Authors

Austrian-American writer

Argentine author

Japanese novelist

Contemporary African American poet

Syrian-American poet and short story writer

Portuguese poet

American author

Contemporary American novelist, essayist, translator, and poet

Contemporary Chicano poet and writer of short stories and screen plays

Belarusian writer

20th century American journalist, novelist and Modernist writer

19th century French poet, essayist, and translator

Contemporary Chinese poet, representative of the Misty Poets.

Contemporary Ukrainian writer

Chinese-born American poet

Twentieth-century Chilean poet and novelist

Twentieth-century Argentine author

Brazilian writer

Contemporary Chinese fiction writer and literary critic

Canadian poet, essayist and translator of Greek mythology

Salvadoran writer and journalist

American author, art historian and literary critic

20th century French writer and physician

20th century poet, author, and playwright

20th century Argentine novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer and Surrealist

Mexican short story writer

20th century Japanese novelist

American writer

20th century American poet

Jamaican American writer

Prix Goncourt winning French novelist

20th century Japanese writer

German writer and former opera director

American writer, publisher, activist, visual artist, and founder of City Lights Books

Contemporary American fiction writer

American poet, novelist, and translator

Franco-Lithuanian novelist

20th century British novelist

David Hinton is an American poet and translator of ancient Chinese poetry.

Japanese writer

Israeli author and translator

American poet and essayist

Czech novelist and poet

South Korean poet

Egyptian activist and writer

American writer

Christopher Isherwood was an English-American novelist who is best known for his novel _A Single Man_.

Lebanese novelist and journalist

Fleur Jaggy is a translator and novelist.

Camilo José Cela was a significant contributor to 20th century Spanish Literature.

Japanese novelist, poet, essayist, and critic

American writer and translator

WINNER OF THE 2025 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Miroslav Krleža was a dominant Croatian and Yugoslav writer.

Indonesian writer

James Laughlin was the founder of New Directions and author of several collections of poetry

Poet and political activist

20th-century Brazilian writer

Contemporary Albanian poet

Contemporary American poet

18th Century French writer

Contemporary Spanish novelist

Contemporary American Poet

Contemporary American Poet, Playwright, Novelist

Mexican Author

20th Century Theological Poet

20th Century Iraqi Poet

20th Century American writer

20th Century Japanese novelist and playwright

20th Century Russian novelist

Contemporary American Poet

Twentieth-century Mexican Poet

American columnist and novelist

20th Century American poet

British writer

20th Century French experimentalist

Mexican writer and activist

20th Century American poet, essayist, and translator.

Contemporary Colombian novelist

20th Century Austrian writer

Japanese poet and translator

20th century American poet and short story writer

German novelist and poet

French writer

Patti Smith is an American singer-songwriter and author.

20th century English poet and novelist

Dutch writer

Contemporary American beat poet, essayist and environmental activist

Norwegian writer

20th century Scottish novelist, poet and essayist

Polish poet

Japanese writer

Contemporary Japanese-German prose writer

20th century Welsh poet

English poet and writer

Swedish poet and Nobel Laureate

Spanish writer

Danish writer

Contemporary American poet

Early twentieth-century Swiss novelist

American essayist and translator

One of the greatest poets of the 20th Century, William Carlos Williams is “The cornerstone of New Directions”

America’s playwright

Iranian-Dutch novelist

Spanish translator

Translator of German

20th-century Romanian-born Jewish poet, prose writer, and translator of works into Romanian

Korean poet and translator

Translator of Portuguese and Spanish literature

American translator, novelist, poet, and essayist

Italian novelist

contemporary Mexican writer, editor

Poet and translator from the German

Spanish Translator

Spanish and Portuguese translator

Benjamin Moser is an American writer and translator.

Danish translator

French and Spanish translator

American writer

Stefan Tobler is a translator from Portuguese and German.

Romanian novelist

Contemporary Danish novelist and poet.

Arabic translator

Translator from the Arabic

20th Century Modernist poet

Translator of Hungarian Literature

Ancient Tamil poet and Jain monk.

Peruvian modernist writer

Translator of Norwegian

Contemporary Chinese author and screenwriter

Urdu translator

Contemporary translator from the Danish and Norwegian

20th century Pakistani novelist

Contemporary American poet and novelist

Cape Verdean contemporary author

Contemporary American writer and critic. Staff writer at The New Yorker.

20th century Italian journalist and writer

Translator from the Spanish, French, and Portuguese

20th century German novelist and journalist

20th century American novelist and short story writer

20th century American author, editor and scholar

Contemporary American poet and critic

Contemporary Chinese novelist

Translator from the Russian

20th century French poet, playwright, art critic and Surrealist

Contemporary Mexican-Greek poet, novelist, columnist, diplomat and environmental activist.

Editor

Contemporary Australian novelist

20th century poet and translator of both Russian and Chuvash

19th century French novelist, playwright and realist

Contemporary poet and editor

John Banville is an Irish novelist.

Contemporary American poet and translator from Ancient Greek

Contemporary American author and scholar

Japanese translator, essayist, and author

Contemporary scholar of American culture and historian

Contemporary French novelist

20th century English novelist and short story writer

Contemporary English writer, editor and pediatrician

German Translator

Walter Benjamin was a German-Jewish literary critic, philosopher, translator and essayist.

20th century German poet, novelist and essayist

British writer

Contemporary British-American critic, playwright, editor, and translator

20th century Russian immigrant novelist and short story writer who settled in Paris

Mexican writer

20th century Italian novelist, film critic, and playwright

Translator of Star

20th century German journalist, literary critic and political writer

20th century Argentine writer, translator and journalist

Tasmanian-born Australian novelist and short story writer

20th century American literary critic and poet

American critic

20th century German lyric poet, narrative writer, and essayist

Contemporary Hungarian writer

20th century German author and playright of the Trümmerliteratur movement

20th century Norwegian author, journalist, and critic

Contemporary French writer, visual poet and painter

20th century Ukrainian born French Surrealist poet

Moroccan writer, poet, illustrator, and filmmaker

Translator and assistant professor of Japanese

Robert Boyers is an American author and Tisch Professor of Arts and Letters at Skidmore College.

20th century writer and political activist

Contemporary Mexican poet

Contemporary Caribbean writer

20th century British poet

20th century American poet

British experimental writer and literary critic

British painter

17th Century English writer

An award-winning writer and editor

20th century Russian novelist, playwright and journalist

Spanish translator

Modernist poet of the 20th century and journalist

20th century American short story writer and novelist

Translator from the Spanish

20th century Austrian writer and translator

Editor of Spotlight Poetry Series

Contemporary Nicaraguan theologian and poet

Researcher, philosopher, and writer

American writer and translator

Contemporary writer, journalist and scholar

20th century American poet, literary critic and editor

20th century British author, biographer and historian

20th century Irish novelist and artist

Ancient Roman poet

20th century Swiss Modernist novelist and poet

20th century French poet and Surrealist

19th century Indian novelist

20th century Polish novelist

20th century Chinese novelist

Contemporary American poet, reviewer and biographer

Translator from the Spanish

20th century British writer, publisher, bookseller and radio producer

20th century British novelist and Council official

20th century French avant-garde writer, filmmaker and boxing manager

Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-American poet and novelist.

American translator from the Spanish

Contemporary American, Jewish novelist and short story writer

American Novelist

Contemporary American poet and translator of Hebrew.

Contemporary American writer, professor and psychiatrist

Translator from the Arabic

20th century Irish novelist and historical writer

20th century American poet, editor and translator

20th century American writer and Beat poet

20th century Egyptian writer

Editor of Black Mountain Poems

20th century poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, editor and teacher

Contemporary Romanian author

20th century expatriate American novelist and essayist

20th century British author and literary critic

20th century French intellectual, philosopher and specialist on Indian culture

Edwidge Danticat is an Haitian-American author.

20th century French avant-garde poet, novelist, essayist and Surrealist

20th century American writer, artist and professor

American photographer, filmmaker, and writer

Contemporary American poet and literary critic

Contemporary American writer and journalist

Contemporary American fiction writer

American poet

Translator

Michael Dirda is an American literary critic.

Writer, translator, professor

A prize-winning writer of novels, novellas, short stories, and poetry

Russian writer

20th century American fiction writer and songwriter for Broadway and television

20th century French novelist, playwright and editor

20th century American poet affiliated with the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement.

20th century Hungarian writer

20th century American writer and poet

Contemporary American Jungian analyst

Contemporary American prose poet

Chilean writer

Japanese translator

20th century English literary critic and writer

Publisher and editor in chief of New Directions

Jeffrey Eugenides is an American novelist.

20th century Welsh story-writer, journalist, playwright and novelist

20th century American Beat poet and critic

20th century British poet

19th century Portuguese diplomat and writer

20th century Iranian poet

20th century Dutch poet

Argentine poet, editor, and translator

20th century British novelist

20th century American teacher and translator of Greek

20th century American writer of the Jazz Age

19th century French novelist

20th century Puerto Rican writer

Brazilian writer from San Paulo

Frances Frenaye (1908–1996) was an American translator of French and Italian literature.

Contemporary American literary critic and professor

French gallerist and writer

Contemporary American writer, poet, teacher, academic psychologist and musician

Translator from the Russian

20th century American author

Constance Garnett (1861–1946) was the first major translator of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Gogol into English.

Translator

William H. Gass is an American novelist and critic.

Contemporary German freelance writer

20th century Anglo-Russian novelist, playwright and short story writer

Contemporary Greek poet

20th century French novelist, critic, translator and essayist

Mirra Ginsburg is a Belarusian-born writer and translator.

Argentine poet

Albanian translator and poet

Contemporary American writer and editor

Translator

German author, poet and philosopher of the 18th and 19th centuries

Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) was a novelist and political satirist. The author of _Dead Souls_ and _The Overcoat_, he is considered one of Russia’s greatest writers.

American writer

20th century Franco-German bilingual writer, playwright, novelist, translator and poet

Author and translator from the French

Austrian poet

Contemporary American poet

Contemporary German novelist

20th century Chinese poet

John Guare is an American playwright.

Henri Guigonnat was a French writer primarily known for his book, Daemon in Lithuania, which is testimony to his humorous, perverse and elegant writing style.

20th Century French Poet

Novelist, critic, and professor

Contemporary Swedish novelist, story-writer, poet, critic and professor.

Portuguese translator

Contemporary English fiction writer and poet

20th century American novelist and poet

Contemporary American poet

Norwegian novelist of the 19th and 20th centuries

Contemporary Austrian modernist novelist, poet, playwright and drama writer

Japanese translator

Translator

Translator from the Spanish

Contemporary writer

UK-based translator from the Spanish.

Austrian novelist

20th century American novelist

20th century American editor and professor

Contemporary American poet

German scholar

Translator

Brazilian writer and artist

Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski was a Polish writer and soldier. He is best known for writing a personal account of life in the Soviet gulag called _A World Apart_

William Herrick traveled all around the United States as a hobo, fought in the Spanish Civil War and spent much of his life in New York as a court reporter.

Herman Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter who received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature.

20th Century German writer and scholar

Translator

Edwin Honig was an American poet, playwright and translator. He was involved in the founding of the Brown University Graduate Program in Creative Writing.

Paul Hoover is an American poet and editor, and is widely known as the editor of New American Writing

International Booker Prize Melchor Hurricane Season contemporary Spanish translator

Chilean poet

Maude Hutchins was an American novelist who was noted for her use of the nouveau roman style of writing.

French translator

Indian novelist, academic and journalist

Japanese journalist, poet, and essayist

Brazilian journalist, poet, novelist, and essayist who favored classical forms and rhythms

Philippe Jaccottet is a poet and translator who publishes in French.

American Actress

Henry James was a prolific author and one of the key figures of 19th century literary realism.

Gustav Janouch was a Czech poet and memoirist remembered most for his memoir _Conversations with Kafka_

Alfred Jarry was a French author and dramatist. The production of his Ubu Roi caused great controversy and riot on its opening night.

Robinson Jeffers was a modernist American poet

B.S. Johnson was an English experimental novelist, poet, and critic.

Gabriel Josipovici is a British novelist, critic and university professor.

James Joyce was one of innovators of postmodernism. He is widely considered one of the most important writers of the 20th century.

Early 20th century Irish writer and scholar

Bilge Karasu is regarded as the preeminent Turkish Modernist writer

Contemporary American poet and writer

Robert Kaufman was a Beat Poet who helped define the “San Francisco Renaissance” poetry movement

Translator and scholar of Japanese literature

Sue Monk Kidd is an American novelist.

Abdelfattah Kilito is a Moroccan author who has published several books in Arabic and French.

Lincoln Kirstein was an American writer best known for founding the New York City Ballet.

Danilo Kiš was a Yugoslavian novelist who wrote in Serbo-Croatian.

Translator from the Chinese

Heinrich von Kleist was a German writer and soldier.

Alexander Kluge is a famous German filmmaker and author.

Taeko Kono is a well known contemporary Japanese writer and critic.

Dezső Kosztolányi was a Hungarian prose writer and poet.

Elaine Kraf is an American novelist and teacher.

Contemporary American author and friend of New Directions

Rüdiger Kremer is a contemporary German writer.

Hungarian writer

Mark Kurlansky is an American non-fiction writer and journalist.

16th century French female poet

Poet of Moral Tales

John Lahr is a theater critic and has been the senior drama critic for the New Yorker since October 1992.

Biographer of Cesare Pavase

Art critic and collector.

P. Lal was a poet and Sanskrit scholar who helped bring ancient Sanskrit plays to a modern audience.

The Dalai Lama is both the head of State and the spiritual leader of Tibet.

Tommaso Landolfi was a Italian writer and translator. His collection of stories, Gogol’s wife, was cited as a “must read” by Donald Barthelme

author of Stitching Porcelain

Controversial French author who influenced surrealism

Author of Lady Chatterly’s Lover and Quetzalcoatl

author of “33 Poems”

Author of “Selected Poems”

Ursula K. Le Guin is an American writer.

Canadian poet

Author of “Expecting”

Author of Fabricating Lives

Poet and Nun

German author Siegfried Lenz has written novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre.

Literary scholar

Editor of Blast Magazine, Co-founder of Vorticism

Ancient Chinese poet

Ancient Chinese poet

20th Century Chilean poet

Hsieh Ling-Yün was an ancient Chinese poet who is credited with initiating the tradition of “rivers-and-mountains” poetry.

20th Century Spanish Poet

Translator of Brazilian literature

Scholar and translator of Norwegian

Author of “The Three Fates”

Contemporary American Translator of Julio Cortázar’s FINAL EXAM

20th Century Scottish Poet

20th century Scottish poet

Contemporary Australian translator of Ah Chang

Ian. S. MacNiven is a American biographer.

Poet

Chinese-Swedish writer and poet

French Symbolist Poet

20th Century Belgian writer

20th century writer.

20th century American film writer and producer

Translator and editor

20th Century Novelist

Contemporary Experimental Novelist

American poet and translator from the French.

American poet and translator from the French.

Armistead Maupin is an American writer.

Translator

Japanese translator

20th Century American novelist

Translator from the Spanish

Terrence McNally is an American playwright

20th Century American Poet and Publisher

20th Century American Writer

20th Century Belgian Poet

Translator of Spanish

19th Century French Poet and Nobel Laureate

Contemporary American translator of German literature

21st Century Japanese novelist

20th Century Italian poet and Nobel laureate

Rick Moody is an American novelist and short story writer.

20th Century French Poet

American Translator

Gregory Mosher is a long time director, producer, and writer. He is currently a professor at Columbia University.

Translator of French literature

Contemporary Chinese fiction writer and visual artist

Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet.

American writer

20th Century American writer

American translator of Norwegian literature

20th Century Chilean poet

20th century American beat poet

20th Century American Poet

Translates from the German.

Japanese translator

Contemporary Belgian writer

Contemporary writer and translator

American translator of Norwegian literature

Contemporary American Novelist

New Directions Publisher and Memoirist

Hungarian translator

20th Century American Poet

20th Century American Poet

Translator

20th Century British poet

20th Century Mexican Poet

Writer, German translator

20th Century Chilean Poet

20th Century Theologian

20th Century Russian Writer

20th Century American Poet

Translator of Portuguese literature

20th Century Czech Writer

Mexican artist

Contemporary Russian novelist

Contemporary American Literary Critic

Translator of Portuguese

20th Century French Poet

Writer and high-wire walker

20th Century Haitian writer

Argentine poet

Ancient Chiense Poet

professor and translator

20th Century American Writer

20th Century Welsh Novelist

20th Century American novelist

20th Century Chinese novelist

20th Century American translator

20th Century American memoirist

American translator

20th Century American Poet

20th Century American literary critic

20th Century Indian novelist

20th Century British writer

20th Century American Art Critic

Translator

James Reidel is a poet, translator, and biographer.

20th Century French poet

20th century Guatemalan novelist

20th Century American writer of the Objectivist group

Contemporary Irish writer

20th century German-language poet, novelist and translator

19th century French poet

20th Century American writer

20th century American poet, writer and art critic

Editor and Professor of Greek Language and Literature

British late 19th century novelist and short story writer

20th century Cuban novelist

Contemporary American poet

Contemporary German novelist and poet

American poet and activist

Danish translator

Contemporary Indian novelist and journalist

12th century Japanese poet

17th century Japanese poet

Geoffrey W. Sargent is a translator.

20th century American novelist and playwright

French-Algerian writer who wrote only two novels before dying at twenty-nine.

20th century French writer, critic and philosopher

Contemporary American writer

20th Century Zen Buddhist nun and writer

Gertrude Schwebell is primarily a translator of German writing.

Contemporary English-Australian poet

Contemporary Canadian poet, journalist and diplomat

Will Self is a British novelist and short story writer.

Translator from the Japanese

Contemporary Israeli poet and translator

18th century Indian writer

American playwright, screenwriter and director

Ancient Tamil Poet

Contemporary experimental Japanese poet

Translator from the Spanish

Contemporary American translator of Spanish

Contemporary Serbian poet and translator

Contemporary English writer and historian

20th-century British poet, translator, essayist, and novelist

Danish translator

Japanese translator

20th Century English minister, scholar and teacher

Translator

20th century American poet and writer

Translator from the Spanish

20th century American poet, novelist and critic

American poet

Irish literary critic

Contemporary critic and essayist

Contemporary American writer

Early 19th century French novelist

20th century Russian writer and editor.

Bianca Stone is a poet and illustrator.

Editor and translator

Early 20th century Uruguayan poet

20th century American literary critic

Early 20th century Italian novelist

Contemporary Swedish writer

Poet and French translator

Contemporary Italian writer and academic

Contemporary franco-american poet, translator and critic

Contemporary British novelist

20th century American writer

20th century French scholar

Vietnamese novelist

Contemporary German author

Contemporary British poet and scholar

Early 20th century Italian realist writer

20th century American critic

Contemporary Japanese writer

20th Century Russian writer

8th century Chinese poet

20th Century Italian writer

Contemporary American writer

Colm Tóibín is an Irish author.

Contemporary Croatian writer

John Updike is an American novelist and literary critic.

19th century French poet and philosopher

Early 20th century Flemish writer

American translator

Contemporary Brazilian writer

Latin American poet

20th Century writer

Contemporary English writer and critic

An enduring American actor

8th century Chinese poet

20th Century American writer

John Waters is an American filmmaker, actor and writer.

20th Century Welsh poet and translator

American artist

Contemporary South African novelist

Scholar and Arabic translator

Translator

American Dickinson scholar

20th century American author and screenwriter

Contemporary English Novelist

20th Century American poet

20th Century American Scholar

Translator

20th Century American poet and publisher

Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who contributed largely to the Off-Off-Broadway theater scene in the 1980s.

Translators from the German

20th century American poet and literary critic

Songwriter and composer (1376/7-1445) of the German Renaissance

American critic, essayist, and novelist

Jim Woodring is an American comic book writer and artist.

A prize-winning novelist and nonfiction writer, and a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Translator

Irish writer and translator

Novelist, essayist, critic, and professor

Contemporary Russian author

20th century American poet

Brazilian poet, novelist, critic.

20th century Portuguese poet and translator

Spanish lexicographer (1539-1613) under Philip II

French author and army general

Baroque period author of The Princess of Clèves

A queer interdisciplinary artist and writer

20th century French Surrealist poet

20th Century Hungarian Writer