Who has won the Nobel prize in English literature in the recent years?
Who are the top English poets/writers nowadays?  $10 tip if the answer
is good.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 03 Nov 2005 13:30 PST

Dear starrry,

There is no Nobel Prize in English Literature, only a Nobel Prize in
literature.  Certainly that the category you have in mind? In
addition, I should point out that the second part of your question is
almost impossible to answer: How do you define "top"? Those selling
most books? That would make the authors of the romantic soft-cover
novels you find in supermarkets the top writers. By influence or
quality? But that can't be measured objectively.

If you insist on the second part of your question, may I suggest that
you post it as a seperate question? It would significantly increase
the chances that you receive answers.

Regards,
Scriptor

Hi starrry,

1) Who has won the Nobel prize in English literature in the recent years?

Nobel Prize in Literature 
1907 	Rudyard Kipling 	United Kingdom 	English
1923 	William Butler Yeats 	Ireland 	English
1925 	George Bernard Shaw 	Ireland 	English
1930 	Sinclair Lewis 	        United States 	English
1932 	John Galsworthy 	United Kingdom 	English
1936 	Eugene O'Neill 	        United States 	English
1938 	Pearl S. Buck 	        United States 	English
1948 	T. S. Eliot    United States/United Kingdom 	English
1949 	William Faulkner 	United States 	English
1950 	Bertrand Russell 	United Kingdom 	English
1953 	Sir Winston Churchill 	United Kingdom 	English
1954 	Ernest Hemingway 	United States 	English
1962 	John Steinbeck 	        United States 	English
1969 	Samuel Beckett 	        Ireland 	English/French
1973 	Patrick White 	        Australia 	English
1976 	Saul Bellow 	Canada/United States 	English
1983 	William Golding 	United Kingdom 	English
1986 	Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka Nigeria 	English
1987 	Joseph Brodsky 	Russia/United States 	Russian/English
1991 	Nadine Gordimer 	South Africa 	English
1992 	Derek Walcott 	        St. Lucia 	English
1993 	Toni Morrison 	        United States 	English
1995 	Seamus Heaney 	        Ireland 	English
2001 	Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul 	United Kingdom 	English
2003 	John Maxwell Coetzee 	South Africa 	English
2005 	Harold Pinter 	        United Kingdom 	English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature#List_of_Nobel_Laureates_in_Literature

2) Who are the top English poets/writers nowadays?

Here are a few lists of popular authors from various sources, you will
notice that the same names keep coming up. Please click on the links
for the full lists.

Hall of Fame Authors - Amazon
"Congratulations to our 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame authors, who
have written or coauthored the largest numbers of books sold at
Amazon.com in the 10 years since we opened on July 16, 1995."
1. J.K. Rowling
2. Spencer Johnson
3. Nora Roberts
4. Dan Brown
5. Dr. Seuss
6. John Grisham
7. Stephen King
8. J.R.R. Tolkien
9. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
10. Jim Collins
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/14110551/102-6433304-3329723

The top 100 library authors
Catherine Cookson
Danielle Steel 
Josephine Cox 
Dick Francis 
Jack Higgins 
Agatha Christie 
Ruth Rendell 
Patricia Cornwell 	
Audrey Howard 
Emma Blair
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/table/0,6109,643307,00.html

1990-1999
Sue Grafton 
John Grisham     
Michael Crichton 
Tony Morrison
Amy Tan
Sara Paretsky
Tony Hillerman
Danielle Steele
Tom Clancy
http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade90.html

Who were the Most Popular Authors in 2004?
Roberts, Nora
Grisham, John
Hillerman, Tony
Patterson, James
Parker, Robert B.
Brown, Dan
Evanovich, Janet
Brown, Sandra
Grafton, Sue
Cornwell, Patricia
http://www.santafelibrary.org/authors2004.html

Who were the Most Popular Authors in 2003?
Hillerman, Tony.
Roberts, Nora.
Patterson, James,
Parker, Robert B.
Grisham, John.
Grafton, Sue.
Evanovich, Janet.
L'Amour, Louis,
Brown, Sandra,
Connelly, Michael
http://www.santafelibrary.org/authors2003.html

Who were the Most Popular Authors in 2002?
Hillerman, Tony
Roberts, Nora
Parker, Robert B.
Grisham, John.
Grafton, Sue.
Cornwell, Patricia
Patterson, James
L'Amour, Louis
Clark, Mary Higgins
King, Stephen
http://www.santafelibrary.org/authors2002.html

Who were the Most Popular Authors in 2001?
Parker, Robert B.
Grafton, Sue
Cornwell, Patricia
Francis, Dick
Hillerman, Tony
Grisham, John
Roberts, Nora
L'Amour, Louis
Kingsolver, Barbara
King, Stephen
http://www.santafelibrary.org/authors2001.html

Who were the Most Popular Authors in 2000?
Hillerman, Tony
Cornwell, Patricia
Grafton, Sue
Francis, Dick
Grisham, John
King, Stephen
Parker, Robert B.
Roberts, Nora
Jance, Judith A.
Clark, Mary Higgins
http://www.santafelibrary.org/authors2000.html

POETRY

The Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Timeline: 1990 - 2005
Mark Strand
Joseph Brodsky
Mona Van Duyn
Rita Dove
Robert Hass
Robert Pinsky
Louise Glück
W. S. Merwin
Stanley Kunitz
Billy Collins
Louise Glück
Ted Kooser
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1990-2005.html

Additional Links of Interest

TopPicks Index
http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/tp.htm

Contemporary Authors
http://contemporarylit.about.com/library/authors/blauth_a.htm

Fiction - popular authors [in Ireland] 2002
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/developments/most_popular_books_2002.htm

10 Best Poets of All Times
http://musea.digitalchainsaw.com/92poetry.html

I hope this is what you were looking for (I hope that first list
formats ok). If you have any questions, please post a clarification
request and wait for me to respond before closing/rating my answer.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used in various combinations: nobel laureates
english contemporary top authors most popular poets

Dear hummer, Great answer!! The format is actually very helpful since
it is clear and easy to understand. I also like the fact that you have
answered my question in two different sections.