List of English writers

List of English writers is an incomplete alphabetical list of writers from England. It includes writers in all genres and in any language. This is a subsidiary list to the List of English people.

A

• Douglas Adams, (1952-2001), comic novelist
• Cyril Alington, (1872-1955), crime novelist and non-fiction writer
• Kingsley Amis, (1922-1995), poet and novelist
• Martin Amis, (born 1949), novelist
• Matthew Arnold, (1822-1888), poet
• David Attenborough, (born 1926), naturalist and broadcaster
• W. H. Auden, (1907-1973), poet
• Jane Austen, (1775-1817), novelist
• Alan Ayckbourn, (born 1939), playwright
• Pam Ayres, (born 1947), poet

B

• Francis Bacon, (1561-1626), essayist
• Julian Barnes, (born 1946), novelist
• Leslie Barringer, (1895-1968), editor, fantasy and historical novelist
• Max Beerbohm, (1872-1956), comic writer and caricaturist
• Aphra Behn, a writer
• Hilaire Belloc, (1870-1953), writer and poet
• Alan Bennett, (born 1934), playwright
• Arnold Bennett, (1867-1931), novelist
• E. F. Benson, (1867-1940), novelist and short story writer. Author of the Mapp and Lucia series.
• John Betjeman, (1906-1984), Poet Laureate
• Robert Black, (1829-1915), fiction writer, translator and journalist
• William Blake, (1757-1827), artist and poet
• Enid Blyton, (1897-1968), children's author
• Robert Bolt, (1924-1995), dramatist and screenwriter. Wrote A Man For All Seasons
• Ernle Bradford, (1922-1986), historian and writer
• Anne Brontë, (1820-1849), novelist
• Charlotte Brontë, (1816-1855), novelist
• Emily Brontë, (1818-1848), novelist and poet
• Rupert Brooke, (1887-1915), poet
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, (1806-1861), poet
• Robert Browning, (1812-1889), poet
• Anthony Buckeridge, (1912-2004) children's author
• John Bunyan, (1628-1688), author
• Anthony Burgess, (1917-1993), novelist
• Fanny Burney, (1752-1840), writer
• Samuel Butler (1612-1680), poet and satirist
• Samuel Butler (1835-1902), writer and satirist

C

• Sir Hall Caine, (1853-1931), romantic novelist and playwright
• Lewis Carroll, (pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), (1832-1898), author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Angela Carter, (1940-1992), novelist
• Geoffrey Chaucer, (c. 1343-1400), poet, author of The Canterbury Tales
• G. K. Chesterton, (1874-1936), novelist, poet and essayist
• Agatha Christie, (1891-1976), mystery writer
• Winston Churchill, (1874-1965), British prime minister, author and Nobel prizewinner
• John Clare, (1793-1864), poet
• Brian Cleeve, (1921-2003), novelist
• Jonathan Coe, (born 1961), novelist
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (1772-1834), poet
• Wilkie Collins, (1824-1889), novelist
• William Congreve, (1670-1729), playwright and poet
• Joseph Connolly, (born 1950), journalist and novelist
• Joseph Conrad, (1857-1924), novelist
• Noel Coward, (1899-1973), playwright

D

• Daniel Defoe, a novelist and author of famous Robinson Crusoe
• Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)
• Thomas de Quincey, (1785-1859)
• Charles Dickens, (1812-1870), a novelist
• John Donne, poet (1572-1631)
• Lord Alfred Douglas, (1870-1945)
• John Dryden, poet (1631-1700)
• Carol Ann Duffy, (born 1955)
• Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989)
• Arthur Conan Doyle, (1859-1930)

E

• Maria Edgeworth, (1767-1849), Anglo-Irish novelist
• George Eliot, (pen name of Mary Ann Evans) (1819-1880), novelist
• T. S. Eliot, (1888-1965), poet, playwright, literary critic and Nobel prizewinner
• Warren Ellis, (born 1968), comic book/graphic novel writer
• Alfred Elwes, (1819-1888), author of children's literature and translator
• George Etheridge, (1635?-1692), playwright

F

• Henry Fielding, (1707-1754), novelist
• Ian Fleming, (1908-1964), author, creator of James Bond
• C. S. Forester, (1899-1966), author
• Helen Forrester, (born 1919), author
• E. M. Forster, (1879-1970), author
• Frederick Forsyth, (born 1938), author and political commentator
• Christopher Fry, (1907-2005), dramatist
• Stephen Fry, (born 1957), novelist and comedian
• David Forrest, novelist, a pseudonym of R.Forrest-Webb & David Eliades.

G

• John Galsworthy, (1867-1933), author and dramatist
• Elizabeth Gaskell, (1810-1865), novelist
• William Golding, (1911-1993), novelist, poet and Nobel prizewinner
• Elizabeth Goudge, (1900-1984), novelist and children's writer
• Kenneth Grahame, (1859-1931), author
• Robert Graves, (1895-1985), poet, scholar and novelist
• Thomas Gray, (1716-1771), poet
• Henry Green, (pen name of Henry Vincent Yorke), (1905-1973), novelist
• Graham Greene, (1904-1991), author

H

• Thomas Hardy, (1840-1928), novelist and poet
• Eliza Haywood, (1793-1756), novelist, playwright and poet
• William Hazlitt, (1778-1830), essayist and literary critic
• Robert Herrick, (1591-1674), poet
• James Herriot, (pen name of James Alfred Wight),(1916-1995), writer
• Jack Higgins, (pen name of Harry Patterson) (1929 - Present)
• Barry Hines, (born 1939), novelist
• Gerard Manley Hopkins, (1844-1889), poet
• Nick Hornby, (born 1957), novelist
• A. E. Housman, (1859-1936), poet and scholar
• Laurence Housman, (1865-1959), playwright
• Hartley Howard, (1908-1979), (pen name of Leopold Horace Ognall), crime novelist
• Ted Hughes, 1930-1998), Poet Laureate
• Leigh Hunt, (1784-1859), poet
• Aldous Huxley, (1884-1963), writer
• Thomas Henry Huxley, (1825-1895), scientific essayist, coiner of the term agnosticism
• Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, (1899-1980), Artist, director

I

• David Icke, (born 1952), conspiracy theorist
• William Ralph Inge, (1860-1954), clergyman, writer and mysticist
• Christopher Isherwood, (1904-1986), novelist

J

• Richard Jefferies, (1848-1887), nature writer and essayist
• Jerome K. Jerome, (1859-1927), humorist and playwright
• Samuel Johnson, (1709-1784), poet
• Ben Jonson, (1573-1637), poet and dramatist
• John Josselyn, (dates unknown; seventeenth century), author of books about New England

K

• John Keats, (1795-1821), poet
• Lena Kennedy, (1914-1986), novelist
• Charles Kingsley, (1819-1875), novelist
• Rudyard Kipling, (1865-1936), author
• Hanif Kureishi, (born 1954), novelist and playwright
• Thomas Kyd, (1558-1595), playwright - The Spanish Tragedy

L

• Charles Lamb, (1775-1834), essayist
• Philip Larkin, (1922-1985), poet
• Hugh Laurie, (born 1959), actor, comedian and novelist
• D. H. Lawrence, (1885-1930), poet
• Edward Lear, (1812-1888), artist, humorist and poet
• John Lennon, (1940-1980), author of In His Own Write & A Spaniard In The Works
• Archibald Low, (1888-1956), science writer

M

• Lord Macaulay, (1800-1859), essayist, historian and poet
• Colin MacInnes, (1914-1976), novelist
• Thomas Malory, (c. 1430-c. 1471), author of Le Morte d'Arthur
• Andrew Mango, (born 1926), author
• Christopher Marlowe, (1564-1593), playwright
• Eric Maschwitz, (1901-1969), writer, lyricist and entertainer
• John Masefield, (1878-1967), Poet Laureate and novelist
• William Somerset Maugham, (1874-1965), writer
• Ian McEwan, (born 1948), novelist
• Andy McNab, (born 1959), novelist and ex-soldier
• A. A. Milne, (1882-1956), author and poet
• John Milton, (1608-1674), poet
• Nancy Mitford, (1904-1973), novelist
• Alan Moore, (born 1953), comic book/graphic novel writer
• Thomas More, (1478-1535), author and scholar
• William Morris, (1834-1896), author, artist and poet
• Margaret Murphy, (born ?), crime novelist

N

• Beverley Nichols, (1898-1983), author
• Kim Richard Nossal, (born ?), professor and author

O

• Joe Orton, (1933-1967), dramatist
• George Orwell, (pen name of Eric Blair), (1903-1950), journalist and novelist
• John Osborne, (1929-1994), dramatist, wrote Look Back in Anger
• Wilfred Owen, (1893-1918), war poet

P

• Walter Pater, (1839-1894), essayist and novelist
• Hesketh Pearson, (1887-1964), biographer
• Samuel Pepys, (1633-1703), diarist
• Harold Pinter, (born 1930), playwright and Nobel prize winner
• Alexander Pope, (1688-1744), poet
• Beatrix Potter, (1866-1943), author and illustrator
• Terry Pratchett, (born 1948), fantasy author
• Nancy Price, (1880-1970), dramatist, novelist, poet and diarist
• J. B. Priestley, (1894-1984), dramatist and novelist
• Philip Pullman, (born 1946), author
• C. B. Purdom, (1883-1965), drama critic, author, biographer

Q

• Arthur Quiller-Couch a.k.a. Q, (1863-1944), novelist and literary critic

R

• Ann Radcliffe, (1764-1823), writer (gothic novel)
• Arthur Ransome, (1884-1967), author and journalist
• Rony Robinson, (born 1940), author
• Christina Rossetti, (1830-1894), poet
• J. K. Rowling, (born 1965), author of the Harry Potter books
• John Ruskin, (1819-1900), essayist, poet and art critic

S

• Vita Sackville-West, (1892-1962), poet and novelist
• Saki (pen name of Hector Hugh Munro), (1870-1916), short story writer and satirist
• Siegfried Sassoon, (1886-1967), poet and novelist
• Dorothy L. Sayers, (1893-1957), mystery author, scholar, translator and religious writer
• George Bazeley Scurfield, (1920-1991), poet, novelist, author, and politician
• William Shakespeare, (c. 1564-1616), poet and playwright
• Mary Shelley, (1797-1851), author
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, (1792-1822), poet
• Philip Sidney, (1554-1586), poet and soldier
• Joe Simpson, (born 1960), mountaineer and author of many books including Touching the Void
• John Skelton, (c.1460-1529), poet
• Edmund Spenser, (c. 1552-1599), poet, wrote The Faerie Queene
• Nevil Shute, (1899-1960), aeronautical engineer and author
• Stevie Smith, (1902-1971), poet and novelist
• Dodie Smith, (1896-1990), novelist and playwright
• Robert Southey, (1774-1843), Poet Laureate
• Stephen Spender, (1909-1995), poet
• Algernon Swinburne, (1837-1909), poet

T

• Alfred, Lord Tennyson, (1809-1892), Poet Laureate
• William Makepeace Thackeray, (1811-1863), novelist
• Francis Thompson, (1859-1907), poet
• H. E. Todd, (died 1988), children's writer
• Kay Thorpe, romantic novelist (debut 1968, The Last of the Mallorys)
• J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), author of The Lord of the Rings
• Doreen Tovey (1918-2008), cat writer
• Anthony Trollope, (1815-1882), novelist
• Robert Trevelyan; four historical novels; a pseudonym of author Robert Forrest-Webb

W

• Hugh Walpole, (1884-1941), novelist
• Evelyn Waugh, (1903-1966), novelist
• John Webster, (died 1630), poet
• H. G. Wells, (1866-1946), novelist and social critic
• Charles Williams, (1886-1945), novelist and scholar
• Gilbert White, (1720-1795), naturalist
• P. G. Wodehouse, (1881-1975), humorous author, playwright and lyricist
• Mary Wollstonecraft, (1759-1797), pioneer feminist known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
• Virginia Woolf, (1882-1941), author and feminist
• William Wordsworth, (1770-1850), Romantic poet
• John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, (1647–1680), satirical poet
• Derrick Wright, (1928- ), military history author

Y

• Charlotte Mary Yonge,(1823-1901), novelist

See also

• List of English novelists
• English novel
• English literature