List of Atheist Authors - Authors

Authors

• Forrest J Ackerman (1916–2008): American writer, historian, editor, collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan. He was, for over seven decades, one of science fiction's staunchest spokesmen and promoters.
• Douglas Adams (1952–2001): British radio and television writer and novelist, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• Javed Akhtar (born 1945): Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter.
• Tariq Ali (born 1943): British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner and commentator.
• Jorge Amado (1912–2001): Brazilian author.
• Sir Kingsley Amis (1922–1995): English novelist, poet, critic and teacher, most famous for his novels Lucky Jim and the Booker Prize-winning The Old Devils.
• Eric Ambler OBE (1909–1998): influential English writer of spy novels who introduced a new realism to the genre.
• Philip Appleman (born 1926): poet, novelist and professor emeritus of English literature.
• Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – c. 386 BC): Ancient Greek playwright and poet.
• Antonin Artaud (1896–1948): French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director. Known for The Theatre and its Double.
• Isaac Asimov (1920–1992): Russian-born American author of science fiction and popular science books.
• Diana Athill (born 1917): British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century.
• James Baldwin (1924–1987): American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.
• J.G. Ballard (1930–2009): English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction. His best-known books are Crash and the semi-autobiographical Empire of the Sun.
• Iain Banks (born 1954): Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks.
• Dave Barry (born 1954): American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. Barry is the son of a Presbyterian minister, and decided "early on" that he was an atheist.
• Gregory Benford (born 1941): American science fiction author and astrophysicist.
• Pierre Berton CC, O.Ont (1920–2004): Noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist.
• Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922): English poet, writer and diplomat.
• William Boyd CBE (born 1952): Scottish novelist and screenwriter.
• Lily Braun (1865–1916): German feminist writer.
• Howard Brenton (born 1942): English playwright, who gained notoriety for his 1980 play The Romans in Britain.
• André Breton (1896–1966): French writer, poet, artist, and surrealist theorist, best known as the main founder of surrealism.
• Brigid Brophy, Lady Levey (1929–1995): English novelist, essayist, critic, biographer, and dramatist.
• Alan Brownjohn (1931–1995): English poet and novelist.
• Charles Bukowski (1920–1994): American author.
• John Burroughs (1837–1921): American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement.
• Lawrence Bush (born 1951): Author of several books of Jewish fiction and non-fiction, including Waiting for God: The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist.
• Mary Butts (1890–1937): English modernist writer.
• João Cabral de Melo Neto, (1920–1999): Brazilian poet, considered one of the greatest Brazilian poets of all time.
• Henry Cadbury (1883–1974): a biblical scholar and Quaker who contributed to the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
• John W. Campbell (1910–1971): American science fiction writer and editor.
• Albert Camus (1913–1960): French philosopher and novelist who has been considered a luminary of existentialism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.
• Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907): Italian poet and teacher. In 1906, he became the first Italian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• Angela Carter (1940–1992): English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism and science fiction works.
• Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008): British scientist and science-fiction author.
• Edward Clodd (1840–1930): English banker, writer and anthropologist, an early populariser of evolution, keen folklorist and chairman of the Rationalist Press Association.
• Anton Chekhov (1860–1904): Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history.
• Claud Cockburn (1904–1981): Renowned radical British writer and journalist, controversial for his communist sympathies.
• G. D. H. Cole (1889–1959): English political theorist, economist, writer and historian.
• Ivy Compton-Burnett DBE (1884–1969): English novelist.
• Cyril Connolly (1903–1974): English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
• Joseph Conrad (1857-1924): Polish novelist who wrote in English.
• Edmund Cooper (1926–1982): English poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction and other genres, published under his own name and several pen names.
• William Cooper (1910–2002): English novelist.
• Paul-Louis Couchoud (1879-1959), French philosopher and psychiatrist, a proponent of the Christ myth thesis, author of The Creation of Christ" (1937/1939)
• Jim Crace (born 1946): English writer, winner of numerous awards.
• Theodore Dalrymple (born 1949): pen name of British writer and retired physician Anthony Daniels.
• Akshay Kumar Datta (1820–1886): Bengali writer.
• Rhys Davies (1901–1978): Welsh novelist and short story writer.
• Frank Dalby Davison (1893–1970): Australian novelist and short story writer, best known for his animal stories and sensitive interpretations of Australian bush life.
• Charles Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist, author of On the Origin of Species (1859)
• Richard Dawkins (born 1941): British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. He was formerly Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford and a fellow of New College, Oxford. Author of books such as The Selfish Gene (1976), The Blind Watchmaker (1986) and The God Delusion (2006).
• Alain de Botton (born 1969), author of Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion, 2012.
• Marquis de Sade (1740–1814): French aristocrat, revolutionary and writer of philosophy-laden and often violent pornography.
• Daniel Dennett (born 1942): American author and philosopher.
• Isaac Deutscher (1907–1967): British journalist, historian and biographer.
• Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008): American science fiction author and poet, winner of several awards.
• Carlo Dossi (1849–1910): Italian writer and diplomat.
• Roddy Doyle (born 1958): Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter, winner of the Booker Prize in 1993.
• Ruth Dudley Edwards (born 1944): Irish historian, crime novelist, journalist and broadcaster.
• Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955): Award-winning British poet, playwright and freelance writer.
• Turan Dursun (1934–1990): Islamic scholar, imam and mufti, and latterly, an outspoken atheist.
• Terry Eagleton (born 1943): British literary critic, currently Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester.
• Greg Egan (born 1961): Australian computer programmer and science fiction author.
• Dave Eggers (born 1970): American writer, editor, and publisher.
• Barbara Ehrenreich (born 1941): American feminist, socialist and political activist. She is a widely read columnist and essayist, and the author of nearly 20 books.
• George Eliot (1819–1890): Mary Ann Evans, the famous novelist, was also a humanist and propounded her views on theism in an essay called Evangelical Teaching'.
• Harlan Ellison (born 1934): American science fiction author and screenwriter.
• F.M. Esfandiary/FM-2030 (1930–2000): Transhumanist writer and author of books such as Identity Card,The Beggar, UpWingers, and Are You a Transhuman. In several of his books, he encouraged readers to "outgrow" religion, and that "God was a crude concept-vengeful wrathful destructive."
• Dylan Evans (born 1966): British academic and author who has written books on emotion and the placebo effect as well as the theories of Jacques Lacan.
• Gavin Ewart (1916–1995): British poet.
• Michel Faber (born 1960): Dutch author who writes in English, most famous for the Victorian-set postmodernist novel The Crimson Petal and the White.
• Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006): Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer.
• Vardis Fisher (1895–1968): American writer and scholar, author of atheistic Testament of Man series.
• Tom Flynn (born 1955): American author and Senior Editor of Free Inquiry magazine.
• Ken Follett (born 1949): British author of thrillers and historical novels.
• E. M. Forster OM (1879–1970): English novelist, short story writer, and essayist, best known for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th century British society.
• John Fowles (1926–2005): English novelist and essayist, noted especially for The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Magus (novel).
• Anatole France (1844-1924): French novelist and journalist, Nobel Prize in Literature (1921).
• Maureen Freely (born 1952): American journalist, novelist, translator and teacher.
• James Frey (born 1969): American author, screenwriter and director.
• Stephen Fry (born 1957): British author, actor and television personality
• Frederick James Furnivall (1825–1910): English philologist, one of the co-creators of the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Alex Garland (born 1970): British novelist and screenwriter, author of The Beach and the screenplays for 28 Days Later and Sunshine.
• Constance Garnett (1861–1946): English translator, whose translations of nineteenth-century Russian classics first introduced them widely to the English and American public.
• Nicci Gerrard (born 1958): British author and journalist, who with her husband Sean French writes psychological thrillers under the pen name of Nicci French.
• Rebecca Goldstein (born 1950): American novelist and professor of philosophy.
• Nadine Gordimer (born 1923): South African writer and political activist. Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. She won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1991.
• Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937): Italian writer, politician, political philosopher, and linguist.
• Robert Graves (1895–1985): English poet, scholar, translator and novelist, producing more than 140 works including his famous annotations of Greek myths and I, Claudius.
• Graham Greene OM, CH (1904–1991): English novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, travel writer and critic.
• Germaine Greer (born 1939): Australian feminist writer. Greer describes herself as a "Catholic atheist".
• David Grossman (born 1954): Israeli author of fiction, nonfiction, and youth and children's literature.
• Jan Guillou (born 1944): Swedish author and Journalist.
• Mark Haddon (born 1962): British author of fiction, notably the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003).
• Daniel Handler (born 1970): American author better known under the pen name of Lemony Snicket. Declared himself to be 'pretty much an atheist' and a secular humanist. Handler has hinted that the Baudelaires in his children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events might be atheists.
• Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965): African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays. Best known for her work, A Raisin in the Sun.
• Sam Harris (born 1967): American author, researcher in neuroscience, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.
• Harry Harrison (1925-2012): American science fiction author, anthologist and artist whose short story The Streets of Ashkelon took as its hero an atheist who tries to prevent a Christian missionary from indoctrinating a tribe of irreligious but ingenuous alien beings.
• Tony Harrison (born 1937): English poet, winner of a number of literary prizes.
• Seamus Heaney (born 1939): Irish poet, writer and lecturer, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988): American science fiction writer.
• Zoë Heller (born 1965): British journalist and novelist.
• Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961): American author and journalist known for A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises and other books. Winner of the Nobel Prize. "He had superficial connections with various Christian sects without having faith in any of them." Jeffery Meyers, 'Hemingway: A Biography', p. 184.
• Pierre-Jules Hetzel (1814–1886): French editor and publisher. He is best known for his extraordinarily lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels highly prized by collectors today.
• Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002): Australian feminist poet, novelist, librettist, and playwright.
• Archie Hind (1928–2008): Scottish writer, author of The Dear Green Place, regarded as one of the greatest Scottish novels of all time.
• Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011): Author of God Is Not Great, journalist and essayist.
• R. J. Hollingdale (1930–2001): English biographer and translator of German philosophy and literature, President of The Friedrich Nietzsche Society, and responsible for rehabilitating Nietzsche's reputation in the English-speaking world.
• Michel Houellebecq (born 1958): French novelist.
• A. E. Housman (1859–1936): English poet and classical scholar, best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad.
• Keri Hulme (born 1947): New Zealand writer, known for her only novel The Bone People.
• Stanley Edgar Hyman (1919–1970): American literary critic who wrote primarily about critical methods.
• Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906): Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre.
• Howard Jacobson (born 1942): British author, best known for comic novels but also a non-fiction writer and journalist. Prefers not to be called an atheist.
• Susan Jacoby (born 1945): American author, whose works include the New York Times best seller The Age of American Unreason, about anti-intellectualism.
• Clive James (born 1939): Australian author, television presenter and cultural commentator.
• Robin Jenkins (1912–2005): Scottish writer of about thirty novels, though mainly known for The Cone Gatherers.
• Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011): British writer. Best known for novels such as Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm.
• Neil Jordan (born 1950): Irish novelist and filmmaker.
• S. T. Joshi (born 1958): American editor and literary critic.
• Ismail Kadare (born 1936): Albanian novelist and poet, winner of the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca and the inaugural Man Booker International Prize.
• Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Jewish Czech-born Writer. Best known for his short stories such as The Metamorphosis and novels such as The Castle and The Trial.
• K. Shivaram Karanth (1902–1997): Kannada writer, social activist, environmentalist, Yakshagana artist, film maker and thinker.
• James Kelman (born 1946): Scottish author, influential and Booker Prize-winning writer of novels, short stories, plays and political essays.
• Douglas Kennedy (born 1955): American-born novelist, playwright and nonfiction writer.
• Ludovic Kennedy (1919–2009): British journalist, author, and campaigner against capital punishment and for voluntary euthanasia.
• Marian Keyes (born 1963): Irish writer, considered to be one of the original progenitors of "chick lit", selling 22 million copies of her books in 30 languages.
• Danilo Kiš (1935 – 1989): was a Serbian and Yugoslavian novelist, short story writer and poet who wrote in Serbo-Croatian. His most famous works include A Tomb for Boris Davidovich and The Encyclopedia of the Dead.
• Paul Krassner (born 1932): American founder and editor of the freethought magazine The Realist, and a key figure in the 1960s counterculture.
• Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974): Swedish author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951. He used religious motifs and figures from the Christian tradition without following the doctrines of the church.
• Philip Larkin CH, CBE, FRSL (1922–1985): English poet, novelist and jazz critic.
• Marghanita Laski (1915–1988): English journalist and novelist, also writing literary biography, plays and short stories.
• Stieg Larsson (1954–2004): Swedish journalist, author of the Millennium Trilogy and the founder of the anti-racist magazine Expo.
• Rutka Laskier (1929–1943): Polish Jew who was killed at Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 14. Because of her diary, on display at Israel's Holocaust museum, she has been dubbed the "Polish Anne Frank."
• Ursula K. Le Guin (born 1929): American author. She has written novels, children's books, and short stories, mainly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction.
• Stanislaw Lem (1921–2006): Polish science fiction novelist and essayist.
• Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837): Italian poet, linguist, essayist and philosopher. Leopardi is legendary as an out-and-out nihilist.
• Primo Levi (1919–1987): Italian novelist and chemist, survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp. Levi is quoted as saying "There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God."
• Michael Lewis (born 1960): American financial journalist and non-fiction author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game and The Big Short
• Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799): German scientist, satirist, philosopher and anglophile. Known as one of Europe's best authors of aphorisms. Satirized religion using aphorisms like "I thank the Lord a thousand times for having made me become an atheist."
• Eliza Lynn Linton (1822–1898): Victorian novelist, essayist, and journalist.
• John W. Loftus (19??–present): Former Evangelical Minister, and American writer. Author of "Why I Became an Atheist," "The Christian Delusion," and "The End of Christianity," et al. Host of, and contributor to, the website "Debunking Christianity." Progenitor of The Outsider Test for Faith
• Pierre Loti (1850–1923): French novelist and travel writer.
• H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937): American horror writer.
• Lucian (AD 125 – AD 180): Greek-born Assyrian rhetorician and satirist.
• Franco Lucentini (1920–2002): Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies.
• Lucretius (99 BC–55 BC): Roman poet and philosopher.
• Norman MacCaig (1910–1996): Scottish poet, whose work is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity.
• Colin Mackay (1951–2003): British poet and novelist.
• David Marcus (1924–2009): Irish Jewish editor and writer, a lifelong advocate and editor of Irish fiction.
• Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958): French author, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Stephen Massicotte (born 1969): Canadian playwright, screenwriter and actor.
• W. Somerset Maugham CH (1874–1965): English playwright, novelist, and short story writer, one of the most popular authors of his era.
• Charles Maurras (1868–1952): French author, poet, and critic, a leader and principal thinker of the reactionary Action Française.
• Joseph McCabe (1867–1955): English writer, anti-religion campaigner.
• Mary McCarthy (1912–1989): American writer and critic.
• James McDonald (born 1953): British writer, whose books include Beyond Belief, 2000 Years Of Bad Faith In The Christian Church
• Ian McEwan, CBE (born 1948): British author and winner of the Man Booker Prize.
• Barry McGowan (born 1961): American non-fiction author.
• China Miéville (born 1972): British science fiction and fantasy author.
• Arthur Miller (1915–2005): American playwright and essayist, a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of plays, including celebrated plays such as The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman, which are widely studied.
• Christopher Robin Milne (1920–1996): Son of author A. A. Milne who, as a young child, was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories and in two books of poems.
• David Mills (author) (born 1959): Author who argues in his book Atheist Universe that science and religion cannot be successfully reconciled.
• Terenci Moix (1942–2003): Spanish writer who wrote in both Spanish and in Catalan.
• Brian Moore (1921–1999): Irish novelist and screenwriter, awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975 and the inaugural Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1987, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times.
• Sir John Mortimer CBE QC (1923–2009): English barrister, dramatist and author, famous as the creator of Rumpole of the Bailey.
• Andrew Motion FRSL (born 1952): English poet, novelist and biographer, and Poet Laureate 1999–2009.
• Clare Mulley, author of The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb, Founder of Save the Children (2009).
• Dame Iris Murdoch (1919–1999): Dublin-born writer and philosopher, best known for her novels, which combine rich characterization and compelling plotlines, usually involving ethical or sexual themes.
• Douglas Murray (1971–) British neoconservative writer and commentator.
• Pablo Neruda (1904–1973): Chilean poet and diplomat. In 1971, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Aziz Nesin (1915–1995): Turkish humorist and author of more than 100 books.
• Larry Niven (born 1938): American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld (1970).
• Michael Nugent (born 1961): Irish writer and activist, chairperson of Atheist Ireland.
• Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938): American author and Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton University.
• Redmond O'Hanlon (born 1947): British author, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
• John Oswald (activist) (c.1760–1793): Scottish journalist, poet, social critic and revolutionary.
• Frances Partridge (1900–2004): English member of the Bloomsbury Group and a writer, probably best known for the publication of her diaries.
• Camille Paglia (born 1947): American post-feminist literary and cultural critic.
• Robert L. Park (born 1931): scientist, University of Maryland professor of physics, and author of Voodoo Science and Superstition.
• Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922–1975): Italian poet, intellectual, film director, and writer.
• Cesare Pavese (1908–1950): Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator.
• Edmund Penning-Rowsell (1913–2002): British wine writer, considered the foremost of his generation.
• Calel Perechodnik (1916–1943): Polish Jewish diarist and Jewish Ghetto policeman at the Warsaw Ghetto.
• Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935): Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.
• Melissa Holbrook Pierson: American essayist and author of The Perfect Vehicle and other books.
• Harold Pinter (1930–2008): Nobel Prize-winning English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years.
• Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936): Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934.
• Fiona Pitt-Kethley (born 1954): British poet, novelist, travel writer and journalist.
• Neal Pollack (born 1970): American satirist, novelist, short story writer, and journalist.
• Terry Pratchett (born 1948): English fantasy author known for his satirical Discworld series.
• Marcel Proust (1871–1922): French novelist, critic, and essayist. Best known for his work, In Search of Lost Time.
• Kate Pullinger (born before 1988): Canadian-born novelist and author of digital fiction.
• Philip Pullman CBE (born 1946): British author of His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy for young adults, which have atheism as a major theme.
• Thomas Pynchon, (born 1937): Catholic-raised author of The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. According to former friend, Jules Siegel, "he went to mass and confessed, though to what would be a mystery."
• Craig Raine (born 1944): English poet and critic, the best-known exponent of Martian poetry.
• Ayn Rand (1905–1982): Russian-born American author and founder of Objectivism.
• Derek Raymond (1931–1994): English writer, credited with being the founder of English noir.
• Stan Rice (1942–2006): American poet and artist, Professor of English and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University, and husband of writer Anne Rice.
• Joseph Ritson, (1752–1803): English author and antiquary, friend of Sir Walter Scott.
• Michael Rosen (born 1946): English children's novelist, poet and broadcaster, Children's Laureate 2007–2009.
• Alex Rosenberg (born 1946): Philosopher of science, author of The Atheist's Guide to Reality ,
• Philip Roth (born 1933): American novelist. Best known for his novella, Goodbye, Columbus.
• José Saramago (1922–2010): Portuguese writer, playwright and journalist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.
• Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), French existentialist philosopher and playwright, 1964 Nobel Prize in literature that he refused. His mother was a first cousin of Albert Schweitzer. His lifelong companion was feminist Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986).
• Dan Savage (born 1964): Author and sex advice columnist. Despite his atheism, Savage considers himself Catholic "in a cultural sense."
• Bernard Schweizer (born 1962): English professor and critic specializing in literary manifestations of religious rebellion. Schweizer reintroduced the forgotten term misotheism (hatred of God) in his most recent book Hating God: The Untold Story of Misotheism, Oxford University Press, 2010. Schweizer, who has published several books on literature, is not a misotheist but a secular humanist.
• Maurice Sendak (1928–2012): Ethnically Jewish American writer and illustrator of children's literature.
• George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950): Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively.
• Michael Shermer (born 1954): Science writer and editor of Skeptic magazine. Has stated that he is an atheist, but prefers to be called a skeptic.
• Claude Simon (1913–2005): French novelist and the 1985 Nobel Laureate in Literature.
• Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (1878–1916): Irish suffragist, pacifist and writer.
• Joan Smith (born 1953): English novelist, journalist and human rights activist.
• Warren Allen Smith (born 1921): Author of Who's Who in Hell.
• Wole Soyinka (born 1934): Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950): British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.
• David Ramsay Steele (born before 1968): Author of Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy.
• George Warrington Steevens (1869–1900): British journalist and writer.
• Bruce Sterling (born 1954): American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.
• Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894): Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, especially famous for his works Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
• Andre Suares (1868–1948): French poet and critic.
• Italo Svevo (1861–1928): Italian writer and businessman, author of novels, plays, and short stories.
• Vladimir Tendryakov (1923–1984): Russian short story writer and novelist.
• Tiffany Thayer (1902–1959): American author, advertising copywriter, actor and founder of the Fortean Society.
• James Thomson ('B.V.') (1834–1882): British poet and satirist, famous primarily for the long poem The City of Dreadful Night (1874).
• Miguel Torga (1907–1995): Portuguese author of poetry, short stories, theatre and a 16 volume diary, one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the 20th century.
• Sue Townsend (born 1946): British novelist, best known as the author of the Adrian Mole series of books.
• Freda Utley (1898–1978): English scholar, best-selling author and political activist.
• Giovanni Verga (1840–1922): Italian realist (Verismo) writer.
• Frances Vernon (1963–1991): British novelist.
• Gore Vidal (1925–2012): American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality. He also ran for political office twice and was a longtime political critic.
• Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007): American author, writer of Cat's Cradle, among other books. Vonnegut said "I am an atheist (or at best a Unitarian who winds up in churches quite a lot)."
• Sarah Vowell (born 1969): American author, journalist, humorist, and commentator, and a regular contributor to the radio program This American Life.
• Ethel Lilian Voynich (1864–1960): Irish-born novelist and musician, and a supporter of several revolutionary causes.
• Marina Warner CBE, FBA (born 1946): British novelist, short story writer, historian and mythographer, known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth.
• Ibn Warraq, known for his books critical of Islam.
• H.G. Wells (1866–1946): one of the fathers of science fiction, and an outspoken socialist.
• Edmund White (born 1940): American novelist, short-story writer and critic.
• Sean Williams (born 1967): Australian science fiction author, a multiple recipient of both the Ditmar and Aurealis Awards.
• Simon Winchester OBE (born 1944): British author and journalist.
• Tom Wolfe: Noted author and member of 'New Journalism' school
• Leonard Woolf (1880–1969): Noted British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant, husband of author Virginia Woolf.
• Virginia Woolf (1882–1941): English author, essayist, publisher, and writer. She is regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.
• Gao Xingjian (born 1940): Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist, critic, translator, stage director and painter. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000.
• David Yallop: (born 27 January 1937) British author. British true crime author.
• Raj Patel: (born 1972, London) is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer, known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His most recent book is The Value of Nothing which was on The New York Times best-seller list during February 2010.