adonis.

Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad

An Egyptian poet, journalist, and literary critic, he became famous for his Abqariyat series, which covers the lives of important Sahabah (followers of Muhammad).

Taha Hussein

An Egyptian novelist, essayist, and critic, he wrote the autobiographical novel "The Days" that depicts his childhood and studies in Egypt and France.

Adonis

The pseudonym of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, a Syrian-born Lebanese poet and literary critic, known for his modernist movement in contemporary Arabic poetry.

Etgar Keret

An Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting, his novel "Fly Already" won Israel's prestigious Sapir Prize in Literature.

Indian Literature

The literary tradition of India, influenced by Vedic texts and British colonization, with notable authors like Rabindranath Tagore, Prem Chand, Raja Rao, and R.K. Narayan.

Rabindranath Tagore

A Bengali poet, songwriter, and playwright, he won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature for his book "The English Gitanjali" or "Song Offerings."

Prem Chand

Also known as Dhanpat Rai Srivastava, he is a famous Indian author known for his novel "Godaan" (Cow Donation), which explores socio-economic deprivation and exploitation of the village poor.

Raja Rao

An Indian writer of novels and short stories in English, his novel "The Serpent and the Rope"

Slow Dance

A poem by David L. Weatherford that reminds people to live in the moment and not rush through life.

When I Was One-and-Twenty

A poem by A.E. Housman that emphasizes the importance of listening to older and wiser individuals.

The Story of An Hour

A short story by Kate Chopin that explores the theme of freedom and self-discovery.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A short story by James Thurber about a man who daydreams to escape his mundane life.

Mitty's daydreams

Walter Mitty frequently escapes into vivid daydreams, imagining himself as a Navy commander, a renowned surgeon, a criminal defendant, a heroic captain, and facing a firing squad.

European literature

The history of European literature spans various periods and is influenced by classical languages, global expansion, and notable authors and works.

Old English or Anglo-Saxon literature

Written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, it includes epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, bible translations, chronicles, and riddles.

Middle English literature

Written in dialects corresponding to regions, it includes allegorical narrative poems, drama, liturgy, folk tales, hagiographies, historiography, and romances.

English Renaissance

A cultural and artistic movement introducing the sonnet, featuring romances, drama, vernacular literature, liturgy, and bible translations.

Elizabethan period

Notable figures include Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson. Features theatre, poetry, epic poems, songs, tragedies, romances, and tragicomedies.

Jacobean period

Birth of Shakespeare's "problem plays" and tragedies, popularization of the English sonnet, and genres like problem plays, tragedies, revenge plays, romance, and metaphysical poems.

Late Renaissance

Rise of second-generation metaphysical poets, birth of allegory and classical allusions, and epic works.

Restoration Age

Pioneering of literary criticism, John Milton's religious and political epic poem, and various genres like sexual comedy plays, moral wisdom prose, fiction, journalism, political and economic writing, and philosophical themes.

Age of Romanticism

Artistic, literary, and intellectual movement featuring landscape poetry, elegies, metrical romances, dramatic monologues, romantic novels, nature poems, sonnets, and lyrical ballads.

Victorian literature

Novel becomes the leading genre, notable authors like Charles Dickens, introduction of detective and science fiction novels, vampire literature, horror fiction, short stories, and ghost stories.

Modernism

English literary modernism in the early 20th century, evolution of lyric poetry and major novels, combining romanticism, sentimentality, and hedonism, and emergence of writers like Rudyard Kipling.

Sophocles

Author of "Oedipus the King."

Homer

Wrote "The Iliad" and "Odyssey."

Alexander Dumas

Wrote "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

John Milton

Wrote "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained."

John Bunyan

Wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress."

Victor Hugo

Wrote "Les Misérables."

William Shakespeare

Wrote "Romeo and Juliet."

Eyvind Johnson

Wrote "The Days of His Graces."

Aeschylus

Wrote "Oresteia."

Ovid

Wrote "Metamorphoses."

Leo Tolstoy

Wrote "Anna Karenina."

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie

Wrote "The Satanic Verses."

J.K

Wrote the "Harry Potter" series.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Wrote "The Canterbury Tales."

Virgil

Wrote "Aeneid."