Untold: Authors That Changed America

Awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, recognizing a lifetime of influential literary works, Ray Bradbury wrote from a desire to “live forever”. Through sci fi, fantasy, horror and mystery to themes of death, loneliness and the dark side of human nature.

At a time when Jim Crow laws made racial segregation legal across much of the United States, author Richard Wright gave voice to a struggle – as the first African American author to achieve widespread critical and commercial success.

Being a teenager isn’t always easy – but sometimes, books can provide the comfort and guidance we need. Few authors capture the adolescent experience better than young adult author Lois Lowry.

The first African-American woman to have a play staged on Broadway, Lorraine Hansberry was a writer who broke down racial and gender barriers.

The first author to win the Pulitzer Prize for two consecutive novels, Colson Whitehead is one of the United States’ most versatile writers.

A trailblazer in more ways than one, Sandra Cisneros was the first Mexican-American woman to be published by a mainstream publisher. Her work brought Hispanic culture to a wider audience of readers.

As the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Alice Walker helped to bring the Black experience to readers across the globe. A true trailblazer, her work continues to entertain and enlighten.

The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the hardship and struggles of ordinary people.

A master of the macabre, Shirley Jackson explores the creepy underbelly of domestic life, with a sharp focus on the challenges that women face.

First popularized as a genre of literature in the 1920s, for decades science fiction was dominated by white male authors. That is until Octavia Butler, an African American woman, rewrote the script.

Known as the Father of American Literature, Mark Twain used satire and a sharp wit to explore and reveal the realities of US society in the 19th century. In doing so he developed an all-new “American style” of writing.