7 Author Shoutouts | Authors We Love To Recommend

Here are 7 Author Shoutouts for this week. Find your favorite author or discover an author whose works you’ve not yet read.

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This Week’s Author Shoutouts:

Rainer Maria Rilke

Poet Rainer Maria Rilke, born in Prague when it was part of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, deserves an Author Shoutout. His writings bridge the gap between traditional and modern authors, delving into the challenges of connecting with the indescribable in an era of doubt, isolation, and intense unease.

He authored a novel, various poetry collections, and collections of lyrical letters in both German and French. Additionally, he had connections with mystical poets like Rumi and Khalil Gibran. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 51 due to leukemia in 1926.

Joan Didion

An Author Shoutout to Joan Didion, an acclaimed writer and journalist, hailing from Sacramento, California. Alongside Gay Talese and Hunter S. Thompson, she played a crucial role in shaping the counterculture movement’s New Journalism. Notably, her renowned work, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, published in 1968, exemplifies her pioneering spirit. It’s worth mentioning that as early as 1991, Didion bravely penned a groundbreaking piece in the mainstream media, shedding light on the potential wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five.

She was awarded the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005 and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking. The memoir documents her experiences in the year following the death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, with whom she co-wrote the screenplay for the 1976 film A Star is Born. Sadly, she passed away in 2021 at the age of 87 due to complications related to Parkinson’s disease.

Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds, born in Washington, DC, deserves an Author Shoutout. He achieved recognition with his debut novel, When I Was The Greatest, which secured the John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Since then, he has written eight additional novels, including Ghost, a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. His work As Brave As You earned him the Kirkus Prize, the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teen, and the Schneider Family Book Award.

He authored the Marvel Comics book, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and Long Way Down, a novel in verse, in 2017. The latter received several accolades, including being named a Newbery Honor book, a Printz Honor Book, and the best young adult work by the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Awards. In 2019, he penned Look Both Ways, which earned him a Carnegie Medal. From 2020 to 2022, he held the esteemed position of the Library of Congress’ National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Whew!

Willa Cather

Willa Cather, the renowned author born in Gore, Virginia, receives an author shoutout. She is famous for her expressive and intimate writings about life on the Great Plains during the frontier era. Cather’s family relocated to Nebraska when she was nine years old. Some speculate about her sexual orientation, pointing to her masculine hairstyle, attire, close circle of female friends, and occasional self-identification as William.

In 1922, she won the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, set during WWI. The author of O Pioneers! and My Ántonia she died in 1947 of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 73.

James Thurber

An Author Shoutout to James Thurber, the renowned author born in Columbus, Ohio. While he wrote a total of 35 books (with 9 being published posthumously), he gained most prominence for his remarkable short stories and cartoons, often featured in The New Yorker magazine. Having lost vision in one eye due to a mishap during a William Tell game, Thurber found solace in writing as a means to engage with his surroundings.

He had a writing career that included contributions to the Columbus Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, and New York Evening Post. Eventually, he found his place at The New Yorker alongside his friend, E.B. White. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 66 due to pneumonia. In 1997, the Thurber Prize was created as a tribute to him, recognizing exceptional works of American humor on a yearly basis.

John Milton

An Author Shoutout to John Milton, the notable English author hailing from London for his remarkable contributions. He is best known for his epic poem titled Paradise Lost. Milton fervently advocated for republicanism, rejecting the idea of hereditary heads of state. Notably, he served as a civil servant to the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. However, it was during the Restoration period that Milton produced the majority of his renowned literary works.

Despite international acclaim, he suffered from poverty and neglect in England while dictating Paradise Lost to his assistants, likely due to his blindness caused by glaucoma. Maintaining steadfastness in his convictions and beliefs, he passed away in 1674 at the age of 65 due to kidney failure.

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson, born in Amherst, Massachusetts, receives an Author Shoutout. She is widely recognized as one of poetry’s most renowned recluses. Her connections with others primarily revolved around letter exchanges. Although she was acknowledged as a writer by many, only a small fraction of her poems—approximately a dozen—were published during her lifetime, and even those underwent significant edits to conform to the prevailing literary standards of that era.

Following her demise in 1886, presumably due to kidney disease at 55 years old, nearly 1,800 poems were discovered concealed at her dwelling by her younger sibling. The initial compilation of her poems was released four years subsequent to her demise, although extensively modified. It was only in 1955 that her poems were made accessible in their unaltered state.

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