Busse Library provides this website as a resource for students and faculty researching literature's major authors. Based upon the book, The Literary 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets of All Time by Daniel S. Burt (New York: Facts on File, 2001), the project offers full listings by ranking and through a name index.
Specialized pages offer women writers, American authors, United Kingdom authors, and world authors grouped by continent. Developed solely for this website, additional project resources include significant authors in children's literature and a compilation of other "top 100" literature projects.
Each author's entry includes online biographical research and landmarks, scholarly resources, major works online, and Busse Library offerings for the novelist, dramatist, or poet.
This project, and its inspiration, develop from a tradition to select the world's most important authors who made a lasting contribution to literature and to compile a selection of history's most significant published texts in fiction and nonfiction.
The Authors, By Ranking:
- Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731) [91]
- Gunter Grass (1927-) [92]
- Lu Xun (1881-1936) [93]
- E.M. Forster (1879-1970) [94]
- Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991) [95]
- Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro (1886-1965) [96]
- Richard Wright (1908-1960) [97]
- Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) [98]
- Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) [99]
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) [100]
Daniel Defoe
- Daniel Defoe: ClassicAuthors.net
- Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. The Literature Network.
- Robinson Crusoe. By Daniel Defoe. The Literature Network.
- Daniel Defoe: The Eighteenth Century Novel. CUNY -- course resource page
- Daniel Defoe: Selected Critical Reading
- "Defoe -- The Newspaper and the Novel." By W.P. Trent. In Volume 9: From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift of The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Bartleby.com
- Robinson Crusoe: An English Graphical Bibliography -- largest online resource for novel
- Chronological Notes: Daniel Defoe -- summary of major life events
- Daniel Defoe: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
Busse Library Resources on Defoe
- Defoe, Daniel. Selected poetry and prose of Daniel Defoe / [1968] PR3401.S5 1968.
- Moore, John Robert. Daniel Defoe, citizen of the modern world / [1958] PR3406 .M58
- Novak, Maximillian E. Daniel Defoe: master of fictions: his life and ideas / 2001. PR3406 .N68 2001
- Sherman, Sandra. Finance and fictionality in the early eighteenth century accounting for Defoe / 1996. PR3408.E25 S54 1999
Gunter Grass
- "Excerpt from The Tin Drum." Bold Type. RandomHouse, c1999.
- Nobel Prize for Literature, 1999: Gunter Grass
- The Columbia Encyclopedia: Gunter Grass: Bartleby.com
- Gunter Grass: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
Busse Library Resources on Grass
- Grass, Gunter. Speak out: speeches, open letters, commentaries / 1969. DD259.4 .G653
Lu Xun
- Collected Stories of Lu Hsun. Translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang.
- Lu Xun Bibliography: Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Ohio State University.
- "Lu Xun Biography. By Kirk A. Denton.
- Lu Xun: LitWeb.net -- biography and critical study
- Columbia Encyclopedia: Lu Xun: Bartleby.com
- Former Residence of Lu Xun: Beijing, China
- Lu Xun: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
- Lu Xun: Father of Modern Chinese Literature -- links to fiction collection details
E.M. Forster
- Howard's End. Humanities Text Initiative (HTI): University of Michigan.
- A Room With a View. Humanities Text Initiative (HTI): University of Michigan.
- Where Angels Fear to Tread. Humanities Text Initiative (HTI): University of Michigan.
- "Leaving Home: E.M. Forster and the Pursuit of Higher Values." By Dharmachari Abhaya. Western Buddhist Review (v.2)
- [Manchester] Guardian Unlimited: Books: E.M. Forster -- includes original reviews and recent criticism
- The Mary Lago Collection: University of Missouri Libraries: E.M. Forster Research and Publication Files
- Aspects of E.M. Forster
- E.M. Forster: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
- Friends of the Forster Country -- historical society preserving Hertforshire County, Forster's native land
- Only Connect: The Unofficial E.M. Forster Site
Busse Library Resources on Forster
- Forster, E.M. Aspects of the novel / [c1927]. PN3353 .F6
- Forster, E.M. Howards End / [1954, 1921]. PR6011.O58 H6x
- Forster, E.M. A passage to India / c1952. PR6011. O58 1952
Isaac Bashevis Singer
- The Final Interview: Isaac Bashevis Singer: Salon Magazine (4/28/98)
- Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Nobel Prize in Literature, 1978
- American Masters (PBS): Isaac Bashevis Singer
- Isaac Bashevis Singer: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
- Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Jewish Virtual Library. Article by Seymour Brody. c1996.
- The Library of America Presents Isaac Bashevis Singer -- online exhibition
Busse Library Resources on Singer
- Buchen, Irving H. Isaac Bashevis Singer and the eternal past / 1968. PJ5129.S515 Z58
- Malin, Irving. Critical views of Isaac Bashevis Singer / 1969. PJ5129.S49 Z8 1969.
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. An Isaac Bashevis Singer reader / [1971] PJ5129.S49 I5x
Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro
- "Musings of a Literary Pilgrim: Generic Variations in Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro's Travel Writings from China." By Christopher T. Keaveney. University of British Columbia Asian Review 14 (2003-04):1-12.
- Columbia Encyclopedia: Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro: Bartleby.com -- short biography
- Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
- The Tanizaki Jun'Ichiro Memorial Museum: Ashiya, Japan
Busse Library Resources on Jun'Ichiro
- Goossen, Theodore William. The Oxford Book of Japanese short stories / 1997. PL782.E8 O95 1997.
- Hibbert, Howard. Contemporary Japanese literature: an anthology of fiction, film, and other writing since 1945 / 1982, c1977. PL782.E1 C6
- Jun'Ichiro, Tanizaki. The Makioka sisters / 1958. PL839. A7 S37 1958
Richard Wright
- Perspectives in American Literature (PAL): Richard Wright
- Richard Wright: Black Boy -- gateway for PBS documentary and its research
- Richard Wright: Modern American Poetry Project
- Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library: The Richard Wright Papers
- Richard Wright: Books and Writers -- detailed biography
- Richard Wright: Mississippi Writers Page: University of Mississippi -- detailed biography and works list
Busse Library Resources on Wright
- Brignano, Russell. Richard Wright; an introduction to the man and his works / [1970] PS3545.R815 Z6
- Fabre, Michael. The world of Richard Wright / c1985. PS3545.R815 Z65133 1985
- Felgar, Robert. Richard Wright / 1980. PS3545.R815 Z6517
- Gates, Henry Louis. Richard Wright: critical perspectives past and present / c1993. PS3545.R815 Z816 1993.
- Gayle, Addison. Richard Wright: ordeal of a native son / 1983, c1980. PS3545.R815 Z664 1983
- Hakutani, Yoshinobu. Critical essays on Richard Wright / c1982. PS3545.R815 Z62 1982.
- Walker, Margaret. Richard Wright, demonic genius: a portrait of the man / c1988. PS3545.R815 Z892 1988
Gertrude Stein
- "The Good Anna" -- Stein short story
- Gertrude Stein Collection: Bartleby.com
- Gertrude Stein Bibliography. By Kimmo Saaskilahti.
- Gertrude Stein: Modern American Poetry Project
- Gertrude Stein Online: Tenderbuttons -- gateway to research and performance
- The Gertrude Stein Repetory Theater
- Perspectives in American Literature (PAL): Gertrude Stein
- Time-Sense: Gertrude Stein Online -- electronic journal
- "The Work of Gertrude Stein." By William Carlos Williams. CONTEXT: A Forum for Literary Arts and Culture. (no.6) c2000, Center for Book Culture.
- Birthplace of Gertrude Stein: North Side, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh -- details on home
- Gertrude Stein: Academy of American Poets
- Photos of Gertrude Stein. By Carl Van Vechten. American Memory Project: Library of Congress.
- The World of Gertrude Stein
Busse Library Resources on Stein
- Bridgman, Richard. Gertrude Stein in pieces / 1970. PS3537.T323 Z56 1971.
- Brinnin, John Malcolm. The third rose: Gertrude Stein and her world / 1987. PS3537.T323 Z57 1987.
- Copeland, Carolyn Faunce. Language and time and Gertrude Stein / c1975. PS3537.T323 Z584
- Mellow, James R. Charmed circle: Gertrude Stein and company / 1982, c1974. PS3537.T323 Z72 1982.
- Stein, Gertrude. The autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. [1960,c1933] PS3537.T323 Z5 1960
- Sutherland, Donald. Gertrude Stein: a biography of her work / [1951] PS3537.T323 Z83
Zeami Motokiyo
- "Atsumori: Text and Commentary." From Masterworks of the Noh Theater by Kenneth Yasuda. -- critical discussion of theater form
- Japanese Literature: World Literature Program: Creighton University -- section on Motokiyo
- Noh Theater: A History. By Paul Binnie.
- History of the Noh Theater: Japan FactSheet
- Zeami Motokiyo: Columbia Encyclopedia: Bartleby.com -- short biography
Busse Library Resources on Motokiyo
- Kott, Jan. Theater of essence and other essays / 1984. PN2021. K68 1984
Oscar Wilde
- CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: Oscar Wilde -- chronology and all major works
- The Literature Network: Oscar Wilde -- selected poems, fiction, and plays
- The Oscar Wilde Collection -- complete works online
- Oscar Wilde: The Victorian Web
- Famous World Trials: The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1895)
- Oscar Wilde: Books and Writers -- extensive biography
- Oscar Wilde Homepage -- offers photo gallery and extensive biography
- Reading Wilde, Querying Spaces: An Exhibition Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Trials of Oscar Wilde:NYU
Busse Library Resources on Wilde
- Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde / 1988, c1987. PR5823.E38 1987
- Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde: a collection of critical essays / [1969] PR5824.E4
- Eltis, Sos. Revising Wilde: society and subversion in the plays of Oscar Wilde / 1996. PR5827.D7 E48 1996
- Foldy, Michael S. The trials of Oscar Wilde: deviance, morality, and late-Victorian society / c1997. PR5823 .F65 1997.
- Sinfield, Alan. The Wilde century: effeminancy, Oscar Wilde, and the queer moment / c1994. PR5823. S56 1994
- Wilde, Oscar. The works of Oscar Wilde including the poems, plays, essays / [c1927]. PR5810. F32.