List of English Writers - C

C

• Florence Caddy (1837–1923), writer
• Hall Caine (1853–1931), romantic novelist and playwright
• Mona Caird (1854–1932), essayist, reformer and feminist
• Maria Callcott (1785–1842), children's writer, travel writer, and illustrator
• Brian Callison (born 1932), novelist
• Charles Stuart Calverley (1831–1884), poet and translator
• Roland Camberton (real name Henry Cohen, 1921–1965), novelist
• Ada Cambridge (1844–1926), novelist and poet
• William Camden (1551–1623), historian and antiquarian
• Richard Cameron (living), playwright
• Thomas Campion (1567–1620), poet and composer
• Bruce Campbell (1912–1993), ornithologist and writer on birds
• W. H. Canaway (1925–1988), novelist
• Denis Cannan (born 1919), playwright and screenwriter, Dear Daddy
• Gilbert Cannan (1884–1955), novelist and translator
• Joanna Cannan (1898–1961), novelist and children's writer
• May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973), poet and autobiographer
• Dorothy Cannell (born 1943), novelist
• Victor Canning (1911–1986), novelist, essayist and children's writer
• William Canton (1845–1926), poet and children's writer
• Edward Capell (1713–1781), Shakespearean scholar
• Edward Capern (1819–1894), poet and postman
• John Capgrave (1393–1464), theologian and historian
• Neville Cardus (1888–1975), cricket writer and music critic
• Thomas Carew (1595–1640), poet
• Henry Carey (1687–1743), poet, playwright and song-writer, Sally in Our Alley
• Mary Carey, Lady Carey (c. 1609 – c. 1680), poet
• Rosa Nouchette Carey (1840–1909), novelist and children's writer
• Robert Carliell (died c. 1622), poet
• John Carne (1789–1844), travel writer and biographer
• Edward Carpenter (1844–1929), poet, social critic and philosopher
• Humphrey Carpenter (1946–2005), biographer, broadcaster and children's writer
• Barbara Comyns Carr (1907–1992), novelist and artist
• J. L. Carr (1912–1994), novelist and school textbook writer
• Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 1832–1898), children's writer and mathematician, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Angela Carter (1940–1992), novelist, The Magic Toyshop
• Elizabeth Carter (17171806), poet, translator and bluestocking
• Barbara Cartland (1901–2000), novelist
• George Cartwright (1739–1819), diarist and explorer
• Justin Cartwright (born 1945), novelist
• William Cartwright (1611–1643), playwright
• Elizabeth Cary (1585–1639), poet and playwright, The Tragedy of Marian, the Fair Queen of Jewry
• Henry Francis Cary (1772–1844), translator and critic
• Lucius Cary (Lord Falkland, 1610–1643), poet, writer and politician
• Patrick Cary or Carey, (c. 1624–1658), poet
• John Caryll (1625–1711), poet, playwright and diplomat
• Cathy Cassidy (born 1962), children's writer, Gingersnaps
• Egerton Castle (1858–1920), novelist (with his wife Agnes) and fencer
• Sarah Caudwell (real name Sarah Cockburn, 1939–2000), novelist
• Charles Causley (1917–2003), poet and editor
• David Caute (born 1936), novelist and historian
• Tiberius Cavallo (1749–1809), natural philosopher
• George Cavendish (1494 – c. 1652), biographer and poet
• Jane Cavendish (later Jane Cheyne, 1621–1669), poet and playwright
• Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle, (1623–1673), poet, novelist and playwright
• William Cavendish (1592–1676), polymath
• William Caxton (c. 1415/22 – c. 1492), printer and translator
• Lord David Cecil (1902–1986), scholar and biographer
• Dorothea Celesia (born Mallet, 1738–1790), poet and translator
• Susanna Centlivre (earlier pen name Carroll, 1667–1723), playwright, poet and actress
• Laurence Chaderton (c. 1536–1640), theologian, AV translator and cleric
• Henry Chadwick (1920–2008), theologian, church historian and cleric
• John Chalkhill (fl. c. 1600), poet
• Thomas Chaloner (1521–1565), poet, translator and statesman
• William Chamberlayne (1619–1689), poet
• Aidan Chambers (born 1934), children's writer, Postcards from No Man's Land
• E. K. Chambers (1866–1954), literary historian
• Ephraim Chambers (c. 1680–1740), writer and encyclopedist, Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
• Frederick Chamier (1796–1870), novelist and sea captain
• Meira Chand (born c. 1943), novelist
• Mary Chandler (1687–1745), poet
• Raymond Chandler (1888–1959), crime writer
• Henry Channon ("Chips", 1897–1958), writer, diarist and politician
• George Chapman (1559–1634), poet, playwright and translator
• Guy Chapman (1889–1972), writer and historian
• Pat Chapman (born 1940), food writer and broadcaster
• Hester Chapone (1727–1801), writer and bluestocking
• Charlotte Charke (born Cibber, 1713–1760), writer and actress
• Elizabeth Charles (1828–1896), novelist and religious writer
• Gerda Charles (real name Edna Lipson, 1914–1996), novelist and anthologist
• Maria Louisa Charlesworth (1819–1880), children's writer
• Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 1907–1993), novelist, Simon Templar books
• James Hadley Chase (born Rene Brabazon Raymond, other pen names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant, and Raymond Marshall, (1906–1985), novelist
• Debjani Chatterjee (born 1952), poet, translator and children's writer
• Georgiana Chatterton (1806–1876), travel writer, novelist and poet
• Thomas Chatterton (pseudonym Thomas Rowley, 1752–1770), poet
• Beth Chatto (born 1923), gardening writer
• William Andrew Chatto (also wrote as Stephen Oliver, 1799–1864), travel and general writer
• Bruce Chatwin (1940–1989), novelist and travel writer
• Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400), poet and courtier, The Canterbury Tales
• Cris Cheek (born 1955), poet and performer
• Mavis Cheek (born c. 1948), novelist
• John Cheke (1514–1557), classical scholar and translator
• George Tomkyns Chesney (1830–1895), novelist and army officer, The Battle of Dorking
• G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), novelist, poet and essayist, Father Brown stories
• Henry Chettle (c. 1564 – c. 1607), playwright
• William Rufus Chetwood (died 1766), playwright, novelist and publisher
• Peter Cheyney (1896–1951), novelist, Can Ladies Kill?
• Josiah Child (1630–1699), political economist and merchant
• Erskine Childers (1870–1922), novelist and politician, The Riddle of the Sands
• William Chillingworth (1602–1644), religious controversialist
• Mary Cholmondeley (1859–1925), novelist
• Agatha Christie (1891–1976), mystery writer
• Mary Chudleigh (1656–1710), poet and polemicist
• Alfred John Church (1829–1912, scholar, poet and translator
• Richard Church (1893–1972), poet
• Richard William Church (1815–1890), biographer, church historian and cleric
• Caryl Churchill (born 1938), playwright and translator, Serious Money
• Charles Churchill (1731–1764), poet and satirist
• Winston Churchill (1874–1965), British prime minister, author and Nobel prizewinner
• Thomas Churchyard (c. 1520–1604), poet and soldier
• Colley Cibber (1671–1757), Poet Laureate, playwright, and bowdlerizer
• Horatio Clare (born 1973), writer
• John Clare (1793–1864), poet
• Emily Clark (fl. 1798–1819), novelist and poet
• T. J. Clark (born 1943), art historian and scholar
• Amy Clarke (1892–1980), mystical poet and school historian
• Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008), novelist, 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Bob Clarke (born 1964), archaeologist and writer on military and local history
• Charles Cowden Clarke (1787–1877), writer and scholar
• Lindsay Clarke (born 1939), novelist and poet, The Chymical Wedding
• Mary Cowden Clarke ((née Novello, 1809–1898), writer and scholar
• Pauline Clarke (born 1921), children's writer, The Twelve and the Genii
• Richard Clarke (died 1634), scholar, AV translator and cleric
• Roy Clarke (born 1930), screenwriter and playwright, Last of the Summer Wine TV series
• Samuel Clarke (1675–1729), philosopher and cleric
• Susanna Clarke (born 1959), novelist, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
• T. E. B. Clarke (1907–1989), screenwriter and novelist, Passport to Pimlico
• Laurence Clarkson or Claxton (1615–1667), religious writer and theologian
• John Clavell (1601–1643), writer, playwright and highwayman
• Chris Cleave (born 1973), novelist and journalist
• Brian Cleeve (1921–2003), novelist
• Lucas Cleeve (wrote also as Mrs Howard Kingscote, 1868–1908), novelist
• John Cleland (1709–1789), novelist, Fanny Hill
• Dick Clement (born 1937), TV scriptwriter, Porridge
• Jack Clemo (1916–1994), poet and novelist
• John Cleveland (1613–1658), poet
• Anne Clifford (1590–1676), diarist
• Lucy Clifford (wrote as Mrs. W. K. Clifford, 1846–1929), novelist, playwright and children's writer
• William Kingdon Clifford (1846–1879), philosopher, mathematician and children's writer
• Caroline Clive (wrote as "V", 1801–1872), novelist and poet
• John Clive (1933–2012), novelist and actor
• Kitty Clive (born Catherine Raftor, 1711–1785), playwright and actress
• Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861), poet
• William Cobbett (1763–1835), writer and pamphleteer, Rural Rides
• Bob Cobbing (1920–2002), poet and visual artist
• Richard Cobbold (1797–1877), novelist and writer
• Richard Cobden (1804–1865), politician and pamphleteer
• Aston Cockayne (1605–1684), poet and playwright
• Catherine Trotter Cockburn (1679–1749), novelist and playwright
• Edward Cocker (1631–1676), writer and engraver, Arithmetick
• Richard Cocks (1566–1624), trader and diarist
• Henry Cockton (1807–1853), novelist
• Jonathan Coe (born 1961), novelist, What a Carve Up!
• Lady Mary Coke (1727–1811), letter writer and diarist
• Barry Cole (born 1936), poet and novelist
• G. D. H. Cole (1889–1959), economist, historian and novelist
• Margaret Cole (1893–1980), politician and novelist
• Olivia Cole (born 1982), poet
• John William Colenso (1814–1883), writer on religion and Africa, and bishop
• Christabel Rose Coleridge (1843–1921), novelist and editor
• Derwent Coleridge (1800–1883), writer, scholar and cleric
• Ernest Hartley Coleridge (1846–1920), literary historian, editor and poet
• Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849), poet and critic
• Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907), novelist and poet
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), poet, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Sara Coleridge (1802–1852), author and translator
• Stephen Coleridge (1854–1936), writer, poet and campaigner
• Jane Collier (1714–1755), satirist, An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting (with Sarah Fielding)
• Jeremy Collier (1650–1726), pamphleteer and cleric
• John Collier (pen name Tim Bobbin, 1708–1786), Lancashire dialect poet and caricaturist
• John Collier (1901–1980), story writer and screenwriter
• John Payne Collier (1789–1883), literary critic, editor and forger
• Mary Collier (c. 1688–1762), poet
• R. G. Collingwood (1889–1943), philosopher and historian
• W. G. Collingwood (1854–1932), writer, artist and antiquary
• An Collins (fl. 1653), poet
• Jackie Collins (born 1937), novelist, The World Is Full of Married Men
• John Collins (1625–1683), mathematician
• John Collins (1742–1808), poet and song writer
• John Churton Collins (1848–1908), literary critic
• Mortimer Collins (1827–1876), novelist and poet
• Norman Collins (1907–1982), novelist and broadcasting executive
• Warwick Collins (born 1948), novelist and screenwriter
• Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), novelist, The Moonstone
• William Collins (1721–1759), poet
• John Stewart Collis (1900–1984), biographer and countryside writer
• Maurice Collis (1889–1973), writer and biographer
• Mary Collyer (c. 1716–1762), translator and novelist.
• George Colman (1732–1794), playwright, The Jealous Wife
• George Colman (1762–1836), playwright and poet
• Jock Colville (1915–1987), diarist and civil servant
• Howard Colvin (1919–2007), architectural historian
• William Combe (1741–1823), miscellanist and poet
• Alex Comfort (1920–2000), novelist, poet and writer, The Joy of Sex
• Jack Common (1903–1968), novelist
• Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884–1969), novelist, Pastors and Masters
• William Congreve (1670–1729), playwright and poet, The Way of the World
• Thomas Coningsby (died 1625), diarist, soldier and politician
• Paul Conneally (born 1959), poet, artist and musician
• Cyril Connolly (1903–1974), writer and critic
• Joseph Connolly (born 1950), journalist and novelist
• Tony Connor (born 1930), poet and playwright
• Robert Conquest (born 1917), historian and poet, The Great Terror
• Henry Constable (1562–1613), poet
• Hugh Conway (real name Frederick John Fargus, 1847–1885), novelist
• John Conybeare (1692–1755), theologian and bishop
• John Josias Conybeare (1779–1824), scholar, translator and cleric
• William Daniel Conybeare (1787–1857), writer, geologist and cleric
• William John Conybeare (1815–1857), religious writer, novelist and cleric
• David Cook (born 1940), novelist, screenplay writer and presenter
• Eliza Cook (1818–1889), poet
• James Cook (1728–1779), circumnavigator and travel writer
• Judith Cook (1933–2004), novelist
• Dorian Cooke (1916–2005), poet and intelligence officer
• Catherine Cookson (1906–1998), novelist
• William Henry Coombes (1767–1850), religious writer and RC priest
• Artemis Cooper (born 1953), writer and editor
• Duff Cooper (1890–1954), writer, diarist and politician
• Jilly Cooper (born 1937), writer and novelist
• Lettice Cooper (1897–1994), novelist and critic
• Thomas Cooper (1805–1892), poet, novelist and Chartist
• William Cooper (real name H. S. Hoff, 1910–2002), novelist
• Isabel Cooper-Oakley (1853/54–1914), theosophist
• Wendy Cope (born 1945), poet
• Esther Copley (1786–1851) children's writer and writer on domestic economy
• A. E. Coppard (1878–1957) poet and story writer
• Abiezer Coppe (1619–1672) religious pamphleteer
• Richard Corbet or Corbett (1582–1635), poet and bishop
• Jim Corbett (1875–1955), writer, hunter and conservationist, Man-Eaters of Kumaon
• Julian Corbett (1854–1922), naval historian
• Marie Corelli (1855–1924), novelist
• Alan Coren (1938–2007), writer, satirist and broadcaster
• Hilary Corke (1921–2001), poet
• Frances Cornford (1886–1960), poet
• Francis M. Cornford (1874–1943), scholar and poet
• John Cornford (1915–1936), poet
• Caroline Cornwallis (1786–1858), writer and polyglot
• Jane Cornwallis (1581–1659), letter writer
• Bernard Cornwell (born 1944), novelist
• William Cornysh or Cornish (1465–1523), dramatist, poet and composer
• Felicitas Corrigan (1908–2003), writer and nun
• Annie Sophie Cory (wrote as Victoria Cross, 1868–1952), novelist
• William Johnson Cory (1823–1892), poet and educationalist
• Thomas Coryat or Coryate (c. 1577–1617), travel writer and poet
• Louisa Stuart Costello (1799–1870), travel writer, novelist and poet
• Randle Cotgrave (died 1634 or 1652), lexicographer
• Joseph Cottle (1770–1853), poet, essayist and bookseller
• Charles Cotton (1630–1687), poet and writer
• Robert Bruce Cotton (1570/71 – 1631), antiquarian and political writer, the Cotton Library
• Oswald Couldrey (1882–1958), poet and artist
• Stephen Coulter (also wrote as James Mayo, born 1914), novelist
• William John Courthope (1842–1917), literary historian and poet
• Polly Courtney (born late 1970s), novelist
• Francis Coventry (1725–1754 or 1759), novelist
• Miles Coverdale (c. 1488–1569), Bible translator
• Noël Coward (1899–1973), playwright, Blithe Spirit
• Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), poet
• Hannah Cowley (1743–1809), playwright, The Belle's Stratagem
• William Cowper (1731–1800), poet and hymn writer, John Gilpin
• Anthony Berkeley Cox (pen names Anthony Berkeley, Francis Iles, A. Monmouth Platt, 1893–1971), novelist
• Edward Coxere (1633–1694), autobiographer and merchant seaman
• George Crabbe (1754–1832), poet and naturalist
• Jim Crace (born 1946), novelist
• Hubert Crackanthorpe (born Cookson, 1870–1896), essayist and story writer
• Albert Craig (the "Surrey Poet", 1849–1909), verse chronicler of cricket and football
• Amanda Craig (born 1959), novelist
• Dinah Craik (also wrote as Miss Mulock, 1826–1887), novelist and poet, John Halifax, Gentleman
• Edward Crankshaw (1909–1984), writer, historian and translator
• Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), poet
• Elizabeth Craven (1750–1828), travel writer and playwright
• John Creasey (1908–1973), novelist
• Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878), historian, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
• Thomas Creech (1659–1700), translator
• Thomas Creevey (1768–1838), diarist and politician
• Mandell Creighton (1843–1901), historian and bishop
• Helen Cresswell (1934–2005), children's writer and screenwriter, Lizzie Dripping
• Jasmine Cresswell (born 1941), novelist
• Nicholas Cresswell (1750–1804), diarist and farmer
• Bernard Crick (1929–2008), political scientist
• Martin Crimp (born 1956), playwright
• Arthur Shearly Cripps (1869–1952), story writer and poet
• Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt, 1908–1999), writer and raconteur
• Herbert Croft (1751–1815), novelist
• Rupert Croft-Cooke (wrote as Leo Bruce, 1903–1979), novelist
• Andrew Crofts (born 1953), ghost writer
• Thomas Francis Dillon Croker (wrote as T. F. Dillon Croker, 1831–1912), antiquary and poet
• Richmal Crompton (real name Richmal Crompton Lamburn, 1890–1969), novelist, the William books
• Vincent Cronin (1924–2011), historical writer and biographer
• A. F. Cross (1863–1940), poet, playwright and journalist
• Gillian Cross (born 1945), children's writer, The Demon Headmaster
• Kevin Crossley-Holland (born 1941), children's writer, poet and editor
• Catherine Crowe (1790–1872), novelist and playwright
• William Crowe (1745–1829), poet
• Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), writer, mystic and occultist
• John Crowne (1641–1712), playwright
• Andrew Crozier (1943–2008), poet and scholar
• Andrew Crumey (born 1961), novelist
• J. A. Cuddon (1928–1996), novelist, playwright and dictionary compiler
• Annie Hall Cudlip (1838–1918), novelist
• Pender Hodge Cudlip (1834–1911), religious writer and cleric
• John Cullum (1733–1785), antiquary, local historian and cleric
• Hannah Cullwick ((1833–1909), diarist and domestic servant
• Nathanael Culverwel (1619–1651), philosopher and theologian
• Richard Cumberland (1631–1718), philosopher and bishop
• Richard Cumberland (1732–1811), playwright, poet and novelist
• Nancy Cunard (1896–1965), poet, memoir writer and translator
• Joseph Cundall (wrote as Stephen Percy, 1818–1895), children's writer and publisher
• Roland Curram (born 1932), novelist and actor
• William Curtis (1746–1799), botanist, The Botanical Magazine
• Henry Cust (1861–1917), writer and editor
• Catherine Cuthbertson (before 1780 – after 1830), novelist
• Judith Cutler (born 1946), novelist
• John Cutts (1661–1707), poet, writer and soldier