British Literature: 20th Century

Writer, born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK. MORE

Science-fiction writer and novelist, born in East Dereham, Norfolk, E England, UK. MORE

British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer noted for his stories of space exploration. His works include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). MORE

British writer. His best-known work, Brave New World (1932), paints a grim picture of a scientifically organized utopia. MORE

English novelist and writer on social and political problems; one of the first authors of science fiction; author of The War of the Worlds (1898) and The Time Machine (1895). MORE

Writer, born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. MORE

Born in South Africa, where his father was a bank manager, Tolkien came to England at the age of three. MORE

English novelist, essayist, and poet. He wrote numerous short stories featuring a Catholic priest, Father Brown, who solves crimes by drawing on his knowledge of human nature. MORE

Agatha Christie was one of the most celebrated writers of detective stories, many of which have been made into films, TV series, and plays. MORE

British writer known for her detective stories, usually featuring the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey. MORE

The English socialist and feminist Vera Brittain has an enduring reputation as the author of one of the most moving accounts of the individual experience of war in Testament of Youth (1933). MORE

British soldier, scholar, and translator. MORE

US poet born in England, noted for his lyrical technique. MORE

Poet, broadcaster, and writer on architecture, born in London, UK. MORE

Northern Irish poet and critic; poetry collections include The Haw Lantern (1987); Nobel prize for literature 1995. MORE

Poet, born in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. MORE

Irish-born British poet whose works, published in Blind Fireworks (1929) and other collections, treat social issues in a detached, often ironic manner. MORE

English poet, dramatist, songwriter, and performer. MORE

Welsh poet, born in Swansea. MORE

Novelist and poet, born in London, UK. MORE

English novelist and journalist. His works are characterized by their sharp black humour and depict the absurdity and excesses of modern society. MORE

Novelist, born near Hanley, Staffordshire, C England, UK. MORE

English novelist, critic, and composer. MORE

By the time of her early death Angela Carter had established herself as one of the most individual voices in British contemporary fiction. MORE

British writer and editor whose most important novels, The Good Soldier (1915) and the tetralogy Parade's End (1924-1928), examine the bonds of conjugal and adulterous relationships. MORE

English novelist, short-story writer, and critic. MORE

English novelist and dramatist. MORE

English novelist. His work is often principally concerned with the fundamental corruption and evil inherent in human nature. MORE

Poet and novelist, born in London, UK. MORE

British writer particularly known for his novels, such as The Power and the Glory (1940), which reflect his ardent Catholic beliefs. MORE

British writer whose fiction concerns the struggle for human fulfillment within a dehumanizing industrialized society. His novels include Sons and Lovers (1913), Women in Love (1920), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). He also wrote literary criticism and psychoanalytical works. MORE

Novelist, born in Poole, Dorset, S England, UK. MORE

Scottish author Born in Glasgow, he was educated at Glasgow University and served in the Royal Navy (1941-46). MORE

Novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, born in Paris, France. MORE

British novelist, born near London as Richard Patrick Russ. MORE

Pen-name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English writer. MORE

Novelist, born in London, UK. He studied at Oxford, worked in publishing and journalism before World War 2, and by 1936 had published four satirical novels, beginning with Afternoon Men (1931). MORE

British novelist and writer; her novels include Memento Mori (1959), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), The Takeover (1976), A Far Cry from Kensington (1988), Symposium (1990), and Reality and Dreams (1996). MORE

English novelist. His early satirical novels include Decline and Fall (1928), Vile Bodies (1930), A Handful of Dust (1934), and Scoop (1938). MORE

née Stephen English author. MORE

British writer known for his humorous novels and stories that feature the aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves. MORE

English author, actor, and composer; noted for comedies such as Blithe Spirit (1941) and Private Lives (1930). MORE

Playwright, novelist, and translator, born in London, UK. MORE

British dramatist. His plays include Look Back in Anger (1956), containing the prototype of the angry young man, Jimmy Porter, The Entertainer (1957), and Inadmissible Evidence (1964). MORE

Playwright, born in London, UK, of a Russian father and Hungarian mother. MORE

English dramatist. His plays, such as The Caretaker (1960), The Homecoming (1965), Landscape (1968), and Ashes to Ashes (1996), are noted for their equivocal and halting dialogue. MORE

British playwright, born in Czechoslovakia: his works include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1967), Travesties (1974), Hapgood (1988), and Invention of Love (1997). MORE