List of 20th-century writers

This is a partial list of 20th-century writers. This list includes notable artists, authors, philosophers, playwrights, poets, scientists and other important and noteworthy contributors to literature. The two most basic written literary categories include fiction and non fiction.

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v t e Narrative
Character	Antagonist Archenemy Character arc Character flaw Characterization Confidant Deuteragonist False protagonist Focal character Foil Gothic double Hamartia Hero Anti Byronic Tragic Narrator Protagonist Stock character Straight man Supporting character Title character Tritagonist Villain
Plot	Ab ovo Action Backstory Origin story Chekhov's gun Cliché Cliffhanger Conflict Deus ex machina Dialogue Dramatic structure Eucatastrophe Foreshadowing Flashback Flashforward Frame story In medias res Kishōtenketsu MacGuffin Pace Plot device Plot twist Poetic justice Red herring Reveal Self-insertion Shaggy dog story Stereotype Story arc Story within a story Subplot Suspense Trope
Setting	Alternate history Backstory Crossover Dreamworld Dystopia Fictional location city country universe parallel Utopia Worldbuilding
Theme	Irony Leitmotif Metaphor Moral Moral development Motif Deal with the Devil Conflict between good and evil Self-fulfilling prophecy Time travel
Style	Allegory Bathos Comic relief Diction Figure of speech Imagery Mode Mood Narration Narrative techniques Hook Show, don't tell Stylistic device Suspension of disbelief Symbolism Tone
Structure	Act Act structure Three-act structure Freytag's Pyramid Exposition/Protasis Rising action/Epitasis Climax/Peripeteia Falling action/Catastasis Denouement/Catastrophe Linear narrative Nonlinear narrative films television series Premise Types of fiction with multiple endings
Form	Drama Fabliau Flash fiction Folklore Fable Fairy tale Legend Myth Tall tale Gamebook Narrative art Narrative poetry Epic poetry Novel Novella Parable Short story Vignette
Genre (List)	Autobiography Biography Fiction Action fiction Adventure Comic Crime Docu Epistolary Ergodic Erotic Historical Mystery Nautical Paranoid Philosophical Picaresque Political Pop culture Psychological Religious Rogue Romance Chivalric Prose Saga Satire Speculative fiction Fantasy Gothic Southern Horror Magic realism Science Hard Superhero Theological Thriller Urban Western Nonfiction Novel Creative
Narration	Diegesis First-person Second-person Third-person Third-person omniscient narrative Subjectivity Unreliable narrator Multiple narrators Stream of consciousness Stream of unconsciousness
Tense	Past Present Future
Related	Dominant narrative Fiction writing Continuity Canon Reboot Retcon Parallel novel Prequel / Sequel Genre List Literary science Literary theory Narrative identity Narrative paradigm Narrative therapy Narratology Metafiction Political narrative Rhetoric Glossary Screenwriting Storytelling Tellability Verisimilitude

v t e Lists of writers
By language	Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Assamese Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Chinese Catalan Canadian Croatian Danish Dutch English French German Greek (Ancient) Gujarati Hebrew Hindi Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Latin Maithili Malaysian Malayalam Maltese Manipuri Marathi Nepali Oriya Pashto Pennsylvania Dutch Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Rajasthani Romanian Russian Sanskrit Scottish Sindhi Slovak Slovenian Sorbian Spanish Swedish Tamil Telugu Turkic Ukrainian Urdu Uzbek Welsh
By nationality or culture	Afghan American Argentine Australian Austrian Bangladeshi Bosniak Brazilian Breton Canadian Chicano Estonian Finnish Greek Indian Iranian Irish Mexican Nepali New Zealander Nicaraguan Nigerian Ottoman Pakistani Peruvian Philippine Romani Romanian South African Sudanese Swedish Swiss Turkish
By type	Anarchist Feminist Lyric Military Modernist National Performance Speculative Surrealist War Women (UK early-modern)