Famous Missouri Authors

Born in St. Louis, MO, Angelou is best known for her autobiographical works, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) which describes her childhood growing up in St. Louis and Arkansas.

In February 2011, President Barack Obama awarded the St. Louis native the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.

Angelou currently teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Better known by pen name Mark Twain, Clemens moved from Florence, MO, to Hannibal, MO, at the age of four. Of Florida, Clemens once wrote, "The village contained a hundred people and I increased the population by 1 per cent. It is more than many of the best men in history could have done for a town." In 2000, Florida had a population of 9. Hannibal later served as the setting for his two best known novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Several of Clemens's novels, including The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court have been made into movies.

Born in St. Louis, MO, Eliot was best known for his literary criticism of other writers' works. However Eliot could also be considered one of the most important poets of the 20th century. His most famous works include Four Quartets and The Waste Land. In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry."

In 1927, Eliot became a British citizen stating, "My mind may be American but my heart is British."

Field lived in St. Louis until the death of his mother in 1956 but later moved back to Missouri to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia. Though most well-known as The Children's Poet, Field worked for newspapers in Columbia, St. Joseph, Kansas City, Denver and Chicago. He influenced journalism writing styles of the time and was the first journalist to use a byline. However, he is best known for being the author of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Born in Joplin, MO, Hughes grew up through out the Midwest and later lived in Mexico and France before attending college at Lincoln University (along with classmate Thurgood Marshall) and then settling down in Harlem, New York. Hughes is best known for his poetry and influence during the Harlem Renaissance.

Author of the autobiographical Little House series, Wilder grew up in the Dakotas but moved to Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield in southern Missouri in 1894. There she started writing first for newspapers and then the now famous Little House books with the aid of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, a writer in her own right.

Five of the "Little House" books received Newbery Honors.

Moving to St. Louis at the age of seven, Williams later attended (and then dropped out of) the University of Missouri-Columbia's famous School of Journalism. Williams may best be known for his plays "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Desire."