People Who WriteLists about novelists, poets, short story authors, journalists, essayists, and playwrights, from simple rankings to fun facts about the men and women behind the pens.
Only writers who have not had their story told on the silver screen.
There are already several good biography movies about writers. Truman Capote has had a couple films made about his life, including the Academy Award winning Capote, based on the author’s journey writing the true crime novel In Cold Blood. William Shakespeare’s life has also hit the big screen several times, most notably with 1998’s Oscar winning comedy romance Shakespeare In Love. What other biopics about writers would you like to see?
The best biography movies about writers, also known as the literary biopic, show the amazing tale of the author’s life, not the stories of their work. For example, Stephen King has had dozens of his novels and short stories adapted for television and film. However, the prolific horror author’s actual life story has never been told. King has certainly led an interesting life filled with a battle against addiction and also a horrific car accident that nearly took his life in 1999.
Think about all the best movies about famous writers. What other acclaimed writers deserve their own biopic? Vote up which authors you think should have their own literary biography.
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.As a writer, Orwell produced literary criticism and poetry, fiction and polemical journalism; and is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an ...more
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. She came from the Beecher family, a famous religious family, and is best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which depicts the harsh conditions for enslaved African Americans. The book reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and Great Britain, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. Stowe wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential for both her writings and her public stances and debates on social issues ...more
Theodor Seuss Geisel ( or (listen); March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Doctor Seuss ( or abbreviated Dr. Seuss). His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.Geisel adopted the name "Dr. Seuss" as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College and as a graduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. He left Oxford in 1927 to begin his career as an illustrator and ...more
Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer known for his work in science fiction. His work explored philosophical, social, and political themes, with stories dominated by monopolistic corporations, alternative universes, authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness. His writing also reflected his interest in metaphysics and theology, and often drew upon his life experiences, addressing the nature of reality, identity, drug abuse, schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences. Dick produced 44 published novels and approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime.Born in Chicago, ...more
Eliezer Wiesel (, Hebrew: אֱלִיעֶזֶר וִיזֶל ʾĔlîʿezer Vîzel; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.Along with writing, he was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D. C. In his political activities, he also ...more
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer. She is known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and, under the pen name Mary Westmacott, six romances. In 1971 she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. Before marrying and starting a family in London, she had served in a ...more
