Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Joseph Heller (1923 – 1999) American novelist, who wrote satirical and black comedy. His most
famous work is ‘Catch 22’ (1961) – a satire on the futility of war.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927 – 2014) Colombian author. Wrote: One Hundred Years of
Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985).
Nobel Prize in Literature (1982).
Anne Frank (1929 – 1945) Dutch-Jewish diarist. Known for her diary ‘Anne Frank‘ Published
posthumously by her father – recalling her life hiding from Gestapo in occupied Holland.
Salman Rushdie (1947 – ) Anglo-Indian author. His works combine elements of magic realism,
satire and historical fiction – often based on Indian sub-continent. Notable works include
Midnight’s Children (1981), Shame (1983) and Satanic Verses (1988).
Stephen King (1947 – ) American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense,
science fiction, and fantasy. One of the best selling authors of modern times.
George R.R Martin (1948 – ) American author of epic fantasy series – A Song of Ice and Fire, –
his international best-selling series of fantasy, adapted for the screen as a Game of Thrones.
Douglas Adams (1952 – 2001) British writer of humorous and absure science fiction. Adams
wrote a best selling trilogy (of five books) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – which began
as a BBC play.
J.K.Rowling (1965 – ) British author of the Harry Potter Series – which has become the best
selling book series of all time. Her first book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
(1997). Rowling has also published adult fiction, such as The Casual Vacancy (2012) and The
Cuckoo’s Calling (2013)
Khaled Hosseini (1965 – ) Afghan born American writer. Notable works include: The Kite
Runner (2003) A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) And the Mountains Echoed (2013
• EARLY POETS •
Homer (c. 8th Century B.C. ) Considered the greatest of the ancient Greek poets. Homer was the
author of the two epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey.
Sappho ( c 570 BC) One of the first published female writers. Much of her poetry has been lost
but her immense reputation has remained. Plato referred to Sappho as one of the great ten poets.
Virgil (70 BC – 19 BC) Roman poet. Wrote three epics Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics,
and the Aeneid.
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, is one of
most influential European works of literature. Dante is also called the “Father of the Italian
language”.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400) Considered the Father of English Literature. Best known for
Canterbury Tales (1475).
John Milton (1608 – 1674) English poet. Best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667),
written in blank verse – telling the Biblical story of man’s fall. Also wrote Areopagitica (1644)
in defence of free speech.
William Blake (1757 –1827) English mystic and romantic poet, wrote Songs of Innocence and
Songs of Experience. Also hand-painted many of his works.
William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) English romantic poet from Lake District, many poems
related to natures, such as his Lyrical Ballads.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834) English romantic poet. Author of The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner and Kublai Khan.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) English romantic poet. Famous works include Queen Mab
and Prometheus Unbound
John Keats (1795 – 1821) English Romantic Poet, best known for his Odes, such as Ode to a
Nightingale, Endymion.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) American Transcendentalist poet and writer.
Alfred Tennyson (1809 – 1892) Popular Victorian poet, wrote Charge of the Light Brigade,
Ulysses, and In Memoriam A.H.H.
Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) American poet. Wrote Leaves of Grass, a ground breaking new
style of poetry.
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) American female poet. Led secluded lifestyle, and left legacy of
many short vivid poems, often on themes of death and immortality.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941) Indian poet. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature for his
work – Gitanjali.
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) – Influential American poet, one of most highly regarded of the
Twentieth Century. Most famous work ‘The Road Not Taken’ (1916)
Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014 ) – Modern American poet and writer.