Authors to explore

Explore writers whose work has had a lasting impact across time and geographies

Ghalib

Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet and letter writer of the Mughal Empire. Writing in Persian and Urdu during the final years of the Mughal Empire and the rise of British colonial rule, his poetry often addressed themes of love, loss, philosophy, the human condition, and socio-political disturbances with a depth and complexity that influenced the literary traditions of his time.

Zauq

Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq (1789 – November 1854) was an Urdu poet and scholar of literature, poetry and religion. He wrote poetry under the pen name "Zauq", and was appointed poet laureate of the Mughal Court in Delhi at the age of just 19. Later he was given the title of Khaqani-e-Hind (The Khaqani of India) by the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar who was also his disciple in poetry.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (11 November [O.S. 30 October] 1821 – 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1881) was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.

Recommended reading:

The Idiot

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Recommended reading:

The Old Man and the Sea

Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is his debut novel Catch-22 (1961), a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for an absurd or contradictory choice. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice, in 1972 and 1975.

Recommended reading:

Catch-22

Gulzar

Born Sampooran Singh Kalra is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as an important Urdu poet of this era.

Recommended reading:

Mirza Ghalib
Do Log

Khaled Hosseini

Stories that weave memory, family, and history across Afghanistan and the immigrant experience.

Yuval Noah Harari

Public intellectual and popular science writer. He is a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.His first bestselling book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011) is based on his lectures to an undergraduate world history class.

Maria Ressa

Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN.

Recommended reading:

How to Stand Up to a Dictator

Matt Haig

Matt Haig (born 3 July 1975) is an English author and journalist. He has written both fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults, often in the speculative fiction genre.

Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is an American author, journalist, and radio host. He is known for his novels "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."

Recommended reading:

Tuesdays with Morrie

Manav Kaul

Manav Kaul is an Indian theatre director, playwright, author, actor and filmmaker.