A8 Contemporary

Authors born after 1940-present

A8 ThunderboltConeyIsland1995, ContemporaryThis category of American literature is purely an invention of this site and does not represent or presume to dictate to the academic authorities responsible for assigning formal names to literary periods. Our intention is to isolate a generation of contemporary writers who were born after 1940 and are, therefore, generally considered to have little or none of the pre-WWII perspectives or mentalities that characterize the authors of the Postmodern Period.

As such, the themes of contemporary writers are not yet officially recognized to tend toward one direction of thought or another. It remains for time to tell what this generation of literary artists will contribute to the history of American literature – and we all get to enjoy the journey right along with them.

Note: Most of the works of authors in this category are still under copyright protection. We have attempted to create bibliographies for these authors, but their works are not in the public domain and, thus, are unavailable for free access at this time.

Contemporary Literature

The following authors in our database represent the Contemporary Period of American Literature:

Aciman, AndreBook Icon (1950-) Keller, Nora OkjaBook Icon (1965-)
Acker, KathyBook Icon (1947-1997) Kidd, SueBook Icon (1948-)
Albom, MitchBook Icon (1958-) Kidder, John TracyBook Icon (1945-)
Alexander, MeenaBook Icon (1951-2018) Kincaid, JamaicaBook Icon (1949-)
Alexie, ShermanBook Icon (1966-) King, StephenBook Icon (1947-)
Allison, DorothyBook Icon (1949-) Kingsolver, BarbaraBook Icon (1955-)
Alvarez, JuliaBook Icon (1950-) Kingston, Maxine HongBook Icon (1940-)
Anderson, Laurie HalseBook Icon (1961-) Komunyakaa, YusefBook Icon (1941-)
Anzaldua, GloriaBook Icon (1942-2004) Krakauer, JonBook Icon (1954-)
Ayer, Eleanor H.Book Icon (unknown) Lahiri, JhumpaBook Icon (1967-)
Baker, NicholsonBook Icon (1957-) Langewiesche, WilliamBook Icon (1955-)
Banks, RussellBook Icon (1940-2023) Larson, ErikBook Icon (1954-)
Beah, IshmaelBook Icon (1980-) Lee, Li-YoungBook Icon (1957-)
Beatty, PaulBook Icon (1962-) Lethem, JohnBook Icon (1964-)
Benioff, DavidBook Icon (1970-) Lightman, AlanBook Icon (1948-)
Bernstein, Carl and Bob WoodwardBook Icon (1944-) Loewen, James W.Book Icon (1942-2021)
Bissinger, H.G.Book Icon (1954-) MacKinnon, Catharine A.Book Icon (1946-)
Bourgois, PhilippeBook Icon (1956-) McBride, JamesBook Icon (1957-)
Boyle, T.C.Book Icon (1948-) McElvaine, Robert S.Book Icon (1947-)
Bradley, JamesBook Icon (1954-) Meyer, StephenieBook Icon (1973-)
Brown, DanBook Icon (1964-) Mikaelsen, BenBook Icon (1952-)
Bruchac, JosephBook Icon (1942-) Millhauser, StevenBook Icon (1943-)
Butler, OctaviaBook Icon (1947-2006) Minot, SusanBook Icon (1956-)
Butler, Robert OlenBook Icon (1945-) Moore, LorrieBook Icon (1957-)
Card, Orson ScottBook Icon (1951-) Mora, PatBook Icon (1942-)
Chevalier, TracyBook Icon (1962-) Mortenson, GregBook Icon (1957-)
Chin, FrankBook Icon (1940-) Mosley, WalterBook Icon (1952-)
Cisneros, SandraBook Icon (1954-) Moss, ThyliasBook Icon (1954-)
Cliff, MichelleBook Icon (1946-2016) Mukherjee, BharatiBook Icon (1940-2017)
Collins, SuzanneBook Icon (1963-) Naylor, GloriaBook Icon (1950-2016)
Creech, SharonBook Icon (1945-) Nazario, SoniaBook Icon (1960-)
Cruz, Victor HernandezBook Icon (1949-) O’Brien, TimBook Icon (1946-)
Danticat, EdwidgeBook Icon (1969-) Ortiz, SimonBook Icon (1941-)
Díaz, JunotBook Icon (1968-) Packer, Z.Z.Book Icon (1973-)
Dove, RitaBook Icon (1952-) Palahniuk, ChuckBook Icon (1962-)
Dumas, FiroozehBook Icon (1965-) Patchett, AnnBook Icon (1963-)
Eggers, DaveBook Icon (1970-) Picoult, JodiBook Icon (1966-)
Ehrenreich, BarbaraBook Icon (1941-2022) Pietri, PedroBook Icon (1944-2004)
Ellis, Bret EastonBook Icon (1964-) Pinsky, RobertBook Icon (1940-)
Ellis, Joseph J.Book Icon (1943-) Pollan, MichaelBook Icon (1955-)
Enger, LeifBook Icon (1961-) Preston, RichardBook Icon (1954-)
Erdrich, LouiseBook Icon (1954-) Relin, David OliverBook Icon (1963-2012)
Ettlinger, SteveBook Icon (unknown) Rice, AnneBook Icon (1941-2021)
Fiol-Matta, LiciaBook Icon (unknown) Rodriguez, RichardBook Icon (1944-)
Fisher, Diane GilliamBook Icon (1957-) Rose, WendyBook Icon (1948-)
Foer, Jonathan SafranBook Icon (1977-) Rylant, CynthiaBook Icon (1954-)
Fontes, MontserratBook Icon (1940s) SapphireBook Icon (1950-)
Forche, CarolynBook Icon (1950-) Sebold, AliceBook Icon (1968-)
Foster, Thomas C.Book Icon (1952-) Shteyngart, GaryBook Icon (1972-)
Frazier, CharlesBook Icon (1950-) Silko, Leslie MarmonBook Icon (1948-)
Giovanni, NikkiBook Icon (1943-) Smiley, JaneBook Icon (1949-)
Goldbarth, AlbertBook Icon (1948-) Soto, GaryBook Icon (1952-)
Guterson, DavidBook Icon (1956-) Spiegelman, ArtBook Icon (1948-)
Hagedorn, JessicaBook Icon (1949-) Spinelli, JerryBook Icon (1941-)
Harjo, JoyBook Icon (1951-) St. John, WarrenBook Icon (1969-)
Harris, E. LynnBook Icon (1955-2009) Staples, Suzanne FisherBook Icon (1945-)
Hejinian, LynBook Icon (1941-) Strasser, Todd (Rhue, Morton)Book Icon (1950-)
Hinton, S.E.Book Icon (1950-) Tan, AmyBook Icon (1952-)
Ho, MinfongBook Icon (1951-) Taylor, MildredBook Icon (1943-)
Hobbs, WillBook Icon (1947-) Ung, LoungBook Icon (1970-)
Hopkins, EllenBook Icon (1955-) Viramontes, Helena MariaBook Icon (1954-)
Hosseini, KhaledBook Icon (1965-) Vreeland, SusanBook Icon (1947-2017)
Irving, JohnBook Icon (1942-) Walker, AliceBook Icon (1944-)
Isay, DaveBook Icon (1966-) Wallace, David FosterBook Icon (1962-2008)
Jacoby, RussellBook Icon (1945-) Walls, JeannetteBook Icon (1960-)
Jarman, MarkBook Icon (1952-) Watson, LarryBook Icon (1947-)
Jen, GishBook Icon (1955-) Welch, JamesBook Icon (1940-2003)
Johnson, Charles R.Book Icon (1948-) Wideman, John EdgarBook Icon (1941-)
Johnson, StevenBook Icon (1968-) Wolff, TobiasBook Icon (1945-)
Jones, Edward P.Book Icon (1951-) Yep, LaurenceBook Icon (1948-)
Jones, GaylBook Icon (1949-) Zimmerman, Robert D.Book Icon (1952-)

Click on any of the above names to open the corresponding biographical essay.

Click on the red book icon Book Iconto the left of any name in the list to access that author’s bibliography and our collection of direct links available for the associated titles as hosted by a wide variety of professional and academic Web sites.


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