Famous Short Story Writers - List of Famous Short Story Writers - page 4

Short story writers write short pieces of prose fiction that generally focus on a single theme, simple plots and few characters. There is considerable debate surrounding what should be the appropriate word limit for a piece of fiction to be considered a short story; it is generally considered to be between 1000 to about 20,000 words. Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American author regarded to be one of the earliest writers of short stories defined a short story as a short piece of fiction that can be read in one sitting. However this categorization is also subjective, there is no concrete definition of what constitutes the time limit for one sitting. Many novelists begin their career as writers of short stories. Writing shorter pieces of prose before commencing a lengthier piece of work gives them an opportunity to hone their writing skills and get an idea about the readership for their works. It also helps popularize the writer’s name in the market so that any other work by the same author is received favorably. Short stories are mostly based on a single theme that revolves around a small cast of characters, and are usually less complex than novels. Listed below is a collection of the biographies about the lives and works of famous short story writers from around the world.

The Most Famous Short Story Writers

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Charles BukowskiAugust 16, 1920German, AmericanCharles Bukowski was a German-born American novelist, short story writer and poet
Ruskin BondMay 19, 1934IndianRuskin Bond is an award winning Indian author of British descent
O. HenrySeptember 11, 1862AmericanWilliam Sydney Porter, more famous by his pen name O
Neil GaimanNovember 10, 1960BritishNeil Gaiman is an English writer of novels, short stories, children’s books and other literature
Guy de MaupassantAugust 5, 1850FrenchGuy de Maupassant was an acclaimed French short story writer and novelist
John SteinbeckFebruary 27, 1902AmericanJohn Steinbeck was a celebrated American writer famous for his novel, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’
H. E. BatesMay 16, 1905BritishHerbert Ernest Bates was a famous English writer
Luigi PirandelloJune 28, 1867ItalianLuigi Pirandello was a Nobel Prize winning Italian writer and dramatist
Aldous HuxleyJuly 26, 1894British, AmericanAldous Leonard Huxley was a prominent English writer
Mulk Raj AnandDecember 12, 1905IndianMulk Raj Anand was one of the first Indian writers in English to gain international fame
Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch was a famous American writer mainly of crime, horror, fantasy and science fiction genres

AmericanApril 5, 1917127 views

Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A Heinlein was a popular American science fiction writer

AmericanJuly 7, 1907104 views

Richard Ford

Richard Ford is an American writer

AmericanFebruary 16, 1944136 views

Joseph Heller

Joseph was a renowned American novelist and playwright

AmericanMay 1, 192388 views

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming was an English author and naval intelligence officer best known for his James Bond series of spy novels

BritishMay 28, 1908165 views

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison is a famous American writer of short stories, essays, novels and scripts, well-known for his works in science-fiction

AmericanMay 27, 1934152 views

Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was an acclaimed French short story writer and novelist

FrenchAugust 5, 1850343 views

Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud was a prolific American writer and winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

AmericanApril 26, 1914108 views

Andre Dubus

Andre Dubus was an American short story writer and novelist, hailed as one of the best American short story writers of the 20th century

AmericanAugust 11, 1936160 views

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British poetess and novelist, one of the most remembered authors of the Victorian era

BritishNovember 10, 1861112 views