WELCOME TO LIT. FIG.
An Free-Online Database About Authors
Welcome to our website! Here at Lit. Fig. we aim to counteract ignorance about authors by educating people on authors big and small that have changed the (literary) world! If that sounds a bit weighty...well it is. In our experience, though, we've found that nearly all fiction is autobiographical in one way or another. So whether it's getting the gist of the author on the subject matter for your upcoming English essay or just trying to understand Moby Dick author Herman Melville to impress your book club, Lit. Fig.'s got you! Happy exploring!
About
FAQs
Here at Lit. Fig. we LOVE organization. So to organize all the authors in existence, we placed them in 1 of 5 eras depending on where they lived in time. Those eras are the...
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Renaissance & Enlightenment Era (1600-1800)
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Romantic Era (1800-1850
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Realism Era (1850-1900)
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Modernism (1900-1945)
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Contemporary (1945+)
To view the authors in a given era, click on the era in the menu. It will take you to a page that gives you information about the era and an alphabetical list of all the authors in the era. Click on an author to visit their fact page. Or if you want to view the era as a whole, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the next button to view all authors in chronological order.
If all you want to do is go Home to this here helpful homepage, click on the Lit. Fig. logo in the top left of the menu! Happy exploring!
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If you've done your research, you probably know quite a few literary eras, periods, or movements. Unlike history, though, literary history isn't very linear. There are disputes over how many eras there are, what distinguishes an era, and what doesn't. The result is that if you do a quick Google and ask "How many literary eras/movements/periods are there?" the internet will answer back with anywhere from 5-27 eras. It all comes down to how specific and un-linear you want to get (some authors love to reboot old styles with a twist on them cough cough Harper Lee with her Southern gothic style in contemporary fiction). Couple the literary movement dilemma with different authors around the world and you've got a dilemma on your hands. At Lit. Fig, we simplified the literary time frame into five major eras. We understand that some may disagree with our five-era choice. Our goal is not to provide intricate information on literary movements but on the amazing authors in them. We also understand that some people may disagree with the placement of certain authors in certain eras. Again, we do not claim to be the foremost expert on literary movements and classification. The way authors are organized is to provide as much clarity for the everyday reader as possible.
Any author that has rocked the book world has a place on Lit. Fig. Often, you'll find authors to classic works such as Mary Shelley, William Shakespeare, Alexandre Dumas, C.S. Lewis, Chinua Achebe, or Gabriel Marquez. However, when we enter the modernism and contemporary era, you'll find authors such as Dr. Seuss or Margaret Atwood. Traditionally speaking, they might not seem like "true" literary figures, but the truth is that they've transformed the way modern literature works.
That said, if there's an author you feel deserves to be on Lit. Fig, please let us know!
In each author page, we try to provide you with enough information to really get to know the author. At the very top of the page, you'll find the author's pen name. If that name was a pseudonym (not their real name), underneath will be their actual name. Underneath this is the info. section which provides basic information such as birth and death date, nationality, genre, and familial relations. Unerneath this is a list of all of the author's works. Major works of an author will be bolded. Below that are a bulleted list of some of the author's major themes. Below that is a couple of quotes by the author. And finally, below that is a list of great resources to learn more about an author. If you click on whatever source appeals to you, you'll be taken to a link featuring that resource. On the right of the author name, you'll notice a picture slideshow of the author. Below that is a biography for the author, which with a click, will expand to reveal the full biography.
No worries! In the menu, we've also included a handy-dandy search feature. If you enter an author name, we'll provide you with links to the right author page.
If you have a certain theme or subject matter that gets you excited, just type it into the search engine found by clicking the search link in our main menu. We'll provide you with authors that match your search. If you click on any author, you'll find a list of the author's works at the bottom of the author page. If you hover over the work, a picture and brief synopsis will be provided. For more information on a given book, we encourage you to look it up in more depth on a search engine. Most of the authors on Lit. Fig. are literary authors. Perfect for that next classic book you have to select in ENGLISH-101. Just saying!
At Lit. Fig, it is our utmost priority to provide you with accurate and detailed information. Every author we include on this website has been thoroughly researched and every word we say about that author has been thoroughly scrutinized before being placed on the website. We also make sure to include references to some great sources in case you're dying to read a real biography about a certain author. If there's something stated that you find inaccurate, please share your concerns with us!
Lit. Fig. is a combination of two abbreviations: literary and figure. Shorten literary to three letters and you get lit. Shorten figure to three letters and you get fig.
If you want to be updated on literary figure news, exciting updates on our website, and daily bits of knowledge follow us on Instagram! If you have specific questions you have for us, recommendations on an additional author to add to the website, concerns or critiques about current information, feel free to reach out and contact us!