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West Virginia's literary history began even before it became a state. Many writers lived here, but only a few became especially well-known outside our boundaries. Here a few notable Mountain State authors.
Royall was one of America’s first female journalists. She grew up on the frontier, moving to Monroe County at age 17. She received an uncommon education for a woman at the time. She married Revolutionary War veteran William Royall, who encouraged ...
This Martinsburg native studied art in New York and Europe, becoming a skilled illustrator. Writing under the name "Porte Crayon," he also became well-known for his travel stories and drawings in Harper’s Monthly Magazine.During the Civil War, he ...
English was a poet, doctor, and lawyer best known for his poem "Ben Bolt." In the 1850s, he lived in Logan County, where he wrote poems about the area and got involved in local politics. He also invested in coal but left when those plans failed. H...
This writer from Wheeling graduated top of her class from a female seminary in 1848 and started writing for a local paper. Her most prominent story, "Life in the Iron Mills" (1861), showed the hard lives of mill workers in Wheeling. She wrote othe...
Ambrose Bierce was a writer and Civil War soldier who used the mountains of Western Virginia as settings for some of his most famous stories. The Ohio native joined the Union Army at age 18 and served in early battles in Randolph and Pocahontas co...
Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller (her pen name) was a romance novelist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She wrote 80 dime novels between 1881 and 1915 and became very well known.Born in Virginia, she lost her first husband and child within two years. A...
This poet was born in Denmark while her father was an ambassador. Her real name was Caroline Dane Bedinger, but her dad called her "Danske," meaning "Little Dane." She lived most of her life near Shepherdstown.Dandridge wrote poems and books that ...
Byrne was a well-known lawyer and writer from West Virginia who loved fishing. Born in Virginia, his family moved to West Virginia after the Civil War. He studied law with his uncle, a Supreme Court justice, and became a lawyer in 1884.Byrne spent...
This Monongalia County native studied at West Virginia University and also attended Harvard, Oxford, and Denison universities.Barbe was managing editor of the Parkersburg Daily State Journal before joining the WVU English department in 1895. He be...
This Harrison County native was best known for his Randolph Mason stories and Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries. In total, he wrote about 230 works, mostly detective stories.Post loved nature and often set his stories in West Virginia. He studied l...
Montague was born at Oakhurst estate in White Sulphur Springs. Many of her stories were set in the mountains, focusing on local people and culture.Her early books, such as The Poet, Miss Kate, and I (1905) and The Sowing of Alderson Cree (1907), f...
Spencer was born in Virginia to parents who had been enslaved. She grew up in Bramwell (Mercer County), where nature inspired her writing. After finishing school, she taught in coal towns before settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.Spencer became known...
This Buffalo (Putnam County) native studied at West Virginia University, earning both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. Her master’s thesis listed 87 West Virginia writers. She later studied and taught at the University of Missouri and then earn...
Matheus was born in Keyser and later moved with his family to Ohio. Many of his stories take place in the West Virginia–Ohio area. He also wrote about folktales from Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.Matheus graduated from college in Ohio in 1910 ...
This Charles Town native became interested in writing after a brief bout of blindness at age 17. His first poem was published in Harper’s Weekly in 1912.He attended Princeton University, where he was classmates with F. Scott Fitzgerald. After serv...
In 1938, this Pocahontas County native became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Though she grew up in China with her missionary parents, she always felt a strong connection to her birthplace in the Greenbrier Valley.B...
Crawford was a journalist from Virginia who grew up in West Virginia. After serving in World War I, he owned a newspaper and supported striking miners, which caused problems with local business leaders. During the Great Depression, he led the West...
This Grafton native started coaching basketball at Rider College, then moved to Long Island University, where he led his team to national championships in 1939 and 1941. Bee quit coaching in 1951 after a cheating scandal involving his team. He fel...
Myers was born in Tucker County with severe disabilities. He never walked, went to school, or weighed more than 60 pounds, but he taught himself and became a poet.He started writing at 16, using a typewriter he couldn’t lift. Influenced by Edgar A...
This Boone County native grew up in Danville, went to Scott District High School, and later studied at Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston). Harmon worked as a reporter and editor for several newspapers, including the Raleigh Regis...
This Clarksburg native started writing books for kids after marrying William Adams in 1923. Her first book was The Swords of the Vikings (1928). She also wrote a biography of "Stonewall" Jackson and stories about the Lewis and Clark expedition.She...
This Buckhannon native worked in many jobs before becoming a writer for children and teens. After graduating from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1925, she taught English at a high school and then drama at a school in New York. She earned a mast...
This Arbovale (Pocahontas County) native taught English and Latin at Green Bank High School from 1932 to 1964 and created West Virginia’s first conservation class, helping students plant trees in the Monongahela National Forest.Blackhurst wrote ma...
This Huntington native was the son of a Czech immigrant who worked in coal mines and glass factories. The family also lived in Fairmont, Kingwood, and Williamstown.Kromer is best known for his novel Waiting for Nothing (1935), which tells the stor...
This Ohio native spent most of her life near Wheeling. She graduated from Ohio State University in 1927 and studied at Columbia University. She was married to Robert Hannum, president of Fostoria Glass Company.Hannum wrote stories about life in th...
West was a poet, preacher, teacher, and political activist from North Georgia. In 1965, he and his wife, Connie, moved to Pipestem (Summers County) to start the Appalachian South Folklife Center. He wanted people to respect Appalachian culture and...
Smith grew up in Clarksburg and Charleston and later lived near Worthington (Marion County). She studied English at Fairmont State College (now University) and married newspaper editor Richard Bruce Parrish. While he served in World War II, she ra...
This Pennsylvania native studied art and played jazz saxophone for extra money. After marrying Kay Harris, he moved to New York City and worked as an illustrator for magazines.In 1939, Evans bought a farm in Preston County called Old Hemlock, wher...
This Webster Springs native, who later lived in Gassaway, wrote six novels during the Great Depression, often focusing on mountain life, the lumber industry, and the struggles of working people.His most important book, Hawk’s Nest (1941), was base...
McNeill grew up on a Pocahontas County farm and often wrote about rural Appalachian life. Her father, G. D. McNeill, was also a writer.Her most famous book, Gauley Mountain (1939), showed her talent for using local dialect and creating powerful im...
This Tennessee native grew up in Mineral County, graduated from Keyser High School in 1932, and went to college in Georgia.She married the Rev. Peter Marshall in 1936 and had a son in 1940. Soon after, she battled tuberculosis for three years. In ...
This poet from Kanawha County learned poetry by listening to her mother and could recite Shakespeare and Chaucer before she could read. Her first published poem, "Appalachia" (1970), is her most popular. She published two poetry books, Appalachia,...
This Charleston native moved often with her family because of her father’s job in the coal industry. At age 10, they settled back in Charleston. As an adult, she lived in New York, England, and Turkey. During World War II, she served in the Women'...
Grubb's family lost much of their wealth living in Moundsville during the Great Depression, and this struggle influenced his writing, which often criticized powerful people and big business.Grubb wanted to be an artist and studied design, but he a...
This Kentucky native studied religion at Wellesley College and later attended Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary.In 1951, she wrote Dope!, a street play performed in East Harlem with local, untrained actors. It was seen by thousand...
This Charleston native graduated from Garnet High School and West Virginia State College (now University). Flagg taught high school drama and toured with the American Negro Repertory Players.In 1952, she became director of the Children's Theater i...
After college, this Braxton County native worked as a teacher and theater agent. In the 1950s, he became interested in UFOs after researching the Flatwoods Monster.Barker wrote They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers (1956), and later The Silver B...
This Charleston native was raised by his strong but loving grandmother. His Presbyterian faith and time at Hampden-Sydney College shaped much of his writing.Hoffman served as a medic in World War II, which inspired his first novel, The Trumpet Unb...
This Fairmont native became famous in 1959 with his first novel, A Separate Peace, based on his time at Phillips Exeter Academy during World War II. He later studied at Yale University.A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age story often compared to Th...
Byars was a well-known author of over 50 books for children and teens. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, she graduated from Queens College in 1950 and later lived in Morgantown from 1960 to 1980.While in West Virginia, she wrote 16 books, includi...
This Fairmont native grew up with her parents, three sisters, and two brothers. Her father worked at a glass plant. Her family was poor during the Great Depression, so Doris spent a lot of time playing in the woods. This inspired many of the stran...
This Clarksburg native was raised in West Union. He studied briefly at West Virginia University before moving to New York, where he worked for a newspaper and later studied acting. There, he began writing plays and TV scripts, contributing to show...
This Indiana native has written over 135 books for kids and teens. Her connection to West Virginia began when she married Rex Naylor in 1960 and visited Grafton, Buckhannon, and Preston County. In 1987, she traveled across West Virginia to learn m...
Myers lived in Martinsburg from birth until he was three, when his mother died. Then, he was raised by foster parents in Harlem in New York City’. He loved to read but kept it a secret from other kids.A teacher encouraged him to write, but family ...
This Belington (Barbour County) native earned degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College, West Virginia University, and the University of Utah.Her first book of poems, The Girl with the Stone in Her Lap, came out in 1976. She taught writing at se...
This Coalwood (McDowell County) native graduated from Big Creek High School and Virginia Tech, then served in the army during the Vietnam War, earning awards for his service. After the war, he worked as an engineer at NASA until retiring in 1998.H...
Willis was born in Clarksburg and grew up in Shinnston. After college and volunteer work, she earned a degree in writing and began teaching in New York and New Jersey schools.She wrote books to help people learn writing, as well as children’s book...
This Morgantown native is a best-selling author known for his action and adventure novels. His first big hit was Flight of the Intruder (1986), about a Navy pilot named Jake Grafton.Coonts grew up in Buckhannon and graduated from West Virginia Uni...
Yep was born in San Francisco but has family roots in West Virginia. His relatives had moved from China to Clarksburg before settling in California.Yep has written over 50 books for young readers, including the award-winning The Star Fisher and Dr...
This Parkersburg native served as a Navy medic during the Vietnam War. He studied at West Virginia University and Howard University.Currey’s first poem was published in 1974. His 1980 book, Crossing Over: A Vietnam Journal, shared his war experien...
Marc Harshman, West Virginia’s poet laureate, was born in Indiana. He studied at Bethany College, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh. He started writing poetry in high school and published his first poem at Yale.His first poetr...
This Bluefield native grew up in coal mining towns and is known for her novels about Appalachian life and history. She also worked as a community activist and ran for governor in 2000.Giardina graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College and late...
This South Charleston native grew up in Milton and loved local history and stories. Pancake studied at West Virginia Wesleyan, Marshall University, and at the University of Virginia’s Creative Writing Program.He worked many jobs and taught at mili...
This Buckhannon native graduated with honors from West Virginia University and earned a master's degree from the Iowa Writers Workshop.She has written six short story collections and five novels. Her book Lark and Termite was nominated for the Nat...
This Virginia native grew up in southern West Virginia. She's written over 100 books for young readers, including picture books, poems, and novels. Her childhood in rural West Virginia has inspired much of her writing.From ages 4 to 8, she lived w...
This Lewisburg native grew up on a dairy farm in Greenbrier County. He studied at Princeton and the University of Iowa. Benedict has written several short story collections, including Town Smokes, The Wrecking Yard, and Miracle Boy, as well as the...