Famous Authors Who Died In September | Writers Who Left Us In September

September saw the loss of many a great writer, and we’re looking at their life and legacy today. Here is the list of famous authors who died in September.

J R R Tolkien (2^nd September 1973)

Perhaps the creator of the epic fantasy genre, Tolkien is the writer of the classic series Lord of the Rings. He has also written ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Silmarillion’, ‘Unfinished Tales’ and more. Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy literature or high fantasy, imbuing his tales with invented languages, novel settings and poems. He was a prolific man of letters as well as an academian, who also wrote poetry.

David Foster Wallace (12^th September 2008)

American novelist Wallace wrote severable notable books in his lifetime. These include as ‘Infinite Jest’ which featured in Times list of 10 best English books from 1923 to 2005. In addition, his posthumous work ‘The Pale King’ was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2012. He also wrote several essays and short stories. His essay ‘Shipping Out’ was adapted in an episode of The Simpsons. Several other movie and book adaptations of his books exist.

Walter Scott (21^st September 1832)

Scott is the Scottish novelist of many famous books including Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley etc as well as narrative poems like The Lady of the Lake and Marmion. Scott wrote novels with complex themes and multiple layers, most of which students study as classics today. However similar themes and motifs underlie his works, such as a historical way of thinking, unchanging humanity and same series of stages in all societies.

Pablo Neruda (23^rd September 1973)

Pablo Neruda is the Chilean poet who is also the recipient of a Nobel Prize in Literature. His works, including his ‘20 Love Poems and A Desperate Song’. In addition, he is also the awardee of the International Peace Prize for his work as a senator. He also wrote collections of surrealist poems like ‘Residence on Earth’ as well as ‘The Attempt of the Infinite Man’. His novelistic career includes his work ‘The Inhabitant and His Hope’.

Sigmund Freud (23^rd September, 1939)

One may argue that Freud was a psychoanalyst but his works on psychology have left a lasting impact on literature as well. In fact, literary theory includes a very important and large chunk of theory dedicated to his thought and philosophy. A lot of works, especially stream of consciousness works are looked at from his psychoanalytic perspective. In addition, his works, such as ‘Interpretation of Dreams’, ‘The Ego and the Id’ and ‘On Aphasia’ are read by students of literature.

Dr Seuss (24^th September 1991)

Dr Seuss was the memorable creator of children’s books. His works were full of innocence, imagination and loving kindness, which cemented his place in the world of literature. It’s doubtful that any of us grew up without reading his stories such as ‘The Cat in The Hat’, ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas!’, ‘If I Ran The Zoo’ and more. He also politicized children’s books, adding a novel dimension to them. His books sold over 600 million copies and had over 20 translated versions by the time of his death.

Herman Melville (28^th September 1891)

The prolific author of the classic ‘Moby Dick’ left the world on 28^th September of 1891. He was a poet of the American Renaissance, and wrote a multitude of short stories, poems, novels and more apart from his magnum opus. With works such as ‘Typee’, ‘Billy Bug’, ‘Sailor’ and more to his name, he sure is a wonderful man of letters. He wrote in genres such as gothic romanticism, travel fiction, captivity narrative, nautical fiction, allegory and more.

Also Read: Authors Born In The Month Of September | Writers Birthdays In September