Aries Writers

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 1 
Maya Angelou
(American Poet and Civil Rights Activist Known for Her Autobiography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’)
Maya Angelou
45
Birthdate: April 4, 1928
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.
 2 
Robert Frost
(American Poet Who was Known for His Realistic Depictions of Rural Life)
Robert Frost
17
Birthdate: March 26, 1874
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.

William Wordsworth
25
Birthdate: April 7, 1770
Birthplace: Kingdom of Great Britain
Died: April 23, 1850

English poet William Wordsworth, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, released Lyrical Ballads in 1798, which set the tone for the Romantic Age of English Literature. Wordsworth was known for his poems I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, The Prelude, and The Solitary Reaper. He also served as the Poet Laureate.

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 4 
Tom Clancy
(American Author Best Known for His Novel ‘The Hunt for Red October’)
Tom Clancy
21
Birthdate: April 12, 1947
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: October 1, 2013
Tom Clancy is best remembered for his espionage- and war-themed novels, many of which, such as The Hunt for Red October, The Sum of All Fears, and Clear and Present Danger, have been made into hit films. He was also a co-owner of the MLB team Baltimore Orioles
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 5 
Hans Christian Andersen
(Danish Author Best Remembered for His Literary Fairy Tales)
Hans Christian Andersen
6
Birthdate: April 2, 1805
Birthplace: Odense, Denmark
Died: August 4, 1875
Legendary Danish children’s author Hans Christian Andersen is remembered for his fairy tales, such as The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Thumbelina, which have been appreciated by the young the old alike. Many of his tales have been adapted into films, ballets, and plays. 
 6 
Tennessee Williams
(One of the Finest American Playwrights of the 20th-Century Best Known for His Work ‘The Glass Menagerie’ )
Tennessee Williams
7
Birthdate: March 26, 1911
Birthplace: Columbus, Mississippi, United States
Died: February 25, 1983
Pulitzer Prize-winning Tennessee Williams is regarded as one of the most significant playwrights of the 20th century, and had also written short stories, essays, and poetry. He is best remembered for his plays A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
 
 7 
Thomas Hobbes
(English Philosopher and One of the Founders of Modern Political Philosophy)
Thomas Hobbes
12
Birthdate: April 5, 1588
Birthplace: Westport, Wiltshire, England
Died: December 4, 1679

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher. Widely regarded as the co-founder of modern political philosophy, Hobbes is best known for his influential book Leviathan. Apart from political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes also contributed immensely to various other fields, such as ethics, theology, geometry, history, and jurisprudence.

 8 
Samuel Beckett
(Irish Novelist Who Won the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature)
Samuel Beckett
10
Birthdate: April 13, 1906
Birthplace: Foxrock, Ireland
Died: December 22, 1989

Samuel Beckett was a legendary Nobel Prize-winning Irish postmodernist and minimalist playwright and author, regarded as a prominent figure of the "Theatre of the Absurd.” He is best known for the play Waiting for Godot and for his tragi-comic themes and black comedy. He was also the Saoi of Aosdána.

 9 
Richard Dawkins
(British Evolutionary Biologist Who Contends that a Supernatural Creator Almost Certainly Does Not Exist)
Richard Dawkins
22
Birthdate: March 26, 1941
Birthplace: Nairobi, Kenya

Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, author, and evolutionary biologist. He first achieved popularity after publishing his book, The Selfish Gene, which is credited with popularizing the gene selection theory. The book is also credited with introducing the term meme. In 2006, he established the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to promote secularism and scientific literacy.

 10 
Henry James
(British Author Who is Regarded as a Key Transitional Figure Between Literary Realism and Literary Modernism)
Henry James
6
Birthdate: April 15, 1843
Birthplace: New York, New York City, United States
Died: February 28, 1916

Henry James was an author, regarded as one of the greatest novelists ever to write in the English language. One of his novellas titled The Turn of the Screw has been the most analyzed ghost story in the history of English language literature. While his works have been adapted into films, he has been the subject of several other stories.

 11 
James Watson
(Molecular Biologist Who Co-discovered the Double Helix Structure of DNA With Francis Crick)
James Watson
6
Birthdate: April 6, 1928
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

James Watson is a geneticist, molecular biologist, and zoologist. He is credited with co-authoring the academic paper that propounded the double helix structure of nucleic acids such as DNA for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. In 1977, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Science.

 12 
Bob Woodward
(Journalist)
Bob Woodward
9
Birthdate: March 26, 1943
Birthplace: Geneva, Illinois, United States
 13 
Emile Zola
(French Novelist & Playwright Known for His Works 'Les Rougon-Macquart' and 'Thérèse Raquin')
Emile Zola
8
Birthdate: April 2, 1840
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: September 29, 1902

Emile Zola was a French novelist, journalist, and playwright. He played a key role in the development of theatrical naturalism and was a well-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism. He was also a political journalist and was influential in the political liberalization of France. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice.

 14 
Charles Baudelaire
(French Poet Known for His Handling of Rhyme & Rhythm and His Book 'Les Fleurs du mal')
Charles Baudelaire
10
Birthdate: April 9, 1821
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: August 31, 1867
French prose poet, essayist, and critic Charles Baudelaire was one of the first translators of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Best known for his book of poems Les Fleurs du mal, he is believed to have coined the word modernity and was associated with the symbolist and decadent movements.
 15 
Jon Krakauer
(Journalist, Explorer, Writer)
Jon Krakauer
4
Birthdate: April 12, 1954
Birthplace: Brookline, Massachusetts, United States

Best known for his bestselling novels such as Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer is not just an author who writes about the outdoors but is also a mountaineer himself. He was part of the 1996 expedition to Mt. Everest which witnessed 4 of the team members dying in a storm.

 16 
Washington Irving
(Author, Historian, Diplomat)
Washington Irving
5
Birthdate: April 3, 1783
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Died: November 28, 1859

Widely known as the first American man of letters, Washington Irving penned the legendary tales of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which are also called the first short stories by an American author. He had also had a brief stint as a lawyer.

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 17 
Flannery O'Connor
(Novelist)
Flannery O'Connor
8
Birthdate: March 25, 1925
Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia, United States
Died: August 3, 1964
 18 
Maxim Gorky
(Russian Writer Best Known for His Works 'The Lower Depths', 'Mother', 'Chelkash' and 'Children of the Sun')
Maxim Gorky
5
Birthdate: March 28, 1868
Birthplace: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Died: June 18, 1936

Maxim Gorky was a writer and political activist. He is best remembered for founding the socialist realism literary method. Gorky, who was nominated for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature on five occasions, published several novels that were later adapted into plays, films, and operas. In 1938, Valery Zhelobinsky adapted Gorky's novel Mother into an opera.

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 19 
William Morris
(Textile Designer, Poet)
William Morris
8
Birthdate: March 24, 1834
Birthplace: Walthamstow, England
Died: October 3, 1896

William Morris was a British poet, novelist, textile designer, translator, and socialist activist. He played a major role in reviving the traditional British textile arts and the various methods of production. As a novelist and poet, Morris helped establish the fantasy genre, which is prevalent today. He is counted among the most important cultural figures of the Victorian era.

 20 
Martin McDonagh
(Playwright, Screenwriter, Filmmaker)
Martin McDonagh
14
Birthdate: March 26, 1970
Birthplace: Camberwell

The director and writer of the Academy Award-winning short film, Six Shooter, Martin McDonagh is also well known as a playwright and stage director. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is one of the his noted works. The crime drama film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was another successful venture of McDonagh. He says he prefers films to plays.

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 21 
Milan Kundera
(Czech Writer Best Known for His Novel 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being')
Milan Kundera
4
Birthdate: April 1, 1929
Birthplace: Brno, Czechia

Milan Kundera is a Czech writer who became a naturalized French citizen in 1981 after going into exile in France in 1975. Although his Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked four years after going into exile, he received Czech citizenship in 2019, thanks to his achievements as a writer. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards, such as the Jerusalem Prize.

 22 
Mary Berry
(English Food Writer, Chef and Television Presenter)
Mary Berry
9
Birthdate: March 24, 1935
Birthplace: Bath, Somerset, England

Author of over 75 cookbooks, Mary Berry has also hosted several culinary shows, such as Mary Berry Cooks. The Guardian ranked her the second-best-dressed person over 50. A CBE and DBE recipient, she has also received the Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary degree.

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 23 
Jane Hawking
(Writer)
Jane Hawking
4
Birthdate: March 29, 1944
Birthplace: St Albans, Hertfordshire, England

Jane Hawking is an English teacher and author. She is best known as the ex-wife of popular physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking. She was married to Hawking for 30 years, during which she doubled up as his caretaker. Jane Hawking took good care of Stephen Hawking despite struggling from depression, for which she is much-respected in the scientific community.

 24 
Amy Sedaris
(Actress & Comedian)
Amy Sedaris
6
Birthdate: March 29, 1961
Birthplace: Endicott, New York, United States
Amy Sedaris is best known as Jerri Blank from the series Strangers with Candy and its prequel movie. She was also nominated for two Emmys for her comedy series At Home with Amy Sedaris. Some of her other notable projects are Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Mandalorian, and BoJack Horseman
 25 
MacKenzie Scott
(Novelist, Ex-Wife of Jeff Bezos)
MacKenzie Scott
10
Birthdate: April 7, 1970
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
 26 
Jonathan Van Ness
(American Hairstylist, Podcast Host and Television Personality)
Jonathan Van Ness
4
Birthdate: March 28, 1987
Birthplace: Quincy, Illinois, United States
Jonathan Van Ness, better known as JVN, is a hairdresser, podcast host, and reality star. He gained fame as a grooming expert in the series Queer Eye. He also created the Funny or Die series Gay of Thrones, a parody of Game of Thrones. He is non-binary and HIV-positive.
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 27 
James Patterson
(American Author Known for His Thrillers, Mysteries and Romance Novels)
James Patterson
8
Birthdate: March 22, 1947
Birthplace: Newburgh, New York, United States

One of the highest-earning authors in the contemporary world, James Patterson is the writer of many mystery fictions which sold records copie globally. Born to working-class parents of Irish-origin, the American writer whose thriller novels include Alex Cross and Michael Bennett series is also a philanthropist and contributes to promoting reading. He founded the James Patterson PageTurner Awards.

 28 
Robert Kiyosaki
(Businessman, Author and Founder of 'Rich Global LLC' and the 'Rich Dad Company')
Robert Kiyosaki
4
Birthdate: April 8, 1947
Birthplace: Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Robert Kiyosaki is an American author and businessman known for his internationally acclaimed book Rich Dad Poor Dad; his Rich Dad Poor Dad book series has sold more than 41 million copies worldwide after having been translated into 51 languages. Kiyosaki is also credited with founding the Rich Dad Company and Rich Global LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

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 29 
Betty Ford
(Former First Lady of the United States)
Betty Ford
4
Birthdate: April 8, 1918
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: July 8, 2011

Betty Ford served as the First Lady of the US from 1974 to 1977. One of the most popular First Ladies in history, Ford was a passionate supporter of abortion rights and worked towards raising breast cancer awareness. She commented on topics like sex, drugs, abortion, and equal pay. In 1991, she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 30 
Giacomo Casanova
(Italian Adventurer and Author)
Giacomo Casanova
5
Birthdate: April 2, 1725
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: June 4, 1798
Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova is best remembered for his memoir, Histoire de ma vie, which serves as a mirror of 18th-century European lifestyle. His countless affairs made him synonymous with the word "womanizer." He also befriended the European royalty and church authorities, and was quite fond of gambling.
 31 
Christopher Hitchens
(British-American Author Who is Known for Excoriating Criticisms of Public Contemporary Figures)
Christopher Hitchens
10
Birthdate: April 13, 1949
Birthplace: Portsmouth, England
Died: December 15, 2011

Christopher Hitchens was an advocate for New Atheism and a harsh critic of religion and of famous personalities such as Bill Clinton and Mother Teresa. He authored and edited many books on socio-political issues. As a journalist, he wrote for well-known publications such as New Statesman and The Weekly Standard.

 32 
Eric Idle
(Comedian)
Eric Idle
7
Birthdate: March 29, 1943
Birthplace: South Shields

Eric Idle is best known as a former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also part of the band The Rutles, a parody of The Beatles. Idle wrote the Tony-winning musical Spamalot and also performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

 33 
Anne Lister
(English Diarist)
Anne Lister
4
Birthdate: April 3, 1791
Birthplace: Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
Died: September 22, 1840

Apart from being a traveler and a mountaineer, Anne Lister was also known as the world’s "first modern lesbian". Nicknamed Gentleman Jack for her androgynous fashion, which almost always included the color black, she penned diaries that contained many secret codes that were deciphered much after her death.

 34 
Sam Harris
(American Philosopher, Neuroscientist and Author)
Sam Harris
7
Birthdate: April 9, 1967
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

One of the "Four Horsemen of Atheism," neuroscientist and author Sam Harris is known for his works on topics such as religion, artificial intelligence, and terrorism. His books include the New York Times bestseller The End of Faith. He hosted the podcast Making Sense and released a meditation app, too.

 35 
Eudora Welty
(Writer)
Eudora Welty
3
Birthdate: April 13, 1909
Birthplace: Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Died: July 23, 2001
 36 
Christopher Darden
4
Birthdate: April 7, 1956
Birthplace: Martinez, California, United States

Christopher Darden is a man who dons many hats. He is a lawyer, author, actor, and lecturer with 15 years of experience in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. He was a co-prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case. He resigned after the case and started teaching criminal procedure and trial advocacy to university students.

 37 
Joseph Campbell
(American Writer Best Known for His Book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’)
Joseph Campbell
4
Birthdate: March 26, 1904
Birthplace: White Plains, New York, United States
Died: October 30, 1987
Joseph Campbell taught literature at the Sarah Lawrence College and specialized in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His notable works include The Hero with a Thousand Faces and the four-volume Historical Atlas of World Mythology. He also worked on the miniseries, The Power of Myth, with Bill Moyers.
 38 
Dan Simmons
(American Science Fiction and Horror Writer Best Known for His 'Hyperion Cantos' Series)
Dan Simmons
3
Birthdate: April 4, 1948
Birthplace: Peoria, Illinois, United States

Best known for his Hyperion Cantos series, author Dan Simmons initially taught as part of an elementary school program named APEX. He has trained people in writing and has his own writing curriculum named Writing Well. He is also often found writing at his isolated cabin near Rocky Mountain.

 39 
Edward Gibbon
(Historian)
Edward Gibbon
4
Birthdate: April 8, 1737
Birthplace: London, England
Died: January 16, 1794

Eighteenth-century historian and author Edward Gibbon is best remembered for his 6-volume historical work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a narrative that charted events from the 2nd century to the Fall of Constantinople. He had also been an MP, representing Lymington and Liskeard.

 40 
Thornton Wilder
(Playwright)
Thornton Wilder
4
Birthdate: April 17, 1897
Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Died: December 7, 1975
 41 
Gil Scott-Heron
(Poet and Singer-songwriter)
Gil Scott-Heron
4
Birthdate: April 1, 1949
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: May 27, 2011
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 42 
Brad Hall
(Actor)
Brad Hall
4
Birthdate: March 21, 1958
Birthplace: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 43 
Beverly Cleary
4
Birthdate: April 12, 1916
Birthplace: McMinnville, Oregon, United States
Died: March 25, 2021
 44 
A. E. Housman
3
Birthdate: March 26, 1859
Birthplace: Fockbury, England
Died: April 30, 1936
 45 
Jeremy Wade
(Television presenter, Writer)
Jeremy Wade
4
Birthdate: March 23, 1956
Birthplace: Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Jeremy Wade is a British TV presenter, biologist, and freshwater detective. He is best known for his TV series River Monsters, Mighty Rivers, and Dark Waters. He attended the University of Kent and began his career as a biology teacher. He made his TV debut by chance and didn’t take long to become a popular TV presenter. 

 46 
Linda Lee Cadwell
(Widow of Bruce Lee & Author of the Bruce Lee Biography 'Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew')
Linda Lee Cadwell
4
Birthdate: March 21, 1945
Birthplace: Everett, Washington, United States
Linda Lee Cadwell, former wife of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, is a teacher and author who met Bruce at a Kung Fu workshop in Seattle. Her memoir Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew inspired Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. She was a trustee of the Bruce Lee Foundation.
 47 
Mario Vargas Llosa
(Latin America's Most Significant Novelist and Essayist and Winner of 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature)
Mario Vargas Llosa
4
Birthdate: March 28, 1936
Birthplace: Arequipa, Peru
In March 2020, Chinese e-book platforms virtually banned Nobel Prize-winning Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa after he suggested that China was largely responsible for the origin of the COVID-19 virus. One of Latin American’s most respected authors, he has penned bestsellers such as The Feast of the Goat.
 48 
Samuel R. Delany
(Author and Literary Critic Best Known for His Novels: 'Babel-17' and 'The Einstein Intersection, Hogg')
Samuel R. Delany
3
Birthdate: April 1, 1942
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, United States

Known for his science-fiction novels such as Dhalgren, Babel-17, and the Nèverÿon series, author Samuel R. Delany often touches upon themes of sex, race, and language. A descendant of civil rights activists, he dropped out of college to write. Though gay, he was once married to lesbian poet Marilyn Hacker.

 49 
Wilhelm Reich
(One of the Most Radical Figures in the History of Psychiatry)
Wilhelm Reich
4
Birthdate: March 24, 1897
Birthplace: Dobryanychi, Ukraine
Died: November 3, 1957

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian psychoanalyst and doctor of medicine. He is credited with shaping innovations like body psychotherapy, primal therapy, and Gestalt therapy. Also a writer, Reich's books like The Sexual Revolution and The Mass Psychology of Fascism influenced generations of intellectuals. Also a controversial figure, some of Wilhelm Reich's practices caused a disturbance in the psychoanalytic community.

 50 
John Le Mesurier
(English Actor)
John Le Mesurier
4
Birthdate: April 5, 1912
Birthplace: Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK
Died: November 15, 1983
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)