1920s: People, Writers (L-M)

Franklin Pierce Adams (FPA)
(1881-1960)
U.S. columnist/critic
Famous social and arts columnist in New York City, for newspapers The World and Herald Tribune. Mentor to literati of the 1920s, most notably Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and George S. Kaufman, whom he joined regularly as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table group.

Djuna Barnes
(1892-1982)
U.S. writer and illustrator in France
Still little known outside of literary and lesbian circles, Barnes is considered by many experts to have been one of the finest writers at work in Paris in the 1920s. Before moving there from New York in 1919, she had produced poetry, newspaper stories, pieces for the little review, and a satirical volume, The Book of Repulsive Women. In Paris, she published the semi-autobiographical novel Ryder (1928) and the satirical and gossipy lesbian book Ladies Almanack (1928). Her greatest novel is considered to be the James Joyce-influenced Nightwood (1936).

Robert Benchley
(1889-1945)
U.S. writer/humorist
Wrote humor and criticism for Life, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker in the 1920s. Of All Things (1921) was one of many compilations of his short prose pieces about the frustrations of domestic life. Later became a film comic. He was the gentle member of the Algonquin Round Table, with a subtle urbane wit just as sharp as the more aggressive, acid-tongued styles of his peers.

Stephen Vincent Benet
(1898-1943)
U.S. poet/novelist
One of the most famous, popular and acclaimed poets in U.S. history. His specialty was the epic in praise of America. His book-length panoramic poem of the Civil War, John Brown's Body (1928) won the 1929 Pulitzer Prize. Authored many more works and garnered many other honors.

Arnold Bennett
(1867-1931)
English writer
Famous for realistic novels about the lives of common people. He also wrote plays and essays. Most of his famous work was done before the 1920s, but one of his most highly regarded novels was published in 1923, the bleak tale of poverty, Riceyman Steps.

Jorge Luis Borges
(1899-1986)
Argentine poet, writer
One of Latin America's greatest literary figures; his career began in the 1920s, as founder of several literary journals and as a lyrical poet. His work was collected in Fervor de Buenos Aires (1923), Luna de enfrente (1925), and Cuarderno San Martin (San Martin Notebook) (1929). His poetry and later short stories are admired for their abstract, metaphysical, and philosophical qualities.

Andre' Breton
(1896-1966)
French writer/poet/philosopher
He was a leader of the Dada and Surrealism movements in the arts. He cofounded the surrealist journal Literature. He wrote the first surrealism manifesto in 1924. His novel Nadja (1928) is his most acclaimed work.

Van Wyck Brooks
(1886-1963)
U.S. writer/critic/historian
An influential analyst of cultural trends, especially literary, of modern and past America. Authored many books, most notably the Pulitzer Prize winner for history, The Flowering of New England 1815-1865 (1936). His most famous work in the 1920s was The Ordeal of Mark Twain (1920). He was a harsh critic of newcomers James Joyce and T.S. Eliot.

Heywood Broun
(1888-1939)
U.S. journalist
Arts columnist, sports writer, and social crusader in the press, Broun was a conspicuous part of the New York literary scene in the 1920s. His liberal views were expressed most famously in his ongoing published defenses of alleged anarchists and murder suspects Sacco and Vanzetti. After wranglings with his publisher on various issues, he was fired from the New York World in 1928. Thereafter he was a syndicated columnist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table.

Karel Capek
(1890-1938)
Czech writer/playwright
Famous for his science fiction novels and plays, particularly R.U.R (1921), in which the word "robot" was first coined. Immortality was explored in his play The Makropoulos Affair (1922). In the novel Krakatit (1924) he prophesied the dangers of nuclear power. His later writings were more psychological and realistic.

Barbara Cartland
(1901-)
English writer
Her popular romance novels likely will never be proclaimed great literature, but the duration, productivity, and popularity of her career is impressive. Her output of more than 400 books may be a record. Her career began in 1923 with her first novel Jigsaw.

Willa Cather
(1873-1947)
U.S. writer
Regarded as one of America's finest novelists, she wrote many from 1913 to 1940--often depicting rural American life. In the 1920s, she wrote what some regard as her best work Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927). She won the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1921). Other works in the decade included A Lost Lady (1923) and The Professor's House (1925).

G.K. Chesterton
(1874-1936)
English writer
A prophetic and highly opinionated journalist, he opposed the Boer War and in 1922 wrote an article warning of the dangers of eugenics that was scoffed at until Hitler's "final solution." From 1911 to 1936, he wrote a series of "Father Brown" stories, about a cantankerous detective priest, that were extremely popular and enduring. Christianity was a major theme of his works, including The Everlasting Man in 1925. His poetry was also popular.

Agatha Christie
(1891-1976)
English writer
Synonymous with the mystery novel, she published her first whodunnit, The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. One of her most acclaimed books The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published in 1926. She wrote prolifically until her death.

Paul Claudel
(1876-1944)
French writer, diplomat
Prolific man of letters, prose, poetry, etc. Part of the 1920s Paris scene.

Irvin S. Cobb
(1876-1944)
U.S. writer
Journalist, humorist, and general observer of Americana, Cobb was a prolific book author (more than 60 titles) and regular contributor in the 1920s to publications such as The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, and Cosmopolitan.

Jean Cocteau
(1889-1963)
French poet/playwright/novelist/filmmaker/designer
A jack of all arts and a true bohemian of the 1920s, Cocteau's endeavors put him in the center of attention even when collaborating with equally famous artists. His works crossed many disciplines and referenced many past and modern artistic trends from existentialism to surrealism and Greek mythology. He first gained fame as a poet in 1909, then as a designer for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. He wrote modernist ballets, most notably Le boeuf sur le tiot with composer Darius Milhaud in 1920.In the 1920s, he concentrated mostly on prose and plays. Opium (1923) described his drug addiction. The play Orpheus (1926) combined the modern, the absurd and the mythical. His novel Children of the Game (1929) was followed by his first film, the surrealistic Le sang d'un poete (Blood of a Poet) (1930). He continued making classic surrealistic films until 1960.

Colette
(1873-1954)
French writer
One of the most admired and acclaimed novelists of the century; her often autobiographical works are respected and enjoyed for their honest insight into the emotional and physical aspects of human relationships and sexuality. The novel Cheri (1920) established her fame.

e.e. cummings
(Edward Estlin Cummings)
(1894-1962)
U.S. poet/writer
Famous for the unusual free syntax, punctuation and invented words in his poetry, his work in the 1920s included his first volume of poetry Tulips and Chimneys (1923) and XLI Poems (1925). His World War I experiences were chronicled in his novel The Enormous Room in 1922. Also wrote the play him in 1927. NOTE: The E.E. Cummings Society has decided that E.E. Cummings' name can and should now be capitalized.

John Dos Passos
(1896-1970)
U.S. writer
A prolific novelist, critic, and observer of the American scene. His first novel was One Man's Initiation-1917 (1920), but it was his uncompromising anti-military Three Soldiers (1921) that brought him popular and critical success. Manhattan Transfer was an epic view of New York City that established the kaleidoscopic style of his later works.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930)
English writer
The prolific creator of the Sherlock Holmes stories and historical novels was still at work in the last decade of his life, completing a six-volume history of World War I in 1920, writing volumes on spiritualism in 1926 and his autobiography Memories and Adventures in 1924.

Theodore Dreiser
(1871-1945)
U.S. writer
Acclaimed for his realistic novels of American life, his first, Sister Carrie (1900) was controversial for its sexual content. His greatest popular success came with the highly detailed account of a murder case An American Tragedy (1925). He became a stauch communist in the 1920s, and continued writing prolifically for the rest of this life.

W.E.B. du Bois
(1868-1963)
U.S. writer/civil rights leader

Will Durant
(1885-1981
U.S. historian, writer
His series of popular books on world history were bestsellers, starting with the multi-million selling The Story of Mankind (1926). His later titles listed spouse Ariel as co-author, even though she also worked with him on earlier titles.

Ilya Ehrenburg
(1891-1967)
Russian writer
Author of many novels in the 1920s and later. One of his best is considered to be Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito and His Disciples (1921), his first.

Paul Eluard
(1895-1952)
French poet
Co-founder of the surrealist movement, with Andre Breton and Louis Aragon, in the arts and literature in France. His works included Capitale de la douleur (1926).

William Faulkner
(1897-1962)
U.S. writer
One of America's most original and complex novelists, his work is notable for its ambitious stream-of-consciousness narratives and rambling paragraphs. His first novel was Soldier's Pay in 1926. His first masterwork was The Sound and the Fury (1929). Many renowned works followed. he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.

Jessie Fauset
(1882-1961)
U.S. writer
A key figure in the "Harlem Renaissance" artistic movement of the 1920s, she wrote novels that explored middle-class black American life. Key works include There is Confusion (1924) and Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1928)

Edna Ferber
(1887-1968)
U.S. writer/playwright
An incredibly popular writer, practically everything she wrote turned to gold. Most of her works were big-scaled epics set in 1800s America, particularly the west. Her work was also notable for featuring strong female protagonists. Her 1924 novel So Big won a Pulitzer Prize. The 1927 production of her 1926 novel Show Boat was a legendary theatrical triumph. Among her many books that became popular films were Cimarron (1930) and Giant (1952). With George S. Kaufman, she wrote hit plays such as The Royal Family (1927), Dinner at Eight (1932), and Stage Door (1936). She published short stories also.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
(1896-1940)
U.S. writer
Quintessential 1920s author; his alternately angst-ridden and carefree lifestyle--marked by insecurity, alcoholism, and a mentally disturbed spouse (Zelda) is as well known as his work. He coined "flapper" and "the jazz age." His first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920) was a critical and popular success. His short stories about the unrealized dreams of the rich and the young were always popular, appearing in major magazines, and in many book collections of the period. His masterpiece The Great Gatsby (1925) was a commercial flop, but a critical success. His life in the 1930s, marked by heavy drinking and unfulfilling screenwriting work in Hollywood, hastened his early death.


E.M. Forster
(1879-1970)
English writer
In novels, short stories and essays, his work examined social customs and communication rifts within British society and in the presence of colonial ethnic cultures. One of his most acclaimed novels, A Passage to India, was published in 1924.

Robert Frost
(1874-1963)
U.S. poet
Chronicler of the humor and travails of rural New England life; his prolific output included New Hampshire (1923), A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes (1924), and West-Running Brook (1928). He won the first of four career Pulitzer Prizes in 1924.

John Galsworthy
(1867-1933)
English writer/playwright
The English social classes are examined in his work. A collection of his works The Forsyte Saga was published in 1922. It was followed by the novel The White Monkey in 1924, and many more. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.


Federico Garcia Lorca
(1898-1936)
Spanish poet/playwright
One of the greatest writers in the history of Spain, his works are widely translated. HIs works ranged widely in subject matter and genres-- from poems about nature, gypsys and bullfighters to tragic plays about rural life and farcical comedies. His poetry collections of the 1920s include Libro de poemas (1921), Canciones (1927), and Gypsy Ballads (1928).

Andre' Gide
(1869-1951)
French writer
A controversial poet, novelist and playwright, Gide powerfully examined the confusing pull within human beings to chose the order of traditionally defined morality or to pursue the temptations of sensual pleasure or lawlessness. His complex, popular novel The Counterfeiters was published in 1926.

Maxim Gorki
(1868-1936)
Russian writer
One of the most revered of Russian writers; his most famous works are a trio of autobiographical novels collectively known as "The Gorki Trilogy," published from 1914 to 1923.

Zane Grey
(1875-1939)
U.S. writer
Author of immensely popular, action-packed adventure westerns. Among his 60-book output was The Thundering Herd (1925). Almost all of this books were big sellers, especially in the 1920s.


Dashiell Hammett
(1894-1961)
U.S. writer
He began his career in the 1920s, writing in an emerging genre called the "hardboiled" detective story for cheesy pulp fiction magazines. His first novel Red Harvest (1929) displayed his trademark unsentimental, razor-sharp style. That work, as well as The Dain Curse (1929), The Maltese Falcon (1930), The Glass Menagerie (1931), and The Thin Man (1934) were all popular and continue to be admired.

Knut Hamsun
(1859-1952)
Norwegian writer
Considered one of Norway's great novelists; his early works explored the suffering of outcast loners, especially the famous study of a starving writer Hunger (1890). Later novels explored the problems of society. He won the 1920 Nobel Prize in literature for his masterpiece The Growth of the Soil (1917), a study of peasants. Another notable work, Vagabonds was published in 1927.

Jaroslav Hasek
(1883-1923)
Czech writer
His tragi-comic World War I novel, The Good Soldier Schweik (1920-1923) was a worldwide success.

Ernest Hemingway
(1899-1961)
U.S. writer
Novelist and short story writer lauded for the economy and unpretentiousness of his prose. Found subject matter from his prolific traveling and quest for adventure. His creative work first appeared in 1920. His most notable novels of the decade included his first critical success, The Sun Also Rises (1926), and A Farewell to Arms (1929).

Langston Hughes
(1902-1967)
U.S. writer/poet
Novelist and poet; his works expressed the trials of black American life. His poetry collections included The Weary Blues (1926). A key artist in the literary movement known as The Harlem Rennaissance of the 1920s.

Fannie Hurst
(1889-1968)
U.S. writer
Popular American novelist of the 1920s and 1930s; her sentimental works such as Star Dust (1921), Back Street (1930), and Imitation of Life (1933) examined the lives of common New Yorkers and the problems faced by modern women. She was controversial for her personal views about free love and open marriage.

Aldous Huxley
(1894-1963)
English writer
His versatility was shown in novels, essays and poems covering a wide range of subjects. Irony and pessimism are prominent in his works, particularly in the case of the grim future prophesied in his renowned science fiction novel Brave New World (1932). He published his first novel Crome Yellow in 1921, and one of this most famous Point Counter Point in 1928.

James Joyce
(1882-1941)
Irish writer
Acclaimed as one of the greatest novelists of all time, largely because of the towering, stream-of-consciouness masterwork Ulysses (1922). An incalculably influential force in the century's literature.

Franz Kafka
(1883-1924)
Czech writer in the German language
Angst, loneliness, hopelessness, torment, senseless entrapment are words that describe the claustrophobic absurd literary universe of Kafka. His precisely written, ironic stories and novels explored the darkness of the human condition. His posthumously published novels The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927), as well as his earlier short stories such as "The Metamorphosis," established his reputation as one of the century's most enduring writers.

Ring Lardner
(1885-1933)
U.S. writer/humorist
On the beat as a newspaper columnist and sports reporter from 1907 to 1919, he developed a keen ear for the character and speech of Americans, which he used in his widely read, satirical short stories, compiled in numerous books in the 1920s.

D.H. Lawrence
(1885-1930)
English writer
The controversy surrounding the frank sexual content of his novels Women in Love (1921) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) overshadowed his serious theme of finding genuine human connection despite barriers imposed by artificial social pretension and workaday necessity.

T.E. Lawrence
(1888-1935)
English adventurer/soldier/writer
He was a British intelligence officer who became known as "Lawrence of Arabia" for his efforts to unite Arabs in the fight against Turkish rule during World War I. He continued his diplomatic efforts to promote Arab independence in the early 1920s. His account of his adventures, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a critical and popular success.

Sinclair Lewis
(1885-1951)
U.S. writer
One of the great popular writers of the 1920s, his novels Main Street (1920) and Babbitt (1922) satirized American middle-class conformity, and were huge bestsellers as well as critical triumphs. "Babbitt" became a household word to describe boring businessmen. Other successful novels included Arrowsmith (1925), which reaffirmed idealism, Elmer Gantry (1927), which topically satirized evangelical hypocrisy, and Dodsworth (1929), which skewered upper class pretension. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930.

(Percy) Wyndham Lewis
(1882-1957)
English writer, painter
Equally admired as a painter (experimentalist and portraiture) and satirical writer. Novels included: Tarr (1919), The Childermass (1928), and The Apes of God (1930).

Walter Lippmann
(1889-1974)
U.S. journalist
Lippmann was one of the greatest intellects of 20th century journalism. The dean of American political writers, he was a newspaper columnist, editor, and book author. He coined the word "stereotype" in his influential 1922 best-seller Public Opinion.He was a co-founder of the liberal magazine New Republic. His potent grasp of world affairs influenced President Woodrow Wilson. He was editor of the New York World from 1929 to 1931, and thereafter started his internationally renowned "Today and Tomorrow" column in theNew York Herald Tribune. He published a landmark book of the 1920s A Preface to Morals in 1929. He later won two Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964).

Anita Loos
(1893-1981)
U.S. writer/playwright
Loos was a successful Hollywood screenwriter for several decades, starting in 1912. In the 1920s, she created the character Lorelei Lee, the quintessential vacuous '20s flapper and central protagonist of her smash hit book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1925). Loos adapted her book to a highly successful Broadway play of the same name in 1926.

Thomas Mann
(1875-1955)
German writer
One of the century's most influential writers; his novels explored the spiritual and intellectual plight of central protagonists who are outcasts in their environment. His most famous work, The Magic Mountain, was published in 1925.

W. Somerset Maugham
(1874-1965)
English writer
Distinguished novelist and short story author with a flair for the slightly melodramatic in his tales of outcast protagonists attempting to follow their bliss. He is perhaps most admired for his short stories, especially "Rain," published in the collection The Trembling of the Leaf (1921). His most famous works are the novels Of Human Bondage (1915) and The Moon and Sixpence (1919). He wrote several plays in the 1920s, including the Circle (1921) and Our Betters (1923). His works in the 1920s included the novels The Painted Veil (1925) and Ashenden: or the Secret Agent (1928), an early spy book.

Francois Mauriac
(1885-1970)
French writer
As a religious man and a complex novelist, his work explored the moral struggles within people to live spiritual lives. Many consider his 1920s novels to be among the century's greatest literary achievements. He published his first novel in 1922. His acclaimed works include The Desert of Love (1925) and Therese Desqueyroux (1927). Later (1952), he won the Nobel Prize for literature.

H.L. Mencken
(1880-1956)
U.S. journalist/critic
Mencken was one of the most hated and admired men of the 1920s. Ever quotable, he was the most potent opinion leader of the era. Not one to suffer fools, and controversial because of his unflinching, acid-tongued criticism of the great unwashed masses, patriotism, religion, paragons of virtue and other sacred cows, he was looked to as a sort of guru of progressive, liberal thought. He was really a more old-fashioned curmudgeon, steeped in traditional values that stressed libertarianism and self-improvement. He and critic George Jean Nathan co-edited the satirical magazine The Smart Set from 1914 to 1923. In 1924, they co-founded its successor, the hard-hitting American Mercury, the "in" magazine among college students and other rebellious youth. His essays were compiled in the six-volume Prejudices, published from 1919 to 1927. From 1936 to 1948, he published an exhaustive study of the history of American English, The American Language.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
(1892-1950)
U.S. poet
The most popular and acclaimed American woman poet of the 1920s, Millay was a master of traditional lyrical verse. Major works of the decade included A Few Figs from Thistles (1920) and the Pulitzer-Prize-winning The Ballad of the Harp Weaver (1923).

A.A. Milne
(1882-1956)
English writer
He wrote popular plays and other works in the 1920s, but his enduring fame came with the publication of a series of childrens' books that included the classic, Winnie the Pooh (1926).

Marianne Moore
(1887-1972)
U.S. poet
Her poetry was noted for its precise descriptive power. Of 1920s poets, her reputation has grown perhaps more than that of her once-lauded contemporaries. Her first collection Poems was published in 1921. From 1925 to 1929 she edited the literary magazine The Dial. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1952 for her Collected Poems.


(List taken from website about 1920s that is no longer in existence.)