Writers and literary biographies

Joanna Trollope

Joanna Trollope (1943–2025), British novelist of the "Aga saga" school, also wrote as Caroline Harvey; The Rector's Wife (1991) made her a No. 1 bestselling chronicler of modern domestic life.

Joanot Martorell (c. 1410–1465 or 1468) was a Valencian knight and Catalan-language writer whose chivalric romance Tirant lo Blanc, begun in 1460, is a major novel of 15th-century European literature.

João Almino

João Almino (born 1950) is a Brazilian novelist, essayist, and career diplomat from Mossoró, best known for the Brasília Quintet and elected to the Academia Brasileira de Letras in 2017.

João Cabral de Melo Neto

João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920–1999) was a Brazilian poet and diplomat, considered the most important Brazilian poet of the second half of the twentieth century.

João de Barros

João de Barros (c. 1496–1570) was a Portuguese historian and royal official who wrote the Décadas da Ásia, one of the earliest accounts of the Portuguese empire in Asia.

João Gonçalves Zarco da Câmara

João Gonçalves Zarco da Câmara, known as D. João da Câmara, was a Portuguese playwright and journalist, Portugal's outstanding dramatist of the late 19th century.

João Guimarães Rosa

João Guimarães Rosa (1908–1967), Brazilian physician, diplomat, and author of Sagarana and Grande sertão: Veredas (1956), his only novel; famed for linguistic invention rooted in the Minas Gerais sertão.

João Ubaldo Ribeiro

João Ubaldo Ribeiro (1941–2014) was a Brazilian novelist from Bahia, author of Sargento Getúlio and Viva o Povo Brasileiro and winner of the 2008 Camões Prize.

Joaquim Casas i Carbó

Joaquim Casas i Carbó (1858–1943) was a Catalan lawyer, editor, and writer who, with Pompeu Fabra, led the 1890 L'Avenç campaign that standardized Catalan orthography.

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo (1820–1882) was a Brazilian novelist and journalist whose 1844 novel A Moreninha inaugurated the vogue of the national novel and made him famous.

Joaquín Edwards Bello

Joaquín Edwards Bello (1887–1968), born Víctor Lorenzo Joaquín Edwards Bello, was a Chilean chronicler and novelist from Valparaíso known for his unsparing criticism of national customs.

Joaquín García Icazbalceta

Joaquín García Icazbalceta (1825–1894) was a Mexican historian, bibliographer, and private printer who edited sixteenth-century New Spain documents and wrote the foundational bibliography of early Mexican printing.

Joaquín García Monge

Joaquín García Monge (1881–1958) was a Costa Rican writer, educator, and editor, founder of the continental review Repertorio Americano and author of El Moto, often called the first Costa Rican novel.

Joaquín Pasos

Joaquín Pasos (1914–1947) was a Nicaraguan poet and the youngest member of the Movimiento de Vanguardia; his best-known poem is "Canto de guerra de las cosas".

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult, American #1 New York Times bestselling novelist of about thirty books including My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes; known for social-issue fiction, 63.7 million copies in print, and frequent book bans.

Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie (born 1974, Lancaster, England), British fantasy author of The First Law series, a leading grimdark writer. Also wrote Shattered Sea, Age of Madness, and The Devils (2025), whose film rights James Cameron acquired.

Joe Hill (writer)

Joe Hill, pen name of Joseph Hillstrom King (born 1972), son of Stephen King, American horror novelist and comic writer; author of Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, Locke & Key (Eisner Award), and DC's Hill House Comics line.

Joe Simon

Joe Simon (Hymie Simon, 1913-2011), American comics writer, artist, and first Timely/Marvel editor who co-created Captain America with Jack Kirby in 1940, originated romance comics, and fought for creator rights.

Joel Chandler Harris

Joel Chandler Harris (1845-1908), Georgia journalist and folklorist, creator of the Uncle Remus tales; associate editor of the Atlanta Constitution 1876-1900, author of 185 Brer Rabbit folktales.

Joginder Paul

Joginder Paul (Urdu: جوگندر پال, 1925–2016) was an Indian Urdu fiction writer and essayist known for short stories and micro-fiction, and for the Partition novella Khwabrau (Sleepwalkers).

Johan Bojer

Johan Bojer (1872–1959) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright whose epic portrayals of ordinary people made him internationally popular in the 1920s, on par with Norway's Nobel laureates.

Johan Falkberget

Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) was a Norwegian novelist and former miner whose Røros mining novels, including Den fjerde nattevakt and Nattens brød, made him a major 20th-century author.

Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877) was a Finland-Swedish poet regarded as Finland's national poet, whose war cycle Fänrik Ståls sägner supplied the national epic and whose poem "Vårt land" became the Finnish national anthem.

Johan Olof Wallin

Johan Olof Wallin (1779–1839) was a Swedish clergyman, poet, and hymn writer, archbishop of Uppsala from 1837 and principal author of the 1819 Swedish hymnal.

Johan Sebastian Welhaven

Johan Sebastian Welhaven was a Norwegian poet, critic, and professor of philosophy in Oslo, a central figure of Norwegian Romanticism and chief opponent of Henrik Wergeland in the feuds of the 1830s.

Johann Peter Hebel

Johann Peter Hebel (1760–1826) was a German-language author, Protestant theologian, and schoolman best known for the Alemannic dialect poems Allemannische Gedichte and his popular calendar stories.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German poet and Weimar statesman, author of Werther, Faust, and Wilhelm Meister; led Sturm und Drang, co-founded Weimar Classicism with Schiller, and wrote Zur Farbenlehre.

Johanna Spyri

Johanna Spyri, born Johanna Heusser (1827–1901), was a Swiss writer who began publishing at 44 and wrote Heidi, one of the world's most translated children's classics.

Johannes Daniel Falk

Johannes Daniel Falk was a German writer, satirist, and philanthropist who founded the Gesellschaft der Freunde in der Not in Weimar in 1813 and wrote "O du fröhliche".