essayist n : a writer of literary works [syn: litterateur]

English

Noun

1. One who composes essays; a writer of short compositions.

   She was an essayist whose frequent contributions to the editorial pages of major newspapers had a loyal following.

Translations

• Spanish: ensayista m|f

This article is an abbreviated list of essayists - individuals notable for writing essays on various topics.

Note: An individual's country of birth is not always indicative of his or her nationality.

A

• Augurio Abeto, The Philippines
• Joseph Addison (1672-1719, England)
• Jean Améry (1912-1978, Austria)
• Kingsley Amis (1922–1995, United Kingdom)
• Martin Amis (born 1949, United Kingdom)
• Matthew Arnold (1822–1888, United Kingdom)
• Anastasia Ashman (born 1964, United States)
• Isaac Asimov (1920–1992, Russia)
• W. H. Auden (1907–1973, United Kingdom)

B

• Francis Bacon (1561–1626, England)
• James Baldwin (1924-1987, United States)
• John Perry Barlow (born 1947, United States)
• Julian Barnes (born 1946, United Kingdom)
• Jacques Barzun (born 1907, France)
• Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867, France)
• Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953, United Kingdom)
• Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986, Argentina)
• Alain de Botton (born 1969, Switzerland)
• William Brandon (1914–2002, United States)
• Alfred Brendel (born 1931, Czechoslovakia)
• Christopher Buckley (born 1952, United States)
• Anthony Burgess (1917–1993, United Kingdom)
• Richard de Bury (1287–1345, England)

C

• Italo Calvino (1923–1985, Italy)
• Albert Camus (1913–1960, Algeria)
• Rafael Cansinos Assens (1882–1964, Spain)
• John Carey (born 1934, United Kingdom)
• Otto Maria Carpeaux (1900–1978, Austria)
• G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936, United Kingdom)
• J. M. Coetzee (b. 1940, Australia)
• William Cobbett (1763–1835, Great Britain)
• Charles Caleb Colton (1780–1832, Great Britain)
• Cyril Connolly (1903–1974, United Kingdom)
• Emil Cioran (1911–1995) ll Romania)
• A. J. Cronin (1896-1981, Scotland)

D

• Mike Daisey (born 1973, United States)
• Joan Didion (born 1934, United States)
• Annie Dillard (born 1945, United States)
• John Dolan (writer) (born 1955, United States)
• Denis Donoghue (born 1920, Ireland)
• John Dryden (1631–1700, England)

E

• Klaus Ebner (born 1964, Austria)
• Umberto Eco (born 1932, Italy)
• T. S. Eliot (1888–1965, United States)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882, United States)
• Joseph Epstein (born 1937, United States)
• Filip Erceg (born 1979, Croatia)

F

• Anne Fadiman (born 1953), United States
• Frantz Fanon (1925-1961, Martinique)
• Richard Farmer (1735–1797, England)
• Benito Jerónimo Feijoo e Montenegro (1676-1764, Spain)
• E. M. Forster (1879-1970, England)
• Ian Frazier (born 1951, United States)
• Robert Fulghum (born 1937, United States)
• Joan Fuster (1922–1992, Catalan Countries)

G

• Harry Gamboa, Jr. (born 1951, United States)
• Karl-Markus Gauß (born 1954, Austria)
• Malcolm Gladwell (born 1963, United Kingdom)
• Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002, United States)
• Paul Graham (born 1964, Weymouth, England)

H

• Carla Harryman (born 1952, California)
• William Hazlitt (1778–1830, England)
• Fumi Hirano (born 1955, Japan)
• Christopher Hitchens (born 1949, United Kingdom)
• Hugh Hood (1928–2000, Canada)
• Leigh Hunt (1784–1859, England)

J

• Michael Johns (born 1964, United States)
• Samuel Johnson (1709–1784, England)
• Langston Hughes (1902–1967, United states)

K

• Frank Kermode (born 1919, United Kingdom)
• Chuck Klosterman (born 1972, United States)
• Miroslav Krleza (1893–1981, Croatia)

L

• Tomislav Ladan (born 1932, Serbia)
• Laila Lalami (born 1968, Morocco)
• Charles Lamb (1775–1834, England)
• Shankar Lamichhane, Nepal
• Corinne Lee (United States)
• C. S. Lewis (1898–1963, Ireland)
• Tim Lilburn (Canada)
• Xun Lu (1881-1936, China)

M

• Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), Belgium)
• Norman Mailer (1923–2007, United States)
• Jorge Majfud (born 1969, Uruguay)
• Nathan McCall (born 1955, United States)
• Mary McCarthy (1912–1989, United States)
• Tim McKay (born 1947, United States)
• H. L. Mencken (1880–1956, United States)
• Arthur Miller (1915–2005, United States)
• Pankaj Mishra (born 1969, India)
• Donald Grant Mitchell (1822–1908, United States)
• Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592, France)

N

• V. S. Naipaul (born 1932, Trinidad and Tobago)
• Ukichiro Nakaya (1900-1962, Japan)
• Virgil Nemoianu (born 1940, Romania)
• Celeste Newbrough (born 1939, United States)
• Kathleen Norris (poet) (born 1947, United States)

O

• Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938, United States)
• Guy d'Obonner (born 1956, Ireland)
• George Orwell (1903–1950, United Kingdom)

P

• Noel Perrin (1927–2004, United States}
• Sam Pickering (born 1941, United States)
• Mestrius Plutarch (46–127, Boeotia, Ancient Greece)
• Katherine Ann Porter (1890–1980, United States)
• Kevin Prufer (born 1969, United States)
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849, United States)

Q

• Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859, England)

R

• Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1985, United States)
• Richard Rodriguez (born 1944, United States)
• Bertrand Russell (1872–1970, United Kingdom)

S

• Edward Said (1935–2003, Palestine)
• John Ralston Saul (born 1947, Canada)
• Robert Schumann (1810–1856, Germany)
• David Sedaris (born 1956, United States)
• Rafael Calvo Serer (1916–1988, Spain)
• George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950, Ireland)
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822, England)
• Clay Shirky (born ???, United States)
• Andrew Slattery (born 1981, Australia)
• Jean Edward Smith (born 1932, United States)
• Walid Soliman (born 1975, Tunisia)
• Rebecca Solnit, United States
• Susan Sontag (1933–2004, United States)
• Lytton Strachey (1880–1932, United Kingdom)

T

• Vijay Tendulkar (b. 1928) India
• United States)
• Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russia
• Lionel Trilling (1905–1975, United States)
• George W. S. Trow (1943-2006, United States)

V

• Andrew Vachss (born 1942, United States)
• Gore Vidal (born 1925, United States)
• François de Voltaire (1697–1778, France)

W

• Richard Wagner (1813–1883, Germany)
• Rebecca West (1892–1983, United Kingdom)
• E. B. White (1899–1985, United States)
• Oscar Wilde (1852-1900), Ireland)
• Tom Wolfe (born 1931, United States)
• Virginia Woolf (1882–1941, United Kingdom)

Y

• Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987, France)

See also

• List of writers

advertising writer, annalist, art critic, author, authoress, belletrist, bibliographer, coauthor, collaborator, columnist, compiler, composer, copywriter, creative writer, critic, dance critic, descanter, diarist, discourser, disquisitor, drama critic, dramatist, encyclopedist, expositor, free lance, free-lance writer, ghost, ghostwriter, humorist, inditer, literary artist, literary craftsman, literary critic, literary man, litterateur, logographer, magazine writer, man of letters, monographer, monographist, music critic, newspaperman, novelettist, novelist, pamphleteer, penwoman, poet, prose writer, reviewer, scenario writer, scenarist, scribe, scriptwriter, short-story writer, storyteller, technical writer, tractation, word painter, wordsmith, writer