This is a list of essayists—people notable for their essay-writing. Note: Birthplaces (as listed) do not always indicate nationality.

A

• Augurio Abeto (1900–1977, Philippines) • André Aciman (born 1951, Egypt) • Joseph Addison (1672–1719, England) • Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969, Germany) • Sheetal Agashe (born 1977, India) • José de Alencar (1829–1877, Brazil) • Kingsley Amis (1922–1995, United Kingdom) • Martin Amis (1949–2023, United Kingdom) • Oswald de Andrade (1890–1954, Brazil) • Jacob M. Appel (born 1973, United States) • Helena Araújo Ortiz (1934–2015, Colombia) • Matthew Arnold (1822–1888, United Kingdom) • Anastasia Ashman (born 1964, United States) • Margaret Atwood (born 1939, Canada) • Isaac Asimov (1920–1992, Russia) • W. H. Auden (1907–1973, United Kingdom) • Joxe Azurmendi (born 1941, Spain)

B

• Rebeca Baceiredo (born 1979, Spain) • Rambriksh Benipuri (1902–1968, India) • Francis Bacon (1561–1626, England) • Walter Bagehot (1826–1877, England) • James Baldwin (1924–1987, United States) • Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825, England) • John Perry Barlow (1947–2018, United States) • Julian Barnes (born 1946, United Kingdom) • Jacques Barzun (1907–2012, France) • Enis Batur (born 1952, Turkey) • Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867, France) • Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953, United Kingdom) • Walter Benjamin (1892–1940, Germany) • Wendell Berry (born 1934, United States) • Jens Bjørneboe (1920–1976, Norway) • Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986, Argentina) • Alain de Botton (born 1969, Switzerland) • Giannina Braschi (born 1953, Puerto Rico) • William Brandon (1914–2002, United States) • Alfred Brendel (born 1931, Czech Republic) • Christopher Buckley (born 1952, United States) • Anthony Burgess (1917–1993, United Kingdom) • Richard de Bury (1287–1345, England)

C-D

• Erskine Caldwell (1903–2007, United States) • Italo Calvino (1923–1985, Italy) • Albert Camus (1913–1960, Algeria) • Rafael Cansinos Assens (1882–1964, Spain) • Orson Scott Card (born 1951, United States) • John Carey (born 1934, United Kingdom) • Simon Carmiggelt (1913–1987, Netherlands) • Otto Maria Carpeaux (1900–1978, Austria) • Harriet Frances Carpenter (1868/75 – 1956, United States) • Saveria Chemotti (born 1947, Italy) • Kelly Cherry (born 1940, United States) • G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936, United Kingdom) • Panashe Chigumadzi (DOB unknown, living, Zimbabwe) • Noam Chomsky (born 1928, United States) • Winston Churchill (1874–1965, Great Britain) • Emil Cioran (1911–1995, Romania) • J. M. Coetzee (born 1940, South Africa) • William Cobbett (1763–1835, Great Britain) • Anthony Collins (1676–1729, England) • Charles Caleb Colton (1780–1832, Great Britain) • Cyril Connolly (1903–1974, United Kingdom) • Abraham Cowley (1618–1667, Great Britain) • A. J. Cronin (1896–1981, Scotland) • Samuel McChord Crothers (1857–1927, United States) • Richard Dawkins (born 1941, United Kingdom) • Mike Daisey (born 1976, United States) • Theodore Dalrymple (born 1949, United Kingdom) • Nik De Dominic (born 1981, United States) • Joan Didion (1934–2021, United States) • Annie Dillard (born 1945, United States) • Babacar Sedikh Diouf (born 1928, Senegal) • Alfred Döblin (1878–1957, Germany) • John Dolan (1955–1981, United States) • Joe Dolce (born 1947, Australia) • Denis Donoghue (1928–2021, Ireland) • John Dryden (1631–1700, England)

E-G

• Klaus Ebner (born 1964, Austria) • Umberto Eco (1932–2016, Italy) • T. S. Eliot (1888–1965, United States) • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882, United States) • Joseph Epstein (born 1937, United States) • Filip Erceg (born 1979, Croatia) • Barbara Ehrenreich (born 1941, United States) • Jaime Eyzaguirre (1908–1968, Chile) • Anne Fadiman (born 1953, United States) • Femi Fani-Kayode (born 1960, Nigeria) • Frantz Fanon (1925–1961, Martinique) • Richard Farmer (1735–1797, England) • Gérard Fauré (born 1946, Morocco) • Benito Jerónimo Feijoo e Montenegro (1676–1764, Spain) • Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021, United States) • Predrag Finci (born 1946, Bosnia and Herzegovina) • Élisabeth de Fontenay (born 1934, France) • E. M. Forster (1879–1970, England) • John Foster (1770–1843, United Kingdom) • Ian Frazier (born 1951, United States) • Robert Fulghum (born 1937, United States) • Joan Fuster (1922–1992, Spain) • Harry Gamboa, Jr. (born 1951, United States) • William H. Gass (1924–2017, United States) • Karl-Markus Gauß (born 1954, Austria) • Malcolm Gladwell (born 1963, United Kingdom) • Adam Gopnik (born 1956, United States) • Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002, United States) • Mohammed Lotfy Gomaa (1886–1953, Egypt) • Paul Graham (born 1964, England) • Clement Greenberg (1909–1994, United States) • A. C. Grayling (born 1949, United Kingdom) • Gordon Grice (born 1965, United States) • Stanka Gjurić (born 1956, Croatia)

H-J

• Carla Harryman (born 1952, United States) • William Hazlitt (1778–1830, England) • Peter Handke (born 1942 Griffen, Austria) • Saeko Himuro (1957–2008, Japan) • Fumi Hirano (born 1955, Japan) • Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011, United Kingdom) • Peter Hitchens (born 1951, United Kingdom) • Hugh Hood (1928–2000, Canada) • Langston Hughes (1902–1967, United States) • David Hume (1711–1776, United Kingdom) • Hamid Rashidi (1961–2020, Iran) • Leigh Hunt (1784–1859, England) • Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894–1963, England) • Lucie Fulton Isaacs (1841–1916, United States) • Shigesato Itoi (born 1948, Japan) • Molly Ivins (1944–2007, United States) • Jwalamukhi (1938–2008, India) • Michael Johns (born 1964, United States) • Diane Johnson (born 1934, United States) • Electa Amanda Wright Johnson (1938–1929, United States) • Samuel Johnson (1709–1784, England) • June Jordan (1936–2002, United States) • Rebecca Richardson Joslin (1846–1934, United States)

K-L

• Steven G. Kellman (born 1947, United States) • Ted Kaczynski (1942–2023, United States) • Shakuntala Karandikar (1931–2018, India) • Frank Kermode (1919–2010, United Kingdom) • Tracy Kidder (born 1945, United States) • Chuck Klosterman (born 1972, United States) • Rudy Kousbroek (1929–2010, Netherlands) • Hans Krieger (born 1933, Germany) • Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981, Croatia) • Tomislav Ladan (1932–2008, Serbia) • Laila Lalami (born 1968, Morocco) • Anne Richelieu Lamb (1807–1878, Scotland) • Charles Lamb (1775–1834, England) • Shankar Lamichhane (Nepal) • Anne Lamott (born 1954, United States) • Corinne Lee (United States) • Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716, Germany) • Albert Leung (born 1961, Hong Kong) • C. S. Lewis (1898–1963, Ireland) • Li Ao (1935–2018, China, Taiwan) • Liang Shiqiu (1903–1987, China, Taiwan) • Lin Yutang (1895–1976, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong) • Alan Lightman (born 1948, United States) • Tim Lilburn (born 1950, Canada) • Lin Wenyue (born 1933, Taiwan) • Joan Lindsay (1896–1984, Australia) • María López Sández (born 1973, Spain) • E. V. Lucas (1868–1938, England) • Lu Xun (1881–1936, China)

M-N

• Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), Belgium) • Norman Mailer (1923–2007, United States) • Jorge Majfud (born 1969, Uruguay) • Laura Mancinelli (1933–2016, Italy) • Francis T. McAndrew (born 1953, Germany) • Nathan McCall (born 1955, United States) • Mary McCarthy (1912–1989, United States) • Tim McKay (1947–2006, United States) • John McPhee (born 1931, United States) • Louis Menand (born 1952, United States) • H. L. Mencken (1880–1956, United States) • Arthur Miller (1915–2005, United States) • Pankaj Mishra (born 1969, India) • Donald Grant Mitchell (1822–1908, United States) • Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592, France) • Angela Morales (born 1966, United States) • Michele Moramarco (born 1953, Italy) • V. S. Naipaul (1932–2018, Trinidad and Tobago) • Nakane Kōtei (1839–1913, Japan) • Ukichiro Nakaya (1900–1962, Japan) • Marie NDiaye (born 1967, France) • John Neal (1793–1876, United States) • Virgil Nemoianu (born 1940, Romania) • Natias Neutert (born 1941, Germany) • Kathleen Norris (born 1947, United States)

O-R

• Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938, United States) • George Orwell (1903–1950, United Kingdom) • Borislav Pekić (1930–1992, Serbia) • Noel Perrin (1927–2004, United States) • Samuel F. Pickering Jr. (born 1941, United States) • Stanley Plumly (1939–2019, United States) • Mestrius Plutarch (46–127, Boeotia, Ancient Greece) • Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849, United States) • Katherine Ann Porter (1890–1980, United States) • Anna M. Longshore Potts (1829–1912, United States) • J.B. Priestley (1894–1984, England) • Kevin Prufer (born 1969, United States) • Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859, England) • Indra Bahadur Rai (1927–2018, India) • Fanny Raoul (1771–1833, France) • María del Carmen Reina Jiménez (born 1942, Spain) • Gabrielle Réval (1869–1938, France) • Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1985, United States) • Tjalie Robinson (1911–1974, Netherlands) • Richard Rodriguez (born 1944, United States) • Arundhati Roy (born 1961, India) • Bertrand Russell (1872–1970, United Kingdom)

S

• Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963, India) • Edward Said (1935–2003, Palestine) • John Ralston Saul (born 1947, Canada) • Dan Schneider (born 1965, United States) • Robert Schumann (1810–1856, Germany) • Roger Scruton (1944–2020, England) • David Sedaris (born 1956, United States) • John Robert Seeley (1834–1895, England) • Rafael Calvo Serer (1916–1988, Spain) • George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950, Ireland) • Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822, England) • Fannie Isabelle Sherrick (fl. 1860–1880, United States) • David Shields (born 1956, United States) • Clay Shirky (born 1964, United States) • Simeon Simev (born 1949, Republic of Macedonia) • Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (1908–1974, India) • Matias Skard (1846–1827, Norway) • Jean Edward Smith (1932–2019, United States) • Zadie Smith (born 1975, England) • Amelia Solar de Claro (1836–1915, Chile) • Walid Soliman (born 1975, Tunisia) • Rebecca Solnit (born 1961, United States) • Susan Sontag (1933–2004, United States) • Dejan Stojanović (born 1959, Serbia) • Lytton Strachey (1880–1932, United Kingdom) • Cheryl Strayed (born 1968, United States)

T-Z

• Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941, India) • Nassim Nicholas Taleb (born 1960, Lebanon) • Alain Tasso (born 1962, Lebanon) • Vijay Tendulkar (1928–2008, India) • Issa Laye Thiaw (1943–2017, Senegal) • Colm Tóibín (born 1955, Ireland) • Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910, Russia) • Lionel Trilling (1905–1975, United States) • George W. S. Trow (1943–2006, United States) • Andrew Vachss (1942–2021, United States) • Paul Valéry (1871–1945, France) • Erico Verissimo (1905–1975, Brazil) • Gore Vidal (1925–2012, United States) • Voltaire (1694–1778, France) • Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007, United States) • Richard Wagner (1813–1883, Germany) • David Foster Wallace (1962–2008, United States) • Rebecca West (1892–1983, United Kingdom) • E. B. White (1899–1985, United States) • Oscar Wilde (1852–1900, Ireland) • Tom Wolfe (1931–2018, United States) • Virginia Woolf (1882–1941, United Kingdom) • Yang Jiang (1911–2016, China) • Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987, France) • Asunción de Zea-Bermúdez (1862–1936, Spain)