The following is an abbreviated list of essayists, arranged alphabetically by last name (years of birth and death, if applicable, and country of birth, are noted in parentheses). Note: An individual's country of birth is not always indicative of his or her nationality. Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- Kingsley Amis (1922–1995, United Kingdom)
- Martin Amis (born 1949, United Kingdom)
- Matthew Arnold (1822–1888, United Kingdom)
- Anastasia Ashman (born 1964, United States)
- Isaac Asimov (1920–1992, Russia)
- W.H. Auden (1907–1973, United Kingdom)
B
- Francis Bacon (1561–1626, England)
- James Baldwin (1924-1987, United States)
- John Perry Barlow (born 1947, United States)
- Julian Barnes (born 1946, United Kingdom)
- Jacques Barzun (born 1907, France)
- Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867, France)
- Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953, United Kingdom)
- Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986, Argentina)
- Alain de Botton (born 1969, Switzerland)
- William Brandon (1914–2002, United States)
- Alfred Brendel (born 1931, Czechoslovakia)
- Christopher Buckley (born 1952, United States)
- Anthony Burgess (1917–1993, United Kingdom)
- Richard de Bury (1287–1345, England)
C
- Italo Calvino (1923–1985, Italy)
- Albert Camus (1913–1960, Algeria)
- Rafael Cansinos Assens (1882–1964, Spain)
- John Carey (born 1934, United Kingdom)
- Otto Maria Carpeaux (1900–1978, Austria)
- G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936, United Kingdom)
- J. M. Coetzee (b. 1940, Australia)
- William Cobbett (1763–1835, Great Britain)
- Charles Caleb Colton (1780–1832, Great Britain)
- Cyril Connolly (1903–1974, United Kingdom)
- Emil Cioran (1911–1995) ll Romania)
- A. J. Cronin (1896-1981, Scotland)
D
- Mike Daisey (born 1973, United States)
- Joan Didion (born 1934, United States)
- Annie Dillard (born 1945, United States)
- John Dolan (writer) (born 1955, United States)
- Denis Donoghue (born 1920, Ireland)
- David Oliver Doswell (born 1979, United States)
- John Dryden (1631–1700, England)
E
- Umberto Eco (born 1932, Italy)
- T. S. Eliot (1888–1965, United States)
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882, United States)
- Joseph Epstein (born 1937, United States)
- Filip Erceg (born 1979, Croatia)
F
- Anne Fadiman (born 1953), United States
- Frantz Fanon (1925-1961, Martinique)
- Richard Farmer (1735–1797, England)
- Benito Jerónimo Feijoo e Montenegro (1676-1764, Spain)
- Ian Frazier (born 1951, United States)
- Robert Fulghum (born 1937, United States)
- Joan Fuster (1922–1992, Catalan Countries)
G
- Harry Gamboa, Jr. (born 1951, United States)
- Ortega y Gassett
- Malcolm Gladwell (born 1963, United Kingdom)
- Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002, United States)
- Paul Graham (born 1964, United States)
H
- Carla Harryman (born 1952, California)
- William Hazlitt (1778–1830, England)
- Fumi Hirano (born 1955, Japan)
- Christopher Hitchens (born 1949, United Kingdom)
- Hugh Hood (1928–2000, Canada)
- Leigh Hunt (1784–1859, England)
- Amb.Harshavardhini (born 1991, India)
J
- Michael Johns (born 1964, United States)
- Samuel Johnson (1709–1784, England)
- Dario de Judicibus (born 1960, Italy)
- Langston Hughes (1902–1967, United states)
K
- Frank Kermode (born 1919, United Kingdom)
- Chuck Klosterman (born 1972, United States)
- Miroslav Krleza (1893–1981, Croatia)
L
- Tomislav Ladan (born 1932, Serbia)
- Laila Lalami (born 1968, Morocco)
- Charles Lamb (1775–1834, England)
- Shankar Lamichhane, Nepal
- Corinne Lee (United States)
- C.S. Lewis (1898–1963, Ireland)
- Tim Lilburn (Canada)
- Xun Lu (1881-1936, China)
M
- Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), Belgium)
- Norman Mailer (1923–2007, United States)
- Jorge Majfud (born 1969, Uruguay)
- Nathan McCall (born 1955, United States)
- Mary McCarthy (1912–1989, United States)
- Meer Abdullah Harun
- Tim McKay (born 1947, United States)
- H.L. Mencken (1880–1956, United States)
- Arthur Miller (1915–2005, United States)
- Pankaj Mishra (born 1969, India)
- Donald Grant Mitchell (1822–1908, United States)
- Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592, France)
N
- V. S. Naipaul (born 1932, Trinidad and Tobago)
- Virgil Nemoianu (born 1940, Romania)
- Celeste Newbrough (born 1939, United States)
- Kathleen Norris (poet) (born 1947, United States)
O
- Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938, United States)
- George Orwell (1903–1950, United Kingdom)
P
- Noel Perrin (1927–2004, United States}
- Sam Pickering (born 1941, United States)
- Mestrius Plutarch (46–127, Boeotia, Ancient Greece)
- Katherine Ann Porter (1890–1980, United States)
- Kevin Prufer (born 1969, United States)
- Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849, United States)
Q
- Jorge H. Queirolo
- Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859, England)
R
- Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1985, United States)
- Richard Rodriguez (born 1944, United States)
- Bertrand Russell (1872–1970, United Kingdom)
S
- Edward Said (1935–2003, Palestine)
- John Ralston Saul (born 1947, Canada)
- Robert Schumann (1810–1856, Germany)
- David Sedaris (born 1956, United States)
- Rafael Calvo Serer (1916–1988, Spain)
- George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950, Ireland)
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822, England)
- Clay Shirky (born ???, United States)
- Andrew Slattery (born 1981, Australia)
- Jean Edward Smith (born 1932, United States)
- Walid Soliman (born 1975, Tunisia)
- Rebecca Solnit, United States
- Susan Sontag (1933–2004, United States)
- Lytton Strachey (1880–1932, United Kingdom)
T
- Vijay Tendulkar (b. 1928) India
- United States)
- Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russia
- Lionel Trilling (1905–1975, United States)
- George W. S. Trow (1943-2006, United States)
V
- Andrew Vachss (born 1942, United States)
- Gore Vidal (born 1925, United States)
- François de Voltaire (1697–1778, France)
W
- Richard Wagner (1813–1883, Germany)
- Rebecca West (1892–1983, United Kingdom)
- E. B. White (1899–1985, United States)
- Oscar Wilde (1852-1900), Ireland)
- Michael Willis (born 1949, United Kingdom)
- Tom Wolfe (born 1931, United States)
- Virginia Woolf (1882–1941, United Kingdom)
Y
- Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987, France)
