In the 21st century, it is so easy to get drowned with newly published books every month. But, in this article, we are going to read about the 15 most successful and talented writers of the 21st century, who have been influenced by the best, and who are influencing the young writers of the contemporary time.
15 Most Successful and Talented Writers of the 21st Century:
Margaret Atwood
Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood is not only a writer, she is also a teacher, inventory, literary critic, and environmental activist. Atwood writes fiction that includes historical, climate, dystopian, and speculative fiction. The themes that are followed in her works are gender, identity, myth and religion, power politics, climate change, and the power of language.
Books – The Handmaid’s Tale, Alias Grace, Cat’s Eye, Surfacing, The Testaments, Oryx and Crake, and more.
Stan Lee
American comic book writer, publisher, editor, and producer Stan Lee became popular through Timely Publications which later became Marvel Comics. He co-created some famous characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Wasp, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Widow, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil.
Stephen King
American horror, crime, supernatural, fantasy, and science fiction writer Stephen King is known as the ‘King of Horror’. King had used three pen names – Richard Bachman, under which she has published seven novels, John Swithen, and Beryl Evans. He has received several notable awards including Bram Stoker Awards.
Books – It, The Shining, Misery, The Outsider, Revival, Bag of Bones, Pet Sematary, Carrie, and more.
Dan Brown
American writer Dan Brown is popular for his unique way of writing his novel. They take place over 24 hours. The novels feature recurring themes of art, cryptography, and conspiracy theories. The genres that are followed by Brown are conspiracy, mystery, thriller, and adventure.
Books – Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Angels and Demons, Deception Point, Origin, and more.
Neil Gaiman
Gaiman is the author of comics, non-fiction, films, novels, and more. He writes genres such as comedy, dark fantasy, science fiction, horror, and fantasy. In his work, the readers can find adventure, magic, and acceptance.
Books – Coraline, American Gods, Stardust, Neverwhere, Norse Mythology, Eternals, and more.
J K Rowling
British writer and philanthropist Joanne Rowling is popular by her pen name J K Rowling. Her genres of writing are drama, fantasy, crime fiction, and young adult fiction. Since late 2019 Rowling has been criticized by feminists and the LGBT community as transphobic.
Books – Harry Potter Series
John Green
American author John Green is also a YouTube content creator and podcaster. He became popular because of his film adaptations of Fault in Our Stars. In 2014, he was included in the list of 100 most influential people in the world of Time magazine.
Books – The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, Turtles All the Way Down, and more.
Haruki Murakami
Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is well known for his writings that follow genres such as surrealism, magical realism, postmodernism, Bildungsroman, picaresque, and realism. He is considered as the black sheep in the Japanese literary world. The Guardian has much-admired Murakami as among the world’s greatest living novelists.
Books – Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood, 1Q84, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Men Without Women, Killing Commendatore, and more.
Toni Morrison
American novelist Toni Morrison was one of the best writers who followed American literature. Her central theme was the experience of Black Americans. She won several awards including Pulitzer and Nobel Prize. Morrison was highly influenced by James Baldwin, William Faulkner, Zora Hurston, Virginia Woolf, Henry Dumas, and Doris Lessing.
Books – Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Sula, Home, Jazz, and more.
Salman Rushdie
British American novelist Salman Rushdie is of Indian descent and he is popular for his work as it blends historical fiction with magical realism, and it mainly focuses on disruption, migration, and connections between Western and Eastern civilizations, and most of his works are set on the Indian subcontinent.
Books – The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children, Shame, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Golden House, and more.
Maya Angelou
American civil rights activist, poet, and memoirist Maya Angelou are best known for her series of autobiographies which concentrates on her life, her childhood, and her experiences as an adult. She became a writer after several jobs such as a fry cook, sex worker, Porgy and Bess cast member, nightclub performer, and more.
Books – And Still I Rise, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, On the Pulse of Morning, and more.
Noam Chomsky
American philosopher, cognitive scientist, linguist, social critic, and political activist, Noam Chomsky is often regarded as the father of modern linguistics. His theory of universal grammar says that each of us is born with an innate comprehension of how language works. He is popular for sustaining and initiating a cognitive revolution.
Books – The Precipice, Syntactic, On Palestine, Who Rules the World, Manufacturing Consent, and more.
Ray Bradbury
American author Ray Bradbury worked in several genres such as realistic fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery. He was awarded notable prizes including the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to The New York Times, Ray Bradbury is the most responsible writer to bring modern sci-fi into the literary mainstream.
Books – Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and more.
Paulo Coelho
Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho is most renowned because of his popular work The Alchemist. Coelho has published 28 more books ever since. Coelho is highly inspired by the Sufi tradition and we can see that in some of his works.
Books – The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, The Zahir, and more.
Harold Pinter
British playwright, actor, theater director, screenwriter, and Nobel Prize Winner, Harold Pinter was one of the most influential modern dramatists whose career lasted over 50 years. Pinter’s work has been characterized as a ‘comedy of menace’.
Plays – Betrayal, The Homecoming, The Birthday Party, and more.
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