Poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was a champion for black feminism and is best remembered for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and over 50 honorary degrees was also a child sex abuse survivor.
# 20th Century Poets

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1

(Poet)

142

80

Birthdate: May 7, 1861

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Died: August 7, 1941

Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian polymath who contributed greatly to the fields of literature, art, and philosophy. Referred to as the Bard of Bengal, Tagore is credited with reshaping Bengali literature and music. The first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, Tagore is also credited with composing the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.

2

(American Poet and Civil Rights Activist Known for Her Autobiography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’)

82

48

Birthdate: April 4, 1928

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Died: May 28, 2014

Poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was a champion for black feminism and is best remembered for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and over 50 honorary degrees was also a child sex abuse survivor.

3

(Famous for Her Books 'The Bell Jar' and 'Ariel')

97

36

Birthdate: October 27, 1932

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Died: February 11, 1963

Sylvia Plath was an American short-story writer, novelist, and poet. Plath is credited with popularizing confessional poetry and won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Sylvia Plath achieved popularity and critical acclaim despite suffering from clinical depression for the most part of her adult life. Her story inspired the 2003 film Sylvia in which she was portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow.

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4

(American Poet Who was Known for His Realistic Depictions of Rural Life)

86

31

Birthdate: March 26, 1874

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States

Died: January 29, 1963

Robert Frost was an American poet. An influential poet, Frost was honored with four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, the only poet to receive four such awards. One of America's public literary figures, Robert Frost received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960. His works influenced other poets like Robert Francis, James Wright, Edward Thomas, Richard Wilbur, and Seamus Heaney.

5

(Best Known as a Leader of the Modernist Movement in Poetry)

56

14

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.

6

(Indian Political Activist, Poet and 1st Governor of United Provinces)

55

23

Birthdate: February 13, 1879

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Hyderabad, India

Died: March 2, 1949

Sarojini Naidu was an Indian poet and political activist. An important figure in the Indian Independence Movement, she was a proponent of anti-imperialistic ideas, women's rights, and civil rights. Her illustrious career as a poet earned her the nickname Nightingale of India. After India became independent, she became the first woman to hold the office of Governor in the Dominion of India.

7

(One of the Earliest Innovators of the Literary Art Form Called Jazz Poetry)

49

19

Birthdate: February 1, 1901

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Joplin, Missouri, United States

Died: May 22, 1967

Langston Hughes is best remembered as a prominent leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first to write jazz poetry. He also wrote plays and short stories. He was a columnist for The Chicago Defender and wrote the iconic poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

8

(Poet)

44

14

Birthdate: September 25, 1930

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Died: May 10, 1999

Shel Silverstein was an American writer, playwright, songwriter, and cartoonist. Renowned for his children's books, songs, and cartoons, Silverstein's works have been translated into over 30 languages. The recipient of many prestigious awards, such as Grammy Awards, Shel Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

9

(One of the Greatest English-Language Poets of the 20th Century and 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature Winner)

41

7

Birthdate: June 13, 1865

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Sandymount, Ireland

Died: January 28, 1939

Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, playwright, and prose writer W. B. Yeats is remembered as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. Known for works such as The Tower, he also helped establish the Abbey Theatre. An occult enthusiast, he was also part of The Ghost Club.

10

(Poet and Children's Writer)

39

15

Birthdate: August 17, 1930

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Mytholmroyd

Died: October 28, 1998

Poet and children’s author Ted Hughes is best remembered for his iconic poems The Hawk in the Rain, Birthday Letters, and Crow. He was married to poet Sylvia Plath, who eventually committed suicide at 30. Most people blamed him for mistreating Plath and indirectly causing her death.

11

(Chilean poet)

35

7

Birthdate: July 12, 1904

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Parral, Chile

Died: September 23, 1973

Chilean poet-diplomat and politician, Pablo Neruda, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He was a versatile writer and his works include surrealist poems, historical epics, political manifestos, and love poems. He is considered the national poet of Chile. As a politician, he served a term as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party and held several diplomatic positions.

12

(Poet and Author Known for His Work “Mockingbird Wish Me Luck,” and “Love Is a Dog from Hell”)

34

20

Birthdate: August 16, 1920

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Andernach, Germany

Died: March 9, 1994

German-American poet and short story writer ,Charles Bukowski, addressed the ordinary lives of poor Americans in most of his works. Since his death, he has been the subject of many critical books and articles. His stories have inspired several films like Tales of Ordinary Madness, Crazy Love, and Factotum.

13

(American Poet and Critic Known for His Works: ‘Ripostes’, ‘Hugh Selwyn Mauberley’ and the Epic Poem, ‘The Cantos’)

43

13

Birthdate: October 30, 1885

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Idaho, United States

Died: November 1, 1972

American poet Ezra Pound was a significant figure in the modernist poetry movement who developed imagism and gained fame with works such as Ripostes and The Cantos. He later promoted social credit theory. During World War II, he supported fascism, participating in radio broadcasts against the U.S. and Jews.

14

(One of the Greatest Authors of 20th Century)

46

10

Birthdate: February 21, 1907

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: York, England, United Kingdom

Died: September 29, 1973

W. H. Auden was an Anglo-American poet. His poetry was noted for its technical achievement and versatility. He wrote poems on love, political and social themes, and cultural and psychological themes. Throughout his career, Auden was both influential and controversial. His personal life also attracted attention as he had sexual relationships with men, which was unusual at the time.

15

(Austrian Poet and Novelist Known for His Poetry Collections ‘Duino Elegies’ and ‘Sonnets to Orpheus’)

38

6

Birthdate: December 4, 1875

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Prague, Czech Republic

Died: December 29, 1926

Bohemian-Austrian poet and author Rainer Maria Rilke is best remembered for his numerous poetry collections and his only novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. His works contain metaphors, contradictions, and elements drawn from Greek mythology. Though most of his works were in German, he had also written in French.

16

(Poet)

36

8

Birthdate: August 9, 1922

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Radford, Coventry, United Kingdom

Died: December 2, 1985

17

(Best Known for His Poem ‘Howl’, Which is One of the Most Significant Products of the 'Beat Movement')

28

15

Birthdate: June 3, 1926

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey, United States

Died: April 5, 1997

Allen Ginsberg, a Beat Generation poet, is best remembered for his 1956 poem Howl, which criticized U.S. capitalism and described homosexual acts, and was thus banned. He earned the National Book Award for The Fall of America and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992.

18

(Poet & Novelist)

30

9

Birthdate: July 24, 1895

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Wimbledon, England

Died: December 7, 1985

19

(Author of 'The Hobbit' & 'The Lord of the Rings')

46

19

Birthdate: January 3, 1892

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Bloemfontein, South Africa

Died: September 2, 1973

Considered one of the greatest authors, JRR Tolkien is popularly called the father of the modern fantasy literature. He is best known for his high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which is set in a conceived world called the Middle-Earth. Many years after his death, Tolkien continues to be one of the best-selling writers.

20

(Poet)

37

7

Birthdate: February 22, 1892

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: Rockland, Maine, United States

Died: October 19, 1950

21

(Best Known for His Books About the Teddy Bear ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ and Children's Poetry)

34

8

Birthdate: January 18, 1882

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: London, England

Died: January 31, 1956

A. A. Milne was an English author best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh. He joined the British Army as a young man and served in both World War I and World War II. In his career as a writer, he wrote several novels, non-fiction pieces, articles, poems, screenplays, and children’s stories.

22

(Regarded as One of the Most Significant American Writers of All Time)

28

5

Birthdate: September 25, 1897

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: New Albany, Mississippi, United States

Died: July 6, 1962

Nobel Prize-winning Southern author William Faulkner is remembered for works The Sound and the Fury, A Rose for Emily, and As I Lay Dying. He immortalized Mississippi as the fictional "Yoknapatawpha County" in his works. He also won two Pulitzers, one each for A Fable and The Reivers.

23

(English Writer and Poet Known for His Novels: ‘Sons and Lovers’, ‘The Rainbow’ and ‘Women in Love’)

28

11

Birthdate: September 11, 1885

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Eastwood, England, United Kingdom

Died: March 2, 1930

English writer, D. H. Lawrence, was known for exploring sensitive issues, such as sexuality, emotional health,  and instinct. In his works, he often reflected upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization. The sexual nature of his writings earned him many enemies. Even though he died at the relatively young age of 44, he left behind a rich literary legacy.

24

(Novelist and Poet Best Known for His Novels: ‘On the Road', ‘The Dharma Bums’ and ‘Big Sur’)

25

9

Birthdate: March 12, 1922

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: Lowell, Massachusetts, United States

Died: October 21, 1969

Jack Kerouac is remembered as a prominent figure of the Beat Generation. His works, consisting of several novels and poems, with their focus on spirituality, drugs, travel, sex, and jazz, paved the way for the hippie movement. He is best known for his pathbreaking novel On the Road

25

(Best Known For His Novels 'Lolita' and 'Pale Fire')

32

6

Birthdate: April 23, 1899

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Died: July 2, 1977

Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, also known by his pen name, Vladimir Sirin, is best remembered for his controversial novel Lolita. His other works include the novel Pale Fire and his memoir, Speak , Memory. He was also an entomologist, specializing in lepidoptery. He also liked composing chess problems.

26

(Theatre Practitioner, Playwright, and Poet Known for His Plays: ‘The Threepenny Opera’ and ‘Life of Galileo’)

27

6

Birthdate: February 10, 1898

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Augsburg, Germany

Died: August 14, 1956

German playwright, poet, and theater director, Bertolt Brecht, is best known for co-writing the play, The Threepenny Opera, with Kurt Weill. Growing up in war-torn Germany in the early 20th century, he had a difficult life. A hardcore Marxist, he lived in exile during the Nazi period. He returned to Germany after the war and established a theater company.

27

(French Poet, Author, and Aviator Best Known for His Novella ‘The Little Prince’)

27

4

Birthdate: June 29, 1900

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Lyon, France

Died: July 31, 1944

French writer, poet, aristocrat, and journalist, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is best remembered for his novella, The Little Prince. He was a pioneering aviator as a young man. A successful commercial pilot before World War II, he joined the French Air Force at the start of the war. Equally successful as a writer, he won several of France's highest literary awards.

28

(Nigerian novelist)

26

4

Birthdate: November 16, 1930

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Ogidi, Nigeria Protectorate

Died: March 21, 2013

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian poet, novelist, professor, and critic. Often described as Africa's greatest storyteller, Achebe is widely regarded as the father of modern African writing. He was the recipient of several awards and honors, including the Man Booker International Prize 2007. His novel Things Fall Apart is one of the most read books in Africa.

29

(Poet, Novelist & Painter Who Won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature)

28

5

Birthdate: July 2, 1877

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Calw, Germany

Died: August 9, 1962

German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter Hermann Hesse received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. He explored individuals’ search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality in his works. An intense and headstrong person from childhood, he developed an early interest in reading. He started writing as a young man and became an influential author in the German-speaking world.

30

(Poet)

29

4

Birthdate: March 26, 1859

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Fockbury, England

Died: April 30, 1936

31

(Poet, Novelist, Literary Critic & Environmental Activist)

37

24

Birthdate: November 18, 1939

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Ottawa, Canada

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet and novelist. Her works encompass themes, such as religion and myth, climate change, and gender and identity. An award-winning writer, many of Atwood's works have been made into films and television series; her work, The Handmaid's Tale, has had several adaptations. Perhaps, Margaret Atwood's most important contribution is her invention of the LongPen device.

32

(One of the Greatest Writers of the 20th Century Best Known as the 'Prince of Paradox')

23

4

Birthdate: May 29, 1874

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Kensington, London, United Kingdom

Died: June 14, 1936

Gilbert K. Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, and art critic. A prolific writer, he composed around 80 books, hundreds of poems, around 200 short stories, and 4,000 essays. Often referred to as the "prince of paradox", he had as many detractors as he had admirers. He is considered a successor to Victorian authors like Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin.

33

Michael Rosen

(Children's author and poet who has written 140 books)

27

7

Birthdate: May 7, 1946

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Harrow, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Height: 5'10" (178 cm)

34

(Poet, Playwright & Translator Who Received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature)

27

11

Birthdate: April 13, 1939

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Castledawson, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Died: August 30, 2013

Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet, translator, and playwright. One of the most respected poets of his generation, Heaney was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He also won other prestigious awards, such as the Eric Gregory Award. Several years after his death, Seamus Heaney is still considered one of the main contributors to poetry in Ireland.

35

(French Author and Artist Who Was One of the Foremost Creatives of the 'Surrealist', 'Avant-Garde', and 'Dadaist' Movements.)

23

4

Birthdate: July 5, 1889

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Maisons-Laffitte, France

Died: October 11, 1963

While Jean Cocteau preferred calling himself a poet, his multidimensional works consisted of novels such as Les Enfants Terribles and films directed by him such as La Belle et la Bête. Cocteau relied on motifs such as eyes, blood, and mirrors, and mingled mythology and modernism.

36

(Russian Poet & Novelist Who Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958)

28

6

Birthdate: February 10, 1890

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Moscow, Russia

Died: May 30, 1960

Son of an artist father and a pianist mother, Boris Pasternak initially wished to become a musician. He is best known for his novel Doctor Zhivago, set against backdrop of the Russian Revolution. The Soviet Communists forced him to decline the Nobel Prize, which his descendants later accepted.

37

(Poet, Novelist)

24

9

Birthdate: March 18, 1932

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Died: January 27, 2009

38

Robert Ludlum

(Author of 27 thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original The Bourne Trilogy series.)

23

4

Birthdate: May 25, 1927

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: New York City, United States

Died: March 12, 2001

39

(Writer)

31

10

Birthdate: December 23, 1955

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland

40

(The First African-American Woman to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

21

9

Birthdate: February 9, 1944

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Eatonton, Georgia, United States

Author Alice Walker is best known for her National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple. She is credited with coining the term womanist, to mean feminist of color. Her marriage with Melvyn Roseman Leventhal was the first official interracial marriage in the state of Mississippi.

41

(Novelist)

21

4

Birthdate: October 7, 1966

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Spokane

Height: 6'2" (188 cm)

42

(American Poet, Critic & Satirist Who Was Known for Her Wit, Wisecracks, and Eye for 20th-Century Urban Foibles)

24

11

Birthdate: August 22, 1893

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Long Branch, New Jersey, United States

Died: June 7, 1967

Poet and author Dorothy Parker rose to fame with her published works in The New Yorker. She later formed the Algonquin Round Table. She also wrote for Hollywood films such as A Star Is Born and earned two Academy Award nominations. However, her association with left-wing politics got her blacklisted.

43

Mary Oliver

(Poet, Writer)

25

6

Birthdate: September 10, 1935

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Maple Heights

44

Jim Carroll

(Known for His 1978 Autobiographical Work ‘The Basketball Diaries')

21

4

Birthdate: August 1, 1949

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: New York, United States

Died: September 11, 2009

Punk musician and author Jim Carroll is best remembered for his autobiographical depiction of his struggle with drugs in his teenage years, The Basketball Diaries, which was later turned into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Part of The Jim Carroll Band, he was known for the single People Who Died.

45

(American Novelist, Poet and the First Living Writer to Be Inducted Into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame)

23

4

Birthdate: August 5, 1934

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Henry County

46

Dean Koontz

(Novelist)

22

9

Birthdate: July 9, 1945

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Everett, Pennsylvania, United States

47

(British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972.)

22

5

Birthdate: April 27, 1904

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Ballintubber, Ireland

Died: May 22, 1972

C. Day-Lewis was an Anglo-Irish poet who also wrote many mystery stories. From 1968 to 1972, he served as the Poet Laureate. He also contributed as a publications editor duringWorld War II, working for theMinistry of Information.

48

Iris Murdoch

(Irish & British Novelist Best Known for Her Novels: 'Under the Net', 'The Sea, the Sea' and 'The Bell')

20

6

Birthdate: July 15, 1919

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Died: February 8, 1999

One of the most popular Irish-born British novelists, Iris Murdoch is remembered for her psychological novels, which had a good dose of sexuality, philosophy, morality, and comic elements. While she won the Booker Prize for The Sea, the Sea, the Oxford alumnus had also worked for the HM Treasury and the UN.

49

Carmine Giovinazzo

(Actor)

21

4

Birthdate: August 24, 1973

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Richmond [now Staten Island], New York City, New York, USA

Height: 5'10" (178 cm)

50

(American Novelist, Poet and Playwright)

21

10

Birthdate: February 3, 1874

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Died: July 27, 1946

Gertrude Stein was an American playwright, novelist, poet, and art collector. She is remembered for publishing works about lesbian sexuality, which was considered a taboo at that time. Over the years, Gertrude Stein has been the subject of several works of art. In the 2011 movie Midnight in Paris, Stein was portrayed by Kathy Bates.

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