1
Joan Didion
(Screenwriter, Novelist, Journalist, Writer, Essayist)
23
5
Birthdate: December 5, 1934
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Sacramento, California, United States
2
Fran Lebowitz
(Writer Known for Her Sardonic Social Commentary on American Life and Her Defiant Grouchiness and Wit)
20
5
Birthdate: October 27, 1950
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Morristown, New Jersey, United States
Author and public speaker Fran Lebowitz is best known for her book The Fran Lebowitz Reader, which combined the two books Metropolitan Life and Social Studies. She also gained fame with her 2021 Netflix docuseries Pretend It's a City. Openly lesbian, she has often spoken about feminism, politics, and AIDS.
3
Anais Nin
(French-Born American Novelist, Diarist and Short Story Writer)
24
6
Birthdate: February 21, 1903
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France
Died: January 14, 1977
French-Cuban-American diarist, essayist, and novelist Anais Nin wrote several volumes of journals, erotica, novels, critical studies, essays, and short stories. Her journals and diaries are among her most studied works. She had a deep interest in psychoanalysis and studied it extensively with René Allendy and Otto Rank. Critics consider her one of the finest writers of female erotica.
4
Joyce Carol Oates
(Writer)
18
6
Birthdate: June 16, 1938
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Lockport, New York, United States
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
5
Flannery O'Connor
(Novelist)
19
5
Birthdate: March 25, 1925
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia, United States
Died: August 3, 1964
6
Susan Sontag
(Writer and Filmmaker, Best Known for her Essay 'Notes on 'Camp')
19
5
Birthdate: January 16, 1933
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: December 28, 2004
Susan Sontag is best known for her essay anthologies such as Against Interpretation and her novels such as In America. She wrote about diverse issues such as human rights, photography, AIDS, and leftist beliefs, and also visited war-torn areas. The National Book Award-winning author was also openly bisexual.
7
Sarah Vowell
(Author of Seven Nonfiction Books on American History and Culture)
19
4
Birthdate: December 27, 1969
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States
Bestselling author and essayist Sarah Vowell is known for her expertise in American history and her books such as Assassination Vacation and Unfamiliar Fishes. She is also a regular on the radio program This American Life and has voiced Violet in the animated film The Incredibles.
8
Adrienne Rich
(American poet)
17
3
Birthdate: May 16, 1929
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: March 27, 2012
9
Sandra Cisneros
(Writer)
17
4
Birthdate: December 20, 1954
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Chicago
10
Katherine Anne Porter
(Journalist, Essayist, Writer, Novelist)
17
5
Birthdate: May 15, 1890
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Indian Creek, Texas, U.S.
Died: September 18, 1980
11
Cheryl Strayed
(Writer)
19
4
Birthdate: September 17, 1968
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Spangler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
12
Barbara Kingsolver
(Novelist, Poet, Essayist)
17
3
Birthdate: April 8, 1955
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Annapolis, Maryland, United States
13
Sylvia Browne
(Essayist, Psychic)
19
4
Birthdate: October 19, 1936
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Kansas City
Died: November 20, 2013
14
Mary Karr
(Poet)
17
3
Birthdate: January 16, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: East Texas
15
Rebecca Solnit
(Writer)
17
4
Birthdate: June 24, 1961
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
16
Louise Glück
(Poet)
18
4
Birthdate: April 22, 1943
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York, United States
17
Kathy Acker
(Author)
16
3
Birthdate: April 18, 1947
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Died: November 30, 1997
18
Eileen Chang
(Chinese-born American Novelist, Essayist, and Screenwriter)
15
3
Birthdate: September 30, 1920
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Shanghai, China
Died: September 8, 1995
Zhang Ailing was a Chinese-born American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. A realist and modernist writer, Chang is credited with writing the scripts of many successful films like Miserable at Middle Age, Qing Chang Ru Zhan Chang, and Jin Suo Ji. Zhang Ailing is also credited with influencing and inspiring many creative writers in Taiwan, including Chu T’ien-wen and Yuan Chiung-chiung.
19
Joy Harjo
(Poet)
16
3
Birthdate: May 9, 1951
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
20
Marilynne Robinson
(Novelist)
18
4
Birthdate: November 26, 1943
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Sandpoint, Idaho, US
21
Linda Moulton Howe
(Journalist, documentary film maker best known for her work as a ufologist)
16
3
Birthdate: January 20, 1942
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Boise, Idaho, United States
22
Bebe Moore Campbell
(Author)
15
3
Birthdate: February 18, 1950
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: November 27, 2006
23
Annie Dillard
(Author)
17
4
Birthdate: April 30, 1945
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
24
Laila Lalami
(Novelist)
14
3
Birthdate: 1968 AD
Birthplace: Rabat, Morocco
25
Lydia Davis
(Writer)
15
3
Birthdate: July 15, 1947
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
26
Diane Ackerman
(Poet, essayist, and naturalist known for a 1990 nonfiction work entitled A Natural History of the Senses)
14
3
Birthdate: October 7, 1948
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Waukegan, Illinois, United States
27
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
(Academic Scholar)
15
3
Birthdate: May 2, 1950
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died: April 12, 2009
28
Ellen Willis
(Essayist)
14
3
Birthdate: December 14, 1941
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: November 9, 2006
29
Cynthia Ozick
(Short Story Writer)
14
3
Birthdate: April 17, 1928
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
30
Sarah Ruhl
(Playwright whose most popular plays are Eurydice (2003), The Clean House (2004), and In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (2009))
14
3
Birthdate: January 24, 1974
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Wilmette, Illinois, United States
31
Laura Riding
(Poet)
13
3
Birthdate: January 16, 1901
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: September 2, 1991
32
Diane Johnson
(Novelist)
13
3
Birthdate: April 28, 1934
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Moline, Illinois, United States
33
June Jordan
(Poet)
14
3
Birthdate: July 9, 1936
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, United States
Died: June 14, 2002
34
Shirley Hazzard
(Australian-American Novelist, Short Story Writer, and Essayist Best Known for Her 2003 Novel, 'The Great Fire')
13
3
Birthdate: January 30, 1931
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Sydney, Australia
Died: December 12, 2016
Australian-born American author Shirley Hazzard is best known for her Lost Man Booker Prize-shortlisted book The Bay of Noon and the National Book Award-winning The Great Fire. She has also penned various non-fiction volumes on the United Nations, where she had worked as a typist for a decade.
35
Seyla Benhabib
(Philosopher, Writer)
13
3
Birthdate: September 9, 1950
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Istanbul, Turkey
36
Tess Gallagher
(Poet)
12
2
Birthdate: July 21, 1943
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Port Angeles, Washington, United States
37
Carolyn Forché
(Poet)
12
2
Birthdate: April 28, 1950
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, United States
38
Sarah Helen Power Whitman
(Poet)
11
2
Birthdate: January 19, 1803
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Died: June 27, 1878
39
Imbolo Mbue
(Writer)
12
2
Birthdate: 1981 AD
Birthplace: Limbe, Cameroon
40
Charlotte Forten Grimké
(Poet)
11
2
Birthdate: August 17, 1837
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: July 23, 1914
41
Cornelia Otis Skinner
(Author)
12
2
Birthdate: May 30, 1899
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: July 9, 1979
42
Judith Sargent Stevens Murray
(Advocate)
12
2
Birthdate: May 1, 1751
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States
Died: July 9, 1820
43
Florence King
(American Novelist, Essayist & Columnist)
10
2
Birthdate: January 5, 1936
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., United States
Died: January 6, 2016
44
Ana Castillo
(Novelist)
11
2
Birthdate: June 15, 1953
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
45
Bobbie Ann Mason
(Novelist)
10
2
Birthdate: May 1, 1940
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Mayfield, Kentucky, United States
46
Jessie Redmon Fauset
(Editor)
11
2
Birthdate: April 27, 1882
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Camden County, New Jersey, United States
Died: April 30, 1961
47
Frederica Sagor Maas
(American Playwright, Screenwriter and Author)
10
2
Birthdate: July 6, 1900
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: New York City
Died: January 5, 2012
48
Barbara Goldsmith
(Author)
10
2
Birthdate: May 18, 1931
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: June 26, 2016
49
Mary Gordon
(Writer)
10
2
Birthdate: December 8, 1949
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Far Rockaway, New York, United States
50
Bharati Mukherjee
(Indian American-Canadian Writer and Professor )
12
2
Birthdate: July 27, 1940
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Died: January 28, 2017
Bharati Mukherjee was a writer who also taught at the University of California, Berkeley as a professor emerita in the English department. The author of several short story collections and novels, Bharati Mukherjee was honored with many prestigious awards, such as the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1988.
