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William Shakespeare

Birthdate: April 26, 1564

Birthplace: Stratford-upon-Avon, England

Died: April 23, 1616

English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He is also often called England's national poet. Many of his works have been translated into other languages and his plays continue to be produced till day. Popular during his lifetime, he acquired an iconic status after his death.

Works:  ‘Hamlet’, ‘King Lear’, ‘Othello’ and ‘Macbeth’,Sonnets

Charles Dickens

(The Greatest Novelist of the Victorian Era)

Birthdate: February 7, 1812

Birthplace: Landport, Hampshire, England

Died: June 9, 1870

Widely considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens was an English writer famous for creating world-renowned fictional characters. Regarded by critics and scholars as a literary genius, most of his short stories and novels are read around the world even today. His distinctive style of writing is referred to as Dickensian.

Works: Some of his popular novels are 'Oliver Twist', 'A Christmas Carol', and 'Hard Times', 'The Pickwick Papers'

Roald Dahl

(One of the World's Greatest Authors)

Birthdate: September 13, 1916

Birthplace: Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales

Died: November 23, 1990

British writer, Roald Dahl, is considered as one of the greatest children’s authors. He is one of the best-selling authors of all-time and had a career spanning decades. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, The Twits and Matilda are some of his classic works. He also wrote short stories and novels meant for adults.

Agatha Christie

(English Author Known for Her Detective Novels and Short Stories)

Birthdate: September 15, 1890

Birthplace: Torquay, Devon, England

Died: January 12, 1976

Even after four decades after her death, Agatha Christie remains an influential figure in the world of literature and entertainment as most of her books continue to serve as inspiration to films, TV series, and video games. With over two billion copies of her novels sold, she holds the Guinness World Records for best-selling fiction writer of all time.

Works: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd etc.

Jane Austen

Birthdate: December 16, 1775

Birthplace: Steventon, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

Died: July 18, 1817

Considered one of the greatest writers in English history, Jane Austen is best known for her six major novels - Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Her writing was set among the British landed gentry and dealt with ordinary people in everyday ordinary situation. The author achieved great fame after her death. 

Virginia Woolf

(One of the Most Important Modernist 20th-Century Authors)

Birthdate: January 25, 1882

Birthplace: Kensington, London, England

Died: March 28, 1941

Virginia Woolf was an English writer who pioneered a narrative mode called stream of consciousness to describe the thoughts and feelings of the narrator. Regarded as one of the most prominent modernist 20th-century writers, Woolf's works have gained much attention for inspiring feminism. Her life and work have inspired several films, novels, and plays.

Works;

• The Voyage Out (1915)
• Night and Day (1919)
• Jacob's Room (1922)
• Mrs Dalloway (1925)
• To the Lighthouse (1927)
• Orlando: A Biography

Mary Shelley

Birthdate: August 30, 1797

Birthplace: Somers Town, London, England

Died: February 1, 1851

An author who was admired for her exploration of the Gothic genre, Mary Shelley is best remembered for her novel Frankenstein. She also edited the works of her husband, Romantic poet P.B. Shelley. She lost her husband to a drowning accident and eventually passed away due to brain tumor.

Works: ‘Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus’

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Birthdate: May 22, 1859

Birthplace: Scotland

Died: July 7, 1930

Physician-turned-author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is remembered for creating the iconic character Sherlock Holmes. He wrote four novels and 56 short stories on Holmes’s detective adventures and also created the characters Professor Challenger and Brigadier Gerard. A sports lover, he had dabbled in cricket, football, and bodybuilding, too.

Works:

• A Study in Scarlet 
• The Sign of the Four 
• The Hound of the Baskervilles 
• The Valley of Fear 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Lord Byron

(One of the Greatest English Poets of the 19th Century and a Leading Figure of the Romantic Movement)

Birthdate: January 22, 1788

Birthplace: London, England

Died: April 19, 1824

Widely considered one of the greatest British poets of all time, Lord Byron remains influential as his works are widely read even today. He was also one of the most important personalities of the Romantic Movement. He is also known for his role in the Greek War of Independence, for which the Greeks consider him a national hero.

Works: his poems, “The Prisoner of Chillon” and “Darkness”, “She Walks in Beauty”, “Darkness”, “There Be None of Beauty’s Daughter”, “The Eve of Waterloo”, “When We Two Parted” and “And Thou Art Dead, As Young and Fair.”

Lewis Carroll

Birthdate: January 27, 1832

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

Died: January 14, 1898

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, is remembered for his iconic children’s fiction such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. He explored the genre of literary nonsense with his poems such as Jabberwocky. He was also a photographer, a mathematician, and an inventor.

Works: ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’ & Its Sequel ‘Through the Looking-Glass’)

T. S. Eliot

Birthdate: September 26, 1888

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Died: January 4, 1965

American-born British poet T. S. Eliot is best remembered for his poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, and Ash Wednesday, and his plays such as Murder in the Cathedral. He won the Nobel Prize for literature and became a prominent figure of Modernist poetry.  

Rudyard Kipling

(Journalist, Poet & Novelist)

Birthdate: December 30, 1865

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Mumbai, India

Died: January 18, 1936

English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling is best remembered for his fiction work The Jungle Book. He was born in India and many of his works are inspired by his life in the country. He was one of the most popular English writers in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Birthdate: 1340 AD

Birthplace: London, England

Died: October 25, 1400

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author and poet. He is best known for his collection of 24 stories titled The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer is widely regarded as the greatest British poet of the Middle Ages and is often referred to as the father of English poetry. He is also credited with helping legitimize the literary use of Middle English.

Charlotte Bronte

(Novelist)

Birthdate: April 21, 1816

Birthplace: Thornton, Yorkshire, England

Died: March 31, 1855

Charlotte Bronte, remembered for her iconic novel Jane Eyre, was one of the most significant literary figures of the 19th century. She was the eldest of the Bronte sisters who survived into adulthood. She and her sisters Emily and Anne wrote under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.