Notable Authors Born in September

From beloved children's authors to trailblazing poets to a pair of literary royal figures—"The Queen of Crime" and "The King of Horror"—September is the birth month of many notable and acclaimed wordsmiths. We're delighted to celebrate them and their beloved works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, theater, and more.

Literary legends born in September

September 1

• Edgar Rice Burroughs (1918–1998), Prolific American author of adventure, science-fiction, and fantasy, Tarzan of the Apes

September 2

• Allen Drury (1924–1987), Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, Advise and Consent

September 3

• Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909), Maine novelist, The Country of the Pointed Firs
• Malcolm Gladwell (1963– ), Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker, Outliers
• Jenny Han (1980– ), Virginia-born author best known for her YA fiction, To All the Boys I've Loved Before

September 4

• Mary Renault (1905–1983), British historical novelist, The King Must Die
• Richard Wright (1908–1960), Mississippi-born African-American novelist, Native Son

September 5

• Ward Just (1935–2019), Indiana native, journalist, and fiction writer, An Unfinished Season

September 6

• Robert M. Pirsig (1928– ), Minnesota-born writer, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• Alice Sebold (1963– ), Wisconsin-born author, The Lovely Bones

September 7

• Joe Klein (1946– ), New York journalist and author, Primary Colors
• Jennifer Egan (1962– ), Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, A Visit From the Goon Squad

September 8

• Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914), Provençal poet and Nobelist, Memoirs of Mistral
• Ann Beattie (1947– ), Washington D.C.-born novelist and short story writer, Chilly Scenes of Winter

September 9

• Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time, Anna Karenina
• Sonia Sanchez (1934– ), Alabama native poet, playwright, children's author, and essayist, Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems

September 10

• Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886–1966), Groundbreaking African-American poet and playwright; an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance, The Heart of a Woman, and Other Poems
• Mary Oliver (1935–2019), American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Devotions

September 11

• Henry (1862–1910), North Carolina-born short story writer, who began writing while serving time in jail, The Gift of the Magi
• H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist and poet, Women in Love
• James McBride (1957– ), National Book Award-winning African-American writer, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

September 12

• Michael Ondaatje, (1943– ), Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist, The English Patient

September 13

• Sherwood Anderson, (1876–1941), Self-educated American novelist and short story writer, Winesburg, Ohio
• Roald Dahl (1916–1990), British author best known for his children's literature, James and the Giant Peach

September 14

• John Steptoe (1950–1989), Brooklyn-born African-American children's author, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
• Geraldine Brooks (1955– ), Pulitzer Prize-winning Australian-American journalist and novelist, March

September 15

• James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851), Social critic, historian, and the first Major American novelist, The Last of the Mohicans
• Agatha Christie (1890–1976), English mystery author known as the Queen of Crime, Murder on the Orient Express
• Robert McCloskey (1914–2003), Award-winning American author of children's books, Make Way for Ducklings
• Tomie DePaola (1934–2020), New England children's author and illustrator, Strega Nona

September 16

• John Gay (1685–1732), English satirical and burlesque poet and dramatist, The Beggar's Opera
• John Knowles (1926–2001), West Virginia-born novelist, A Separate Peace
• Elizabeth McCracken (1966– ), Boston-native award-winning author, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

September 17

• William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), New Jersey-native doctor and poet, The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams: 1909-1939
• Ken Kesey (1935–2001), Colorado-born novelist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Cheryl Strayed (1968– ), American writer and podcast host, Wild

September 18

• Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), Oft-quoted English writer, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

September 19

• William Golding (1911–1993), English novelist and Nobelist, Lord of the Flies
• Rebecca Skloot (1972– ), American science writer, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

September 20

• Upton Sinclair (1878–1968), American author, muckraker, and political activist, The Jungle
• Jude Deveraux (1947– ), American author of historical romances, A Knight in Shining Armor
• Javier Marías (1951–2022), Highly acclaimed Spanish novelist, A Heart So White

September 21

• G. Wells (1866–1946), English writer best known for his science-fiction novels, The War of the Worlds
• Fannie Flagg (1944– ), American novelist, actress, and comedian, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
• Stephen King (1947– ), American author known as the King of Horror, Carrie

September 22

• Rosamunde Pilcher (1924–2019), British novelist, The Shell Seekers

September 23

• Emmuska Orczy (1865–1947), Hungarian-British novelist, The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Wesley Chu (1976– ), Taiwanese-American author of speculative fiction, The Art of Legend

September 24

• Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), Despite not finding success during his life, the author is considered one of the greatest American authors of the 20th century, The Beautiful and the Damned
• Eleanor Catton (1985– ), Canada-born New Zealand novelist and screenwriter, The Luminaries

September 25

• William Faulkner (1897–1962), Mississippi Nobel Prize-winning novelist, The Sound and the Fury
• Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), Chicago-born writer, cartoonist, poet, and songwriter known best for his children's literature, Where the Sidewalk Ends
• bell hooks (1952–2021), African American writer, philosopher, social critic, poet, and professor, All About Love
• Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1964–2020), Spanish novelist, The Shadow of the Wind

September 26

• S. Eliot (1888–1965), American-born English poet and Nobelist, The Waste Land and Other Poems
• Jane Smiley (1949– ), Los Angeles-born Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, A Thousand Acres

September 27

• Grazia Deledda (1875–1935), Italian novelist and Nobelist, Cosima
• Joyce Johnson (1935– ), Queens-born Beat Generation author, Minor Characters

September 28

• Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856–1923), Maine writer best known for her children's literature, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

September 29

• Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language, Don Quixote
• Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865), English author of Victorian novels, North and South

September 30

• Truman Capote (1924–1984), American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor, In Cold Blood
• Ta-Nehisi Coates (1975– ), Award-winning African-American journalist and author, Between the World and Me

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