William Blake

1757-1827. Born London. First of the great Romantic poets, also a painter, printer and one of the greatest engravers in English history. An artistic visionary and genius, Blake credited his works to divine direction.

Rupert Brooke

1887-1915. Born Rugby, England. The son of a housemaster at Rugby School. Strikingly handsome poet, best known for his war sonnets of 1914. Died of blood poisoning on the island of Skyros. 
'If I should die, think only this of me. That there’s some corner of a foreign field. That is forever England...'

Janet Frame

Born 28th August 1924 Dunedin, New Zealand. Prodigious and influential writer best known for “Angel At My Table”, made into a remarkable film by fellow New Zealander Jane Campion.

Lord Byron

1788-1824. The sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale. The most famous of the Romantic poets, and well known for his womanising and appetite for a tipple. Byron’s masterpiece was the 1824 epic satire 'Don Juan'. Byron died fighting for the Greeks in their battle for independence against the Turks.

James Joyce

1882-1941. Dublin born literary genius, creator of ‘The Dubliners’, ‘Finnegans Wake’’, and ‘Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man’. His masterpiece was ‘Ulysses’, the critics’ choice as the most important piece of 20th century literature.

Ken Kesey

17 September 1935 - 10 November 2001. Born in La Junta, Colorado, US. Author best known for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". A keen interest in LSD led to meeting The Grateful Dead, Allen Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson. A founder member of notorious beat pack "The Merry Pranksters".

D.H. Lawrence

1885-1930. Born David Herbert in Eastwood, Nottingham. Novelist whose sexually explicit works shocked English society. 'Sons and Lovers' and 'The White Peacock' brought him fame and fortune, but it was 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover', not published in its full form until 1961, over 30 years after his death, that remains his greatest work.

Sinclair Lewis

1885-1951. Born in Sauk Centre US, he was the first American novelist to win the Nobel prize for Literature. The sharpest satirist of his time, he delighted in teasing the Middle Classes of America. Won the Pullitzer prize for 'Arrowsmith', died in Rome.

Edna O'Brien

Born 15th December 1936 Twamgraney, County Clare, Eire. Novelist and social commentator, Edna has won many literary awards. Her frank portrayal of women has caused some of her books to be banned in her homeland. In recent years she has become something of an authority on fellow Irish Red writer James Joyce.

Ezra Pound

1885-1972. Born Idaho, USA. Poet and major influence on 20th century literature who became known as 'The Poet’s Poet'.
Published over 70 books during his lifetime including his masterpiece 'The Cantos'.

Shoo Rayner

Forest of Dean-based author Shoo has written and illustrated about 80 books but says the Ginger Ninja books are his favourites because they have acted as a kind of therapy.

His website is featured in our links section.

Tom Robbins

Born 1936, Blowing Rock USA. Highly individual and original author Tom is responsible for such literary gems as 'Even Cowgirls Get The Blues' (1976) and the tribute to all things Redheaded 'Still Life with Woodpecker' (1980).
Still going strong and a great supporter of RedTops everywhere.
His website is featured in our links section.

J.K. Rowling

Once a struggling single mother, Joanne Kathleen came up with the idea of Harry Potter and Hogwarts School on a train journey from Manchester to London. 
These days the bespectacled little fellow is everywhere, earning Redheaded JK hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

Click here to visit the Weasley family

Jean-Paul Sartre

1905-1980. Born in Paris. Novelist and philosopher who spent most of his time wondering what the meaning of life is. 'The Age of Reason' and 'Nausea' were two of his works. The leader of the Existentialism movement.

William Shakespeare

1564-1616. Stratford-upon-Avon born writer. The best of all time?
Greater minds than I say 'Yea, verily'. Looks good on my Credit Card hologram.

George Bernard Shaw

26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950. Born Dublin, the son of an alcoholic corn miller. Moved to London in 1876 to become a writer. Worked as a journalist on The Pall Mall Gazette. Joined the Social Democratic Federation becoming an avid follower of Karl Marx.
 
His best known plays are "Man and Superman", "Saint Joan" and "Pygmalion", the latter becoming "My Fair Lady" on both the stage and film screen.

Awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925.

Mona Simpson

Born 1957. Green Bay, Wisconsin. US based writer who has won critical and popular acclaim for a string of novels which include "Anywhere But Here", "The Lost Father" and "Off Keck Road".

David Lee Stone

Born 1987, Kent.
The author of the volumes of the Illmoor Chronicles. Two Illmoor books appear each year: one in hardback and one in paperback. David has also just signed a deal to write a pirate fantasy novel for the crossover market, which will debut in October 2007. David also works as a review columnist for SFX and Interzone magazines, and is new Secretary/Treasurer of the British Fantasy Society.

www.illmoorchronicles.com

Algernon Charles Swinburne

1837-1909. Born London. English poet and literary critic who shocked Victorian society with his writings. Works such as 'Atalanta in Calydon' and 'Dolores' were savaged by critics, but he defended his work by claiming it was 'arts for art's sake'.

Mark Twain

Quick witted writer, creator of "Huckleberry Finn" and man of letters.
"Giving up smoking is easy - I’ve done it 100 times" is among his pithiest of quotes.
Without doubt, a Good Egg.

Keith Waterhouse

Born 1929, Hunslet, West Yorkshire. Journalist and novelist, the creator of “Billy Liar”. His other contributions to the “It’s Grim Oop North” school of 1960’s filmmaking were “Whistle Down The Wind” and “A Kind of Loving”. Has also worked on TV and given us “Worzel Gummidge” and “Budgie”.

Evelyn Waugh

1903-1966. Born in London. The leading satirical novelist of his day, author of such literary successes as 'Scoop' 'Decline and Fall' and his best remembered work 'Brideshead Revisited'.

We've classified our Famous Redheads in the following categories. Click below to tour the various galleries 

The famous Redheads A-Z ... sorted by name, the complete reference guide to all our Famous Redheads