List of Michigan writers
Following is a list of Michigan writers, who are noteworthy either by having been born in Michigan or by living there during their writing career.
This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.Children's books
- Verna Aardema, children's author of many ethnic themed works (Ashanti, Zanzibari, Akamba and Ayutla Mexican sources among others) and winner of Caldecott Medal (born in New Era)
- Chris Van Allsburg, children's writer, author of The Polar Express, twice winner of the Caldecott Medal (born in East Grand Rapids)
- Marguerite de Angeli, children's book writer and illustrator, won Newbery Award in 1950, one of first inductees of Michigan Women's Hall in of Fame (born in Lapeer)
- K. A. Applegate, children's and young adult author (born in Ann Arbor)
- Mark Crilley, American manga creator and children's book author/illustrator; creator of Miki Falls, Akiko, and Brody's Ghost (born in Detroit)
- Christopher Paul Curtis, children's author won both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King (born in Flint)
- Meindert DeJong, received the 1962 Hans Christian Andersen Award, awarded one Newbery Medal, four Newbery Honor Books, and one National Book Award (resided in Grand Rapids, attended Calvin College)
- Aileen Fisher (1906–2002), author (born in Iron River)
- Margaret Hillert, poet and author of children's literature (born in Saginaw, taught in the Royal Oak School District)
- Laurie Keller, children's book writer and illustrator (born in Muskegon)
- Janie Lynn Panagopoulos, award winning, Great Lakes Children's author (born in Owosso, Michigan)
- Robert Sabuda, children's pop-up book artist and paper engineer (born in Pinckney)
- Jon Scieszka, children's book author (born in Flint)
- Devin Scillian, author
- Philip C. Stead, author (born in Dearborn)
Fiction
- Nelson Algren, novelist (born in Detroit)
- John Edward Ames, Western writer (born in Monroe County)
- Harriette Simpson Arnow, novelist (born in Wayne County, Kentucky; raised in Cincinnati, Ohio)
- Robert Asprin, science-fiction and fantasy writer (born in St. Johns)
- Deb Baker, author (born in Escanaba)
- Rex Beach, novelist (born in Atwood)
- John Bellairs, mystery novelist (born in Marshall)
- Bonnie Jo Campbell, author (born in Kalamazoo)
- James Oliver Curwood, novelist and conservationist (born in Pontiac)
- Loren D. Estleman, crime fiction author (born in Ann Arbor, graduate of Eastern Michigan University)
- Edna Ferber, novelist (born in Kalamazoo)
- Jeffrey Eugenides, novelist (born in Detroit)
- Alice Fulton, short-story writer (born in Troy, New York; moved to Ypsilanti)
- J. Gabriel Gates, young adult and science-fiction writer (raised in Michigan)
- Donald Goines, novelist (born in Detroit)
- Aaron Hamburger, short-story writer and novelist (born in Detroit)
- Steve Hamilton, mystery and thriller novelist (born in Detroit)
- Jim Harrison, novelist, poet, screenwriter (born in Grayling, attended Michigan State University)
- Jim C. Hines, fantasy novelist and short-story writer (attended Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University)
- James Hynes, author (born in Okemos)
- Alex Irvine, novelist and short-story writer (born in Ann Arbor, raised in Ypsilanti)
- Jerry B. Jenkins, novelist, author of Left Behind series (born in Kalamazoo)
- Janet Kauffman, novelist (born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; moved to Hudson)
- William X. Kienzle, Catholic priest, mystery author (born in Detroit, resided in Grand Rapids)
- Brad Leithauser, poet, novelist, essayist (born in Detroit)
- Elmore Leonard, novelist and screenwriter (raised in Detroit), resided in Bloomfield Hills)
- Ander Monson, poet, essayist, novelist (born in Houghton)
- Thomas McGuane, novelist and screenwriter (born in Wyandotte)
- Terry McMillan, author (born in Port Huron)
- Joyce Carol Oates, novelist, winner of National Book Award (born in Lockport, New York; lived in metro Detroit and Windsor, Ontario before moving to Princeton, New Jersey)
- Alice Randall, author (born in Detroit)
- Robert James Russell, short story writer and novelist (born in Grand Rapids)
- Marcus Sakey, crime novelist (born in Flint)
- Michelle Sawyer, novelist, (born in Jackson, Michigan)
- K.J. Stevens, novelist and short story writer (born in Alpena)
- Glendon Swarthout, novelist and short story writer, winner of the O. Henry Prize (born in Pinckney)
- John D. Voelker, novelist who wrote Anatomy of a Murder under pen name Robert Traver (born in Ishpeming)
- Maritta Wolff, novelist (born in Grass Lake)
Journalists and nonfiction
- Bruce Ableson, inventor of Open Diary (born in West Bloomfield)
- Mitch Albom, author, sportswriter, radio talk show host (born in Trenton, New Jersey; moved to Philadelphia; lives in metro Detroit)
- Joel Bakan, legal writer and Canadian lawyer (born in Lansing)
- Ray Stannard Baker, 19th Century muckraking journalist (born in Lansing)
- Michael Barone, journalist, pundit, editor (born in Highland Park)
- Jim Bellows, newspaper editor in Washington, New York and Los Angeles (born in Detroit)
- Amanda Carpenter, author, former correspondent (born in Montrose)
- Jill Carroll, journalist, Iraqi terrorists' kidnap victim (born in Ann Arbor)
- Bruce Catton, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (born in Petoskey)
- Zev Chafets, journalist and columnist (born in Pontiac)
- Jonathan Chait, senior editor and columnist (grew up in metro Detroit)
- David Chardavoyne, legal writer (born in Ohio, moved to metro Detroit)
- Paul de Kruif, science writer and microbiologist (born in Zeeland)
- Fred Dustin, early 20th Century writer (born in Glens Falls, New York; settled and died in Saginaw)
- Joe Falls, sportswriter for Detroit newspapers from 1956-2004 (born in New York, moved to Detroit)
- M. F. K. Fisher, food writer (born in Albion)
- Ron Fournier, national political journalist (born in Detroit)
- Jennifer Eaton Gökmen, literary nonfiction writer (born in Wayne, raised in West Bloomfield, in 1994 moved to Istanbul, Turkey)
- Lou Gordon, television commentator and talk show host, newspaper columnist, radio host, political reporter (born and based in Detroit)
- John Grogan, columnist and author (born in Detroit)
- Ben Hamper, journalist and non-fiction writer (born in Flint, Michigan)
- Michael Kinsley, editor, columnist (born in Detroit)
- Charlie LeDuff, journalist, author (born in Virginia, grew up in Westland)
- Betty Mahmoody, author (born in Alma, Michigan)
- John J. Miller, national political reporter (born in Detroit)
- Elvis Mitchell, film critic (born in Detroit)
- Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker and nonfiction writer (born in Flint, Michigan)
- Jay Nordlinger, senior editor (born in Ann Arbor)
- Isabel Paterson, author, co-founder of American libertarianism (born on Manitoulin Island, Canada; grew up on a rural Upper Peninsula ranch)
- Neal Rubin, columnist, writer of comic strip Gil Thorp (born in California, lives in Farmington Hills)
- Joseph Sobran, paleo-conservative syndicated columnist (raised in Ypsilanti)
- Helen Thomas, journalist, White House correspondent (born in Winchester, Kentucky; moved to Detroit)
- Paul Vachon, freelance journalist and local historian (born in Detroit in 1959)
- Bob Wojnowski, sports columnist and radio personality (born in Buffalo, New York, lives in metro Detroit)
Playwrights and screenwriters
- Ron Allen, playwright (born in Detroit)
- Mike Binder, actor, director, screenwriter (born in Detroit, raised in Birmingham)
- Bruce Campbell, actor and autobiographer (born in Royal Oak, Michigan);
- Jim Cash, screenwriter(born in Boyne City, lived in Grand Rapids)
- Francis Ford Coppola, screenwriter, director (born in Detroit)
- Pete Dexter, novelist, screenwriter (born in Pontiac)
- Gerald Di Pego, screenwriter (born in Flint)
- Jack Epps, Jr., screenwriter (attended Michigan State)
- Jim Harrison, novelist, screenwriter (attended Michigan State)
- Jake Kasdan, screenwriter, director (born in Detroit)
- Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter, director (attended University of Michigan)
- Elmore Leonard, novelist, screenwriter (lived in Bloomfield Hills)
- Thomas McGuane, novelist, screenwriter (attended Michigan State)
- Ron Milner, playwright (born in Detroit)
- Neil LaBute, playwright, director, screenwriter (born in Detroit)
- Terry Rossio, screenwriter, producer (born in Kalamazoo)
- Ivan Raimi, screenwriter (born in Royal Oak)
- Sam Raimi, screenwriter, director, producer (born in Royal Oak)
- Heather Raffo, playwright, actress (raised in Michigan)
- Paul Schrader, screenwriter, director (born in Grand Rapids)
- Sandra Seaton, playwright, librettist (lives in Michigan)
- Donald E. Stewart, screenwriter (born in Detroit)
Poets
- John Malcolm Brinnin, poet (born in Halifax Nova Scotia; raised in Detroit)
- Jim Daniels, poet (born in Detroit)
- Toi Derricotte, poet (born in Hamtramck)
- Dorothy Donnelly, poet and prose writer (born in Detroit, raised in Grosse Pointe Park, lived in Ann Arbor)
- Stuart Dybek, poet (born in Chicago, Illinois; lives in Kalamazoo)
- Clayton Eshleman, poet (born in Indianapolis, moved to Ypsilanti)
- Carolyn Forché, poet (born in Detroit)
- Robert Frost, poet. (moved to Ann Arbor).
- Alice Fulton, MacArthur "Genius Award" poet (born in Troy, New York; moved to Ypsilanti)
- Edgar Guest, poet (born in Birmingham, England; moved to Detroit)
- Jim Harrison, poet and novelist (born in Grayling)
- Robert Hayden, poet (born in Detroit; moved to Ann Arbor)
- Conrad Hilberry, poet (born in Ferndale; moved to Kalamazoo)
- Lawrence Joseph, poet (born in Detroit)
- Jane Kenyon, poet (born in Ann Arbor)
- Philip Levine, poet (born in Detroit)
- Naomi Long Madgett, poet (born in Norfolk, Virginia, raised in East Orange, New Jersey, moved to Detroit and Ypsilanti)
- Thomas Lynch, poet (born in Detroit)
- John Frederick Nims, poet (born in Muskegon)
- Marge Piercy, poet and novelist (born in Detroit)
- Dudley Randall, poet, Broadside Press founder (born in Detroit)
- Theodore Roethke, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning poet (born in Saginaw)
- Richard Tillinghast, poet (born in Memphis, Tennessee, lives in Ann Arbor)
- Nancy Willard, poet, novelist, children's writer and literary critic (born in Ann Arbor)
Others
- Wayne Dyer, self-help book writer (born in Detroit)
- James Finn Garner, humorist (born in Dearborn)
- Jerry B. Jenkins, religious writer, "as told to" biographer, romance writer (born in Kalamazoo)
- Ring Lardner, Sr., satirist, short story writer and sports columnist (born in Niles)
- Robert McKee, well-known creative writing instructor (born in Detroit)
- Peter McWilliams, writer and cannabis legalization advocate (born in Detroit)
- Stewart Edward White, writer (born in Grand Rapids)