Favourite authors by genre

I used to enjoy this sort of thing on LiveJournal, when that was a thing, and am re-creating it here.
Don't limit yourself to one of each genre. I never did!

Who is your favourite:

1. Mystery writer
   
2. Science fiction writer
   
3. Fantasy writer
   
4. Horror writer
   
5. Poet
   
6. Current Literary fiction writer
   
7. Classic novelist
   
8. Playwright
   
9. Romance writer
   
10. Western writer (interpret this as you will)
    
11. Biographer/Memoir writer
    
12. General non-fiction writer
    
13. Writer from the country of your birth
    
14. Writer whose books you read in translation
    
15. Writer of your gender
    
16. Comic writer
    
17. Writer whose books make you cry
    
18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century
    
19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born
    
20. Writer born in the same year as you
    
21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one
    

Must play the game if I've invented it....

1. Mystery writer: Jo Nesbo for The Redbreast, Dorothy L. Sayers for Gaudy Night.
   
   
2. Science fiction writer: Isaac Asimov for I, Robot, and Aldous Huxley for Brave New World.
   
   
3. Fantasy writer: Guy Gavriel Kay for The Summer Tree, Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book and Neverwhere.
   
   
4. Horror writer: H.P. Lovecraft for The Thing on the Doorstep, Stephen King for The Shining and The Green Mile.
   
   
5. Poet: Rupert Brooke, Thomas Hardy, Gerald Manley Hopkins
   
   
6. Current Literary fiction writer: Ann Patchett for Bel Canto and State of Wonder, Jane Urquhart for The Underpainter.
   
   
7. Classic novelist: Jane Austen for everything she ever wrote.
   
   
8. Playwright: Martin McDonagh - took me four tries to get the spelling right for The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
   
   
9. Romance writer: can't think of one
   
   
10. Western writer (interpret this as you will): Wallace Stegner for Angle of Repose.
    
    
11. Biographer/Memoir writer: Agatha Christie for her autobiography, Douglas Botting for Gerald Durrell's biography, Nelson Mandela for Long Walk to Freedom.
    
    
12. General non-fiction writer: Jon Krakauer for Into Thin Air.
    
    
13. Writer from the country of your birth: Douglas Coupland for Microserfs and Hey, Nostradamus. And I mustn't forget Sinclair Ross for As for Me and my House, or Margaret Atwood for The Handmaid's Tale.
    
    
14. Writer whose books you read in translation: Jo Nesbo for his Harry Hole series, and Henning Mankell for his Wallander series.
    
    
15. Writer of your gender: Ann Patchett, mentioned above, and Miriam Toews for so many of her books, A Complicated Kindness probably the best among them.
    
    
16. Comic writer: Terry Pratchett. I loved The Wee Free Men, and Jingo. I would love to meet the Patrician, and have some wee free men in my own backyard.
    
    
17. Writer whose books make you cry: Markus Zusak for both The Book Thief and I am the Messenger.
    
    
18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century: C.S. Lewis
    
    
19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens
    
    
20. Writer born in the same year as you: Ann Patchett
    
    
21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one: can't do it. *dies*
    

What a great thread. What is it about lists, eh?

Off the top of my head:

1. Mystery writer: Not a fan of the genre, but poss. Raymond Chandler.
2. Science fiction writer: Ooh, ermm. Philip Jose Farmer.
3. Fantasy writer: Mervyn Peake.
4. Horror writer: Steven King.
5. Poet: Alfred Lord Tennyson.
6. Current Literary fiction writer: Does John Updike count? If not, John Banville.
7. Classic novelist: Jane Austen
8. Playwright: No contest - Old Shakey
9. Romance write: Is Jane Austen a romance writer?
10. Western writer (interpret this as you will): no idea.
11. Biographer/Memoir writer: Truman Capote for In Cold Blood - a biography of sorts.
12. General non-fiction writer: Norman H Davies
13. Writer from the country of your birth: T H White
14. Writer whose books you read in translation: Thomas Mann
15. Writer of your gender: Too broad.
16. Comic writer: Keith Waterhouse
17. Writer whose books make you cry Robert Graves (for Count Belisarius) or T H White.
18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century: No idea.
19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born: Jane Austen or Tobias Smollett
20. Writer born in the same year as you: No idea.
21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one: I couldn't possibly betray the other contenders.

I'm gonna name me some names; maybe even add me some categories.

Mystery writer -- Umberto Eco for The Name of the Rose

Science fiction writer -- Neal Stephenson for Anathem

Fantasy writer -- L. Frank Baum for creating The Land of Oz

Horror writer -- Davis Grubb for The Night of the Hunter, Robert Mitchum's best movie -- see it for the hands scene soliloquy alone

Poet -- Philip Levine for What Work Is

Current Literary fiction writer -- Michael Ondaatje for The English Patient

Classic novelist -- William Makepeace Thackery for Vanity Fair

Playwright -- Edmond Rostand for Cyrano de Bergerac

Romance writer -- Georgette Heyer for all those wickedly witty Regency Romances

Western writer (interpret this as you will) -- Two: Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove and Norman Maclean for A River Runs Through It

Biographer/Memoir writer -- Victoria Glendinning for Vita (Sackville-West)

General non-fiction writer -- a duo: Will and Ariel Durant for The Story of Civilization

Writer from the country of your birth -- Louise Erdrich for The Master Butchers Singing Club

Writer whose books you read in translation -- Dai Sijie for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Writer of your gender -- Dorothy Dunnett for The Lymond Chronicles, a series set in the Renaissance

Comic writer -- it's a tie!: Stella Gibbons for Cold Comfort Farm and John Mortimer for Rumpole of the Bailey (and all the Rumpole legal comedies)

Writer whose books make you cry -- John Steinbeck for Of Mice and Men

Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century -- Virginia Woolf

Writer who died at least one century before you were born -- Cao Xueqin for Dream of the Red Chamber

Writer born in the same year as you -- Salman Rushdie

Favorite writer if coerced into picking only one -- qualifier: who I've read in 2015 and who helps me relax after doing lists like these. . .Alexander McCall Smith

Favorite Pop Sci Writer -- Lisa Randall for Warped Passages

Favorite Contemporary Writer Discovered by Me -- Sara Alexi for The Greek Village series

Best New Writer of the Century -- Eleanor Catton for The Luminaries

And with that, I'm done!

1. Mystery writer: Raymond Chandler is a good one. Of course Agatha Christie. I also quite enjoy Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books, and Michael Slade's Special X series. Oh and how can I leave out Doyle?!
2. Science fiction writer: Ursula Le Guin is fabulous, I also enjoy Heinlein.
3. Fantasy writer: Oh, er, I don't really do much fantasy... OH Sergei Lukyanenko!
4. Horror writer: Stephen King will always be tops. Poe as well. Cliver Barker, Peter Straub, Ira Levin...
5. Poet: Poe here too (I don't know if anything will ever top The Raven for me!), along with Langston Hughes.
6. Current Literary fiction writer: Tom Robbins.
7. Classic novelist: What makes "classic"? If Nabokov counts, then by far, Nabokov. Umm Dostoevsky, Huxley, Graham Greene...
8. Playwright: I suppose Shakespeare, I'm not much for plays. I did enjoy the few Tennessee Williams' I read.
9. Romance writer: I don't do romance. Laurell K Hamilton? LOL.
10. Western writer (interpret this as you will): Uh, Cormac McCarthy?
11. Biographer/Memoir writer: I don't know any particular biography authors. Edward Bunker's autobio was enthralling, though. Oh, Wil Wheaton I suppose would fit.
12. General non-fiction writer: I read various nonfic, mostly by various authors on various subjects, rarely the same author twice...
13. Writer from the country of your birth: Gore Vidal
14. Writer whose books you read in translation: Several of these also listed already. More? Solzhenitsyn, Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi...
15. Writer of your gender: Katherine Neville, Lisa Gardner
16. Comic writer: Bill Watterson, Joshua Dysart, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman (Sandman ONLY!)...
The rest would pretty much just be repeating myself, so yeah, stopping here! :P

This ought to make me think a bit. And if it doesn't, I'll just cancel this post and nobody will ever know ...

1. Mystery writer: Agatha Christie is an easy pick, since I don't visit this often.

2. Science fiction writer: Isaac Asimov or Frank Herbert

3. Fantasy writer: in the 1980s it was Stephen R. Donaldson, but since GoT started it's George R.R. Martin. A less boring answer would be Gene Wolfe, who is like the James Joyce of fantasy.

4. Horror writer: Stephen King (see #1, above)

5. Poet: Mother Goose. I visit this even less often.

6. Current Literary fiction writer: gosh, I'm a lot more narrow than I thought, I'm having trouble with a lot of these .... ummm .... Mark Helprin or Umberto Eco.

7. Classic novelist: here we go! It's definitely ... no, maybe ... well it could be ... see, the trouble is I usually read one novel and then move on to somebody else, so ... maybe it's James Joyce or E.M. Forster.

8. Playwright: I think I read a play once.

9. Romance writer: I have no idea what that is. Okay, Charlotte Bronte, and Jacqueline Carey is just about in the ballpark.

10. Western writer (interpret this as you will): like, cowboys and stuff? Then it's whoever wrote Shane because that's been it for me so far.

11. Biographer/Memoir writer: Anne Frank

12. General non-fiction writer: Pierre Berton, the famous popularizer of Canadian history. Which is no easy to thing to do, by the way.

13. Writer from the country of your birth: excepting Pierre, I think first of Guy Gavriel Kay with Steven Erikson a close second, both fantasy authors. Because I keep having trouble getting on with the Atwood/Davies/Richler/Ondaatje et al. gang.

14. Writer whose books you read in translation: Italo Calvino, with kudos to Herman Hesse and my man (or woman?) Homer.

15. Writer of your gender: seeing as I'm a male, any answer I put here is just going to be repetitive and possibly obnoxious.

16. Comic writer: a genuinely funny book is a wonderful rarity, especially since I don't generally read light. But definitely I expect a good time when I'm reading Mark Twain.

17. Writer whose books make you cry: still looking for this one. I'm some kind of monster. But the closest are surely devastating non-fiction tales from the Holocaust such as Elie Weisel has crafted, and other man-made disasters. The unbelievable cruelty humans are capable of can be just misery inducing.

18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century: this made me think of J.R.R. Tolkien but alas, he died when I was four months old. Instead of him there's John Steinbeck, Jorge Borges and Joseph Conrad. I think that's everyone whose name starts with the letter J.

19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born: we're talking about no later than the 1870s here ... I've not read a lot from the 1700s yet, so I'll easily choose Charles Dickens (d. 1870)

20. Writer born in the same year as you: Had to research this one, and the only name I readily came up with was some no-name author who wrote a book about sparkling vampires. I think there was a movie. So I'll pass.

21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one: I'm sort of thinking James Joyce here, but it's like asking me my favourite song or colour. It's going to change all the time.

Alright, so that was pretty terrible but it did make me think.

Edit: and it made me edit, because it's like playing Family Feud. You think you gave a good answer, but then somebody else answers and you're like *facepalm*

Lists are fun!

Mystery writer: Arthur Conan Doyle
Science fiction writer: Greg Egan
Fantasy writer: J. R. R. Tolkien
Poet: W. H. Auden
Current Literary fiction writer: Lydia Millet
Classic novelist: R. K. Narayan
Playwright: Euripides
Romance writer: Carla Kelly
Writer from the country of your birth: John Steinbeck
Writer whose books you read in translation: Ibrahim al-Koni
Writer of your gender: Jane Austen
Comic* writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Writer born in the same year as you: Hannu Rajaniemi
Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one: Italo Calvino

I'll add a few more:

Favorite young adult author: Elizabeth Marie Pope
Favorite children's book author: Esther Averill
Favorite author born on the same day: Fyodor Dostoevsky

*I went with the alternate interpretation of this one. Otherwise, it's Mark Twain.

>7 LibraryPerilous: I went with that interpretation of comic as well. I would never use "comic writer" to mean "comedic author" so that is how I answered. As far as comedy, the aforementioned Tom Robbins amuses me greatly, as does Dean Koontz.

I would've been tempted to add historical fic, but my choices would have been Gore Vidal and Katherine Neville, already listed for other things, so I didn't bother. :P

>8 .Monkey.: Oh, you have some excellent comic writers listed, and I especially like your caveat on Gaiman.

I thought about historical fiction as well, so now I am going to have to check out Katherine Neville. Her books sound like great fun.

Cool user name change, by the way, and I hope you are doing well. :)

>9 LibraryPerilous: The Eight is faaaabulous! Highly recommended!
I've read most others of Gaiman's that I've had opportunity to (i.e. those the library has), and really just did not care for any. Coraline wasn't awful, but it wasn't great either. The rest, meh. Sandman is exceptional, though. Vaughan is a good one as well. And Brian Wood, Bill Willingham, and, how could I forget Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá are a favorite pair! ...Um, yeah I like good story-tellers and pretty pictures! xP

>9 LibraryPerilous: >10 .Monkey.:
I 2 The Eight!

>10 .Monkey.: >11 Limelite: I've added The Eight to this week's ILL request list. Thanks!

I really love Fables, but I'm glad the series is over. I think it kind of went south toward the end, and Willingham's right wing sympathies came out of the woodwork.

A couple of stand-alone graphic novels I've read and loved are Iron: Or, the War After and We3, and I loved Moto Hagio's A Drunken Dream and Other Stories. I'll have to check out Daytripper; it looks lovely.

I gave it four stars, because the artwork was beautiful, but Gaiman's Black Orchid remains one of the worst comics I've read. It was sooooo boring.

ETA: correct numbering

Ohh it's over? I'm at like 18? somewhere around there, I only read it from the library and they were of course slow getting them in. I enjoyed the first arc, but the 2nd one with the dark guy (it's been a while, I forget!) I didn't care for. I do like the wolfy focus in the last ones I've read. Now I'm curious, haha. How many volumes did there wind up being?

>13 .Monkey.: Haha, oops, glad I didn't post a spoiler! The series finished with #22. The Snow White arc is in #19. I loved the Inherit the Wind and Cubs in Toyland arcs (17-18); I thought he returned to fine form with those and #20, Camelot. But Snow White was just a bad storyline that featured one of my pet peeve tropes. Let me know what you think after you've had a chance to read it. I could have been overanalyzing or in a bad mood that day.

Haha, I doubt it! It tends to happen even to the good ones. Will do, though, but it could be a while! XP

I wasn't going to do this since it is almost impossible to pick "a" favorite, even when you break it down into genres, but I finally couldn't resist any longer. And I added the genre of jr. fiction.

1. Mystery writer - Arthur Upfield

2. Science fiction writer - Kate Griffin aka Catherine Webb

3. Fantasy writer - Jim Butcher

4. Horror writer - don't go there

5. Poet - John Gillespie Magee

6. Current Literary fiction writer - Anthony Doerr

7. Classic novelist - R.D. Blackmoor

8. Playwright - Michael Healy

9. Romance writer - yuck

10. Western writer (interpret this as you will) - Mary Doria Russell for Doc

11. Biographer/Memoir writer -Christopher Anderson for Somewhere in Heaven

12. General non-fiction writer - Erik Larson

13. Writer from the country of your birth - Paul Gallico

14. Writer whose books you read in translation - Antoine de Saint Exupery

15. Writer of your gender - Anne Perry

16. Comic writer - Janet Evanovich

17. Writer whose books make you cry - Frederick Forsyth for The Shepherd

18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century - S. S. Van Dine

19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born - William Shakespeare

20. Writer born in the same year as you - John D. MacDonald

21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one - --Are you Kidding - -

22. Favorite jr fiction writer - Daniel J. Pinkwater

This was fun. Numbers 18,19,20 took some effort ~ it was more of writers who fit the category, that I have read and liked.

1. Mystery writer - PD James

2. Science fiction writer - Ursula K. Le Guin

3. Fantasy writer - Peter S. Beagle

4. Horror - I would have said Poe but I used him below

5. Poet - Mary Oliver

6. Current Literary fiction writer - Richard Powers

7. Classic novelist - J.D. Salinger

8. Playwright - William Saroyan

9. Romance writer - haven't read

10. Western writer (interpret this as you will) - haven't read

11. Biographer/Memoir writer - Tracy Kidder

12. General non-fiction writer - Brad Kessler

13. Writer from the country of your birth - Barbara Kingsolver

14. Writer whose books you read in translation - Antonio Skarmeta

15. Writer of your gender - Annie Proulx

16. Comic writer - David Sedaris

17. Writer whose books make you cry - Ben Okri

18. Writer who died before you were born, but in the same century - Willa Cather

19. Writer who died at least one century before you were born - Edgar Allan Poe

20. Writer born in the same year as you - Jane Smiley

21. Favourite writer if coerced into picking only one - couldn't possibly pick

22. Nature writer - Sue Hubbell