# data[].attributes.body
Percival Everett, in full Percival Leonard Everett II, (born December 22, 1956, Fort Gordon (now Fort Eisenhower), Georgia, U.S.) is an American writer whose works reflect a wide range of subjects and styles and often deal head-on with philosophy and preconceptions concerning race. He has authored more than 30 books of fiction and poetry, including the novels I Am Not Sidney Poitier (2009), Telephone (2020), and James (2024), a retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

"Percival Everett." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 5 May. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Percival-Everett/641561. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

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Daniel James Brown grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Washington.

He taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford before becoming a technical writer and editor. He now writes narrative nonfiction books full time. His primary interest as a writer is in bringing compelling historical events to life as vividly and accurately as he can.

He lives in the country outside of Seattle, Washington with his wife, a dog named Quincy, and some honeybees. When he is not writing, he is likely to be birding, gardening, fly fishing, reading American history, or chasing bears away from the beehives.

"Daniel James Brown." Daniel James Brown, www.danieljamesbrown.com/about/.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Kate Chopin, née Katherine O’Flaherty, (born February 8, 1850, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.—died August 22, 1904, St. Louis, Missouri) was an American novelist and short-story writer known as an interpreter of New Orleans culture. There was a revival of interest in Chopin in the late 20th century because her concerns about the freedom of women foreshadowed later feminist literary themes.

"Kate Chopin." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 7 Jan. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Kate-Chopin/82339. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Toni Morrison, original name Chloe Ardelia Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.—died August 5, 2019, Bronx, New York) was an American writer noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience) within the Black community and for her poetic, luminous prose. Considered one of the greatest contemporary American novelists, she received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, becoming the first Black female writer in history to be honored with the prize.

"Toni Morrison." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Toni-Morrison/53829. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Henrik Ibsen, in full Henrik Johan Ibsen, (born March 20, 1828, Skien, Norway—died May 23, 1906, Kristiania [formerly Christiania; now Oslo]) was a major Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century who introduced to the European stage a new order of moral analysis that was placed against a severely realistic middle-class background and developed with economy of action, penetrating dialogue, and rigorous thought.

"Henrik Ibsen." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Henrik-Ibsen/41947. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Kimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play, Lost Girl, is published by Samuel French and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include John Proctor is the Villain, Gondal, Teen Girl FANtasies, and The Sky Game, which have been commissioned, produced, and developed by Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Farm Theatre, We the Women Collective, Peppercorn Theatre, Less Than Rent Theatre, Front Porch Arts Collective, Cohen New Works Festival, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf, Santa Fe's celebrated immersive arts company. Kimberly was a founding member of the New York women’s writing group, The Beehive Collective, and the founder of a creative arts program for preteen girls in Austin. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin.

"Kimberly Belflower." Emory College of Arts and Sciences, theater.emory.edu/
people/bios/belflower-kimberly.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Arthur Miller, in full Arthur Asher Miller, (born October 17, 1915, New York, New York, U.S.—died February 10, 2005, Roxbury, Connecticut) was an American playwright, who combined social awareness with a searching concern for his characters’ inner lives. He is best known for Death of a Salesman (1949).

"Arthur Miller." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Arthur-Miller/52708. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Philippe Claudel is the author of many novels, including Brodeck, which won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in 2007 and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2010. His novel By a Slow River has been translated into thirty-two languages and was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 2003 and the Elle Readers’ Literary Prize in 2004. Claudel also wrote and directed the 2008 film I’ve Loved You So Long, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, which won a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.

"Philippe Claudel." Penguin Random House, www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/
58914/philippe-claudel/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Alice Walker, in full Alice Malsenior Walker, (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.) is an American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on women.

"Alice Walker." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Alice-Walker/2503. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Emily St. John Mandel is the author of six novels, most recently Sea of Tranquility, which has been translated into 25 languages and was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favourite books of 2022. Her previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which was also on Obama’s list, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has been translated into 26 languages; and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award among other honours, has been translated into 36 languages, and aired as a limited series on HBO Max.

"Emily St. John Mandel." Emily St. John Mandel, www.emilymandel.com/. Accessed 1
Oct. 2025.

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Witi Ihimaera, in full Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler, (born February 7, 1944, Waituhi, near Gisborne, New Zealand) is a Māori author whose novels and short stories explore the clash between Māori and Pākehā (white, European-derived) cultural values in his native New Zealand.

"Witi Ihimaera." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Nov. 2023. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Witi-Ihimaera/464. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Cormac McCarthy, byname of Charles Joseph McCarthy, Jr., (born July 20, 1933, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.—died June 13, 2023, Santa Fe, New Mexico) was an American writer in the Southern gothic tradition whose novels, about wayward characters in the rural American South and Southwest, are noted for their dark violence, dense prose, and stylistic complexity. McCarthy achieved public fame late in his career with the publication of The Border Trilogy (1992–98), in which he rewrote and challenged myths of the American West. With his gift for metaphor and his unerring ear for local dialect, he was often compared to classic authors of the American canon, such as William Faulkner and Herman Melville.

"Cormac McCarthy." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 5 Dec. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Cormac-McCarthy/104557. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Tom Stoppard, original name Tomas Straussler, in full Sir Tom Stoppard, (born July 3, 1937, Zlín, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter whose work is marked by verbal brilliance, ingenious action, and structural dexterity.

"Tom Stoppard." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Tom-Stoppard/69825. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Federico García Lorca, (born June 5, 1898, Fuente Vaqueros, Granada province, Spain—died August 18 or 19, 1936, between Víznar and Alfacar, Granada province) was a Spanish poet and playwright who, in a career that spanned just 19 years, resurrected and revitalized the most basic strains of Spanish poetry and theatre. He is known primarily for his Andalusian works, including the poetry collections Romancero gitano (1928; Gypsy Ballads) and Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (1935; “Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías,” Eng. trans. Lament for a Bullfighter), and the tragedies Bodas de sangre (1933; Blood Wedding), Yerma (1934; Eng. trans. Yerma), and La casa de Bernarda Alba (1936; The House of Bernarda Alba). In the early 1930s, Lorca helped inaugurate a second Golden Age of the Spanish theatre. He was executed by a Nationalist firing squad in the first months of the Spanish Civil War.

"Federico García Lorca." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Federico-Garc%C3%ADa-Lorca/36044. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Sylvia Plath, pseudonym Victoria Lucas, (born October 27, 1932, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died February 11, 1963, London, England) was an American poet and novelist whose best-known works, such as the poems “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” and the novel The Bell Jar, starkly express a sense of alienation and self-destruction closely tied to her personal experiences and, by extension, the situation of women in mid-20th-century America. The searing use of language and shocking honesty in her works helped make her a major figure in both the confessional poetry movement and the literature of the women’s movement beginning in the 1960s. Plath continues to be an influence on many 21st-century writers.

"Sylvia Plath." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Sylvia-Plath/60354. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Patrick Süskind was born in Ambach, near Munich, in 1949. He studied medieval and modern history at the University of Munich. His first play, The Double Bass, was written in 1980 and became an international success. It was performed in Germany, in Switzerland, at the Edinburgh Festival, in London, and at the New Theatre in Brooklyn. His first novel, Perfume became an internationally acclaimed bestseller. He is also the author of The Pigeon and Mr. Summer’s Story, and a coauthor of the enormously successful German television series Kir Royal. Mr. Süskind lives and writes in Munich.

"Patrick Suskind." Penguin Random House, www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/
30298/patrick-suskind/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Patrick Süskind was born in Ambach, near Munich, in 1949. He studied medieval and modern history at the University of Munich. His first play, The Double Bass, was written in 1980 and became an international…

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Friedrich Dürrenmatt, (born Jan. 5, 1921, Konolfingen, near Bern, Switz.—died Dec. 14, 1990, Neuchâtel) was a Swiss playwright, novelist, and essayist whose satiric, almost farcical tragicomic plays were central to the post-World War II revival of German theatre.

"Friedrich Dürrenmatt." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Friedrich-D%C3%BCrrenmatt/31589. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Charles Perrault, (born January 12, 1628, Paris, France—died May 15/16, 1703, Paris) was a French poet, prose writer, and storyteller, a leading member of the Académie Française, who played a prominent part in a literary controversy known as the quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns. He is best remembered for his collection of fairy stories for children, Contes de ma mère l’oye (1697; Tales of Mother Goose).

"Charles Perrault." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Charles-Perrault/59315. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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William Wordsworth, (born April 7, 1770, Cockermouth, Cumberland, England—died April 23, 1850, Rydal Mount, Westmorland) was an English poet whose Lyrical Ballads (1798), written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the English Romantic movement. The principles he outlines in the preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads (1800) were revolutionary. By seeking to compose poetry that reflects “incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men,” Wordsworth (with Coleridge) essentially changed English-language literature.

"William Wordsworth." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 Sep. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/William-Wordsworth/77470. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Jonathan Swift, pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff, (born November 30, 1667, Dublin, Ireland—died October 19, 1745, Dublin) was an Anglo-Irish author, who was the foremost prose satirist in the English language. Besides the celebrated novel Gulliver’s Travels (1726), he wrote such shorter works as A Tale of a Tub (1704) and “A Modest Proposal” (1729).

"Jonathan Swift." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Jonathan-Swift/70648. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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John Donne, (born sometime between Jan. 24 and June 19, 1572, London, Eng.—died March 31, 1631, London) was a leading English poet of the Metaphysical school and dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London (1621–31). Donne is often considered the greatest love poet in the English language. He is also noted for his religious verse and treatises and for his sermons, which rank among the best of the 17th century.

"John Donne." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Feb. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/John-Donne/30933. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Robert Browning, (born May 7, 1812, London—died Dec. 12, 1889, Venice) was a major English poet of the Victorian age, noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture. His most noted work was The Ring and the Book (1868–69), the story of a Roman murder trial in 12 books.

"Robert Browning." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Feb. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Robert-Browning/16724. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Mary Oliver, (born September 10, 1935, Maple Heights, Ohio, U.S.—died January 17, 2019, Hobe Sound, Florida) was an American poet whose work reflects a deep communion with the natural world as well as a belief that poetry “mustn’t be fancy.” Oliver, who had a devoted following, was known for her use of plain language and accessible imagery. In 1984 she won a Pulitzer Prize for the collection American Primitive (1983).

"Mary Oliver." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Mary-Oliver/98536. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Rachel Field

1894—1942

Novelist, poet, and children’s author Rachel Field was born in New York and attended Radcliffe College. Field’s novels for adults include Time Out of Mind (1935) and All This and Heaven Too (1938), which was turned into a movie starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer. She is the author of Fear Is the Thorn (1936) as well as several poetry collections for children, including Taxis and Toadstools (1926), An Alphabet for Boys and Girls (1926), and A Circus Garland: Poems (1930).

Rachel Field. (n.d.). Poetry Foundation. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-field

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Elizabeth Bishop, (born February 8, 1911, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.—died October 6, 1979, Boston, Massachusetts) was an American poet known for her polished, witty, descriptive verse. Her short stories and her poetry first were published in The New Yorker and other magazines. Since her death in 1979, her reputation has grown as one of the most important American poets of the 20th century.

"Elizabeth Bishop." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Jan. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Elizabeth-Bishop/15410. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Geoffrey Chaucer, (born c. 1342/43, London?, England—died October 25, 1400, London) was the outstanding English poet before William Shakespeare and “the first finder of our language.” His masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in the English language. Chaucer also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as a courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and aided by three successive kings—Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. But it is his avocation—the writing of poetry—for which he is remembered.

"Geoffrey Chaucer." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Geoffrey-Chaucer/108409. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Cecil B. DeMille, in full Cecil Blount DeMille, (born August 12, 1881, Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S.—died January 21, 1959, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) was an American motion-picture producer-director whose use of spectacle attracted vast audiences and made him a dominant figure in Hollywood for almost five decades.

"Cecil B. DeMille." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 6 Aug. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Cecil-B-DeMille/29890. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Roald Dahl, (born September 13, 1916, Llandaff, Wales—died November 23, 1990, Oxford, England) was a British writer who was a popular author of ingenious and irreverent children’s books. His best-known works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988), both of which were adapted into popular films.

"Roald Dahl." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 17 Jun. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Roald-Dahl/28532. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Dylan Thomas, in full Dylan Marlais Thomas, (born October 27, 1914, Swansea, Glamorgan [now in Swansea], Wales—died November 9, 1953, New York, New York, U.S.) was a Welsh poet and prose writer whose work is known for its comic exuberance, rhapsodic lilt, and pathos. His personal life, punctuated by reckless bouts of drinking, was notorious.

"Dylan Thomas." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Dylan-Thomas/72164. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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James Hurst (1922-2013) grew up in North Carolina on a coastal farm, the present site of US Marine Corps. Camp LeJeune.

After attending North Carolina State College and serving in the United States Army during World War II, he studied singing and acting at the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York. Hoping for a career in opera, he went to Italy for additional study. After three years he abandoned his musical ambitions. Upon return to the States in 1951, he began a 34-year career in the international department of a large New York City Bank.

During his early years at the bank, he wrote a play and short stories, some of which were published in small literary magazines. "The Scarlet Ibis" first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in the July, 1960 issue and won the "Atlantic First" award that year. Quickly recognized by literary critics, the story appears in collections and virtually every high-school literature textbook published in the United States. When asked about the meaning of the story, Hurst answered: "I hesitate to respond, since authors seldom understand what they write. That is why we have critics. I venture to say, however, that it comments on the tenacity and the splendor of the human spirit."

James Hurst. (n.d.). GoodReads. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/59410.James_Hurst

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William Faulkner, in full William Cuthbert Faulkner, original surname Falkner, (born September 25, 1897, New Albany, Mississippi, U.S.—died July 6, 1962, Byhalia, Mississippi) was an American novelist and short-story writer who was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature... By the time of his death Faulkner had clearly emerged not just as the major American novelist of his generation but as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, unmatched for his extraordinary structural and stylistic resourcefulness, for the range and depth of his characterization and social notation, and for his persistence and success in exploring fundamental human issues in intensely localized terms.

"William Faulkner." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 20 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/William-Faulkner/33829. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Ernest Hemingway, in full Ernest Miller Hemingway, (born July 21, 1899, Cicero [now in Oak Park], Illinois, U.S.—died July 2, 1961, Ketchum, Idaho) was an American novelist and short-story writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He was noted both for the intense masculinity of his writing and for his adventurous and widely publicized life. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a powerful influence on American and British fiction in the 20th century.

"Ernest Hemingway." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Ernest-Hemingway/39962. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Saki by E.O. Hoppé - LIFE images, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44422416

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Saki, pseudonym of H(ector) H(ugh) Munro, (born Dec. 18, 1870, Akyab, Burma [now Myanmar]—died Nov. 14, 1916, near Beaumont-Hamel, France) was a Scottish writer and journalist whose stories depict the Edwardian social scene with a flippant wit and power of fantastic invention used both to satirize social pretension, unkindness, and stupidity and to create an atmosphere of horror.

"Saki." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Saki/54294. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Ray Bradbury, in full Ray Douglas Bradbury, (born August 22, 1920, Waukegan, Illinois, U.S.—died June 5, 2012, Los Angeles, California) was an American author best known for his highly imaginative short stories and novels that blend a poetic style, nostalgia for childhood, social criticism, and an awareness of the hazards of runaway technology.

"Ray Bradbury." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Ray-Bradbury/16104. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Joy McCullough is an author and playwright in the Pacific Northwest. Her books range from picture books through young adult novels and have won the Washington State and Pacific Northwest book awards, as well as honors including the National Book Award longlist, finalist for the ALA Morris Award, Publishers Weekly Flying Start, Junior Library Guild selections, Indie Next selections, finalists for the Washington State Book Award, and a New York Times bestseller.

As a playwright, her work has been produced across the United States, most often in her home city of Seattle, where she is currently Resident Playwright at Seattle Public Theater. She studied theater at Northwestern University, met her husband while teaching theater in Guatemala, and is a mom to two incredible teenagers. When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading, sewing, gardening, crocheting, or snuggling with a dog.

"Joy McCullough." Joy McCullough: Author and Playwright, joymccullough.com/
about/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.

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Margaret Atwood, in full Margaret Eleanor Atwood, (born November 18, 1939, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian writer best known for her prose fiction and for her feminist perspective. Among Atwood’s many acclaimed works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, her most celebrated is the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1985).

"Margaret Atwood." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Margaret-Atwood/11189. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Billy Collins, in full William James Collins, (born March 22, 1941, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American poet whose uncommonly accessible verse—characterized by plain language, gentle humour, and an alert appreciation for the mundane—made him one of the most popular poets in the United States.

"Billy Collins." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Billy-Collins/403888. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Truman Capote, original name Truman Streckfus Persons, (born September 30, 1924, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.—died August 25, 1984, Los Angeles, California) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright whose early writing extended the Southern Gothic tradition, though he later developed a more journalistic approach in the novel In Cold Blood (1965; film 1967). That book, together with Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958; film 1961), remains his best-known work.

"Truman Capote." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Truman-Capote/20165. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Malcolm Gladwell, (born September 3, 1963, London, England) is a Canadian journalist and writer best known for his unique perspective on popular culture. He adeptly treads the boundary between popularizer and intellectual.

"Malcolm Gladwell." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 7 Oct. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Malcolm-Gladwell/477252. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. He lives in California.

Andy Weir. (n.d.). Andy Weir. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from
https://andyweirauthor.com/#about

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Ernest Cline is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter, father, and full-time geek. He is the author of the novels Ready Player One and Armada and co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. His books have been published in over fifty countries and have spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family, a time-traveling DeLorean, and a large collection of classic video games.

Ernest Cline. (n.d.). Penguin Random House. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/130867/ernest-cline/

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William Shakespeare, Shakespeare also spelled Shakspere, byname Bard of Avon or Swan of Avon,  (baptized April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England—died April 23, 1616, Stratford-upon-Avon) was a poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English national poet. He is considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time.

"William Shakespeare." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/William-Shakespeare/109536. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Homer (8th or 9th century BCE) was the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although these two great epic poems of ancient Greece and Classical antiquity have always been attributed to the shadowy figure of Homer, little is known of him beyond the fact that his was the name attached in antiquity by the Greeks themselves to the poems. That there was an epic poet called Homer and that he played the primary part in shaping the Iliad and the Odyssey—so much may be said to be probable. If this assumption is accepted, then Homer must assuredly be one of the greatest of the world’s literary artists.

"Homer." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 12 Feb. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Homer/106285. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. As the Library of Congress’ fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, he advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. American Born Chinese, his first graphic novel from First Second Books, was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. In 2023, it was made into a television series for Disney+. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the L.A. Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. Dragon Hoops, his non-fiction graphic novel about a high school basketball team, was a Printz Honor winner, Eisner Award winner, and Harvey Award winner. His other works include Secret Coders (with Mike Holmes), Superman from DC Comics (with various artists), and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Dark Horse Comics (with Gurihiru). In 2016, he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

Gene Luen Yang: Author, cartoonist, and teacher. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1,
2025, from https://geneluenyang.com/about/

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Marjane Satrapi, (born 1969, Rasht, Iran) is an Iranian artist, director, and writer whose graphic novels explore the gaps and junctures between Iran and the West. She created the Persepolis series, a string of graphic novels that recounts her experiences growing up in Iran and Europe. She adapted the book published in English as Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood into a film that was nominated for an Academy Award. She lives in Paris.

"Marjane Satrapi." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 May. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Marjane-Satrapi/475707. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Art Spiegelman, (born February 15, 1948, Stockholm, Sweden) is an American author and illustrator whose Holocaust narratives Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History (1986) and Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (1991) helped to establish comic storytelling as a sophisticated adult literary medium.

"Art Spiegelman." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 May. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Art-Spiegelman/488087. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Rudy Francisco is one of the most recognizable names in Spoken Word Poetry.  He was born, raised and still resides in San Diego, California. At the age of 21, Rudy completed his B.A in Psychology and decided to continue his education by pursuing a M.A in Organizational Studies. As an artist, Rudy Francisco is an amalgamation of social critique, introspection, honesty and humor. He uses personal narratives to discuss the politics of race, class, gender and religion while simultaneously pinpointing and reinforcing the interconnected nature of human existence.

Bio. Rudy Francisco. (No date). Retrieved on 10/1/2025 from https://www.iamrudyfrancisco.com/bio

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Gwendolyn Brooks, in full Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks, (born June 7, 1917, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.—died December 3, 2000, Chicago, Illinois) was one of the most influential poets of the 20th century and the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize (1950). Her works deal with the everyday life of urban African Americans, combining Modernist techniques with Black idioms and phrasings. Her poetry collections include A Street in Bronzeville (1945), Annie Allen (1949), and The Bean Eaters (1960). In 1968 she was named the poet laureate of Illinois, a role she served until her death 32 years later. She was also the first Black woman to be appointed U.S. Library of Congress consultant in poetry.

"Gwendolyn Brooks." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 Jul. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Gwendolyn-Brooks/16643. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Amy Tan, in full Amy Ruth Tan, (born February 19, 1952, Oakland, California, U.S.) is an American author best known for her novels about Chinese American women and the immigrant experience.

"Amy Tan." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Amy-Tan/99916. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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Elie Wiesel, byname of Eliezer Wiesel, (born September 30, 1928, Sighet, Romania—died July 2, 2016, New York, New York, U.S.) was a Romanian-born Jewish writer, whose works provide a sober yet passionate testament of the destruction of European Jewry during World War II. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986.

"Elie Wiesel." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 15 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Elie-Wiesel/76939. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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J.R.R. Tolkien, in full John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, (born January 3, 1892, Bloemfontein, South Africa—died September 2, 1973, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England) was an English writer and scholar who achieved fame with his children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).

"J.R.R. Tolkien." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 Jul. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/JRR-Tolkien/72803. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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David Sedaris, in full David Raymond Sedaris, (born December 26, 1956, Johnson City, New York, U.S.) is an American humorist and essayist best known for his sardonic autobiographical stories and social commentary, which appeared on the radio and in numerous best-selling books.

"David Sedaris." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Apr. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/David-Sedaris/438493. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Suzanne Collins, (born August 10, 1962, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.) is an American author and screenwriter, best known for the immensely popular Hunger Games series of young adult novels.

"Suzanne Collins." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Suzanne-Collins/598831. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Stephen King, in full Stephen Edwin King, (born September 21, 1947, Portland, Maine, U.S.) is an American novelist and short-story writer whose books are credited with reviving the genre of horror fiction in the late 20th century.

"Stephen King." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 23 Sep. 2024. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Stephen-King/45506. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Flannery O’Connor, in full Mary Flannery O’Connor, (born March 25, 1925, Savannah, Georgia, U.S.—died August 3, 1964, Milledgeville, Georgia) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works, usually set in the rural American South and often treating of alienation, concern the relationship between the individual and God. In addition to her exceptional skill with the short-story form, O’Connor is regarded as a master of the Southern Gothic, a style of writing often characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastic incidents in fictional works set in the South.

"Flannery O'Connor." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 Mar. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Flannery-OConnor/56721. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Edgar Allan Poe, (born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died October 7, 1849, Baltimore, Maryland) was an American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor who is famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. His tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His “The Raven” (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in the national literature.

"Edgar Allan Poe." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 Jul. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Edgar-Allan-Poe/60519. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (born November 30, 1835, Florida, Missouri, U.S.—died April 21, 1910, Redding, Connecticut) was an American humorist, journalist, lecturer, and novelist who acquired international fame for his travel narratives, especially The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), and Life on the Mississippi (1883), and for his adventure stories of boyhood, especially The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). A gifted raconteur, distinctive humorist, and irascible moralist, he transcended the apparent limitations of his origins to become a popular public figure and one of America’s best and most beloved writers.

"Mark Twain." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 May. 2025. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Mark-Twain/73929. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.