Yale History, Literature, & Journalism
by Sylviastel | created - 05 Sep 2014 | updated - 05 Sep 2014 | PublicCarl Bialik (BA 2001) journalist, Wall Street Journal.
Wilbur Cross; author.
Brian D'Amato (BA 1984) novelist and sculptor.
Charles DeKay; linguist, poet, critic, fencer.
Randy Charles Epping (MA 1983) author.
Charles Finch (BA 2002) novelist, critic.
Amin Gulgee (BA 1987) metal sculptor & jewelry designe.r
Roland Hagenbuchle; scholar for American Studies and philosopher.
William Harland Hale (BA 1931) writer, journalist, editor.
Karl Kirschwey (BA 1979) poet.
Jonathan Levi; author, producer, musician, co-founder of Granta.
Jonathan Littell (BA 1989) writer, won the Prix Goncourt.
Nerissa Nields (BA 1989) of the Nields band.
ZZ Packer (BA 1994) author
Andrew Solomon (BA 1985) writer.
Erica Simone Turnipseed; a writer.
Marc Trujillo (MFA 1994) painter
Noah Webster (BA 1778; LLD 1823) lexicographer, author of the first dictionary of the American English language; founder of Amherst College.
Frederic Will (Ph.D. 1954) writer.
1. Harold Bloom
Self | Even Though the Whole World Is Burning
Harold Bloom was born on July 11, 1930 in New York City, New York, USA. He is known for Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014), Apparition of the Eternal Church (2006) and William Shakespeare (2000). He was married to Jeanne Gould. He died on October 14, 2019 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Ph.D. 1956; literary critic.
2. Steven Brill
Producer | Court TV
Steven Brill was born on August 22, 1950 in Queens, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Court TV News (1991), Trial Story (1991) and America's Most Admired Lawbreaker.
BA 1972; JD 1975; Founder of Court TV and The American Lawyer.
3. Robert Brustein
Robert Brustein was born on April 21, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is known for NET Playhouse (1964), Camera Three (1955) and Chaos and Order: Making American Theater (2005). He was married to Doreen Beinart and Norma Ofstrock Cates Brustein (actress, teacher). He died on ...
DRA 1951; founder of Yale Repertory Theatre, critic, author.
4. Lan Samantha Chang
Self | Tavis Smiley
BA 1987; writer and director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
5. Susan Choi
Writer | American Woman
Susan Choi is known for American Woman (2019), Truse Exercise and State by State (2008).
BA 1990; author
6. Marie Colvin
Self | Bearing Witness
Marie Colvin was born on January 12, 1956 in Oyster Bay, New York, USA. She died on February 22, 2012 in Homs, Syria.
BA 1978; journalist
7. James Fenimore Cooper
Writer | The Last of the Mohicans
Favorite writer of generations of Americans, Cooper was born on Tuesday, September 15th, 1789, and grew up on his family's huge wooded settlement, in Cooperstown, New York, which his father, William Cooper, a prominent Federalist, had founded before this son's birth. His days as a Yale student were...
BA 1805; author of "The Last of the Mohicans novel.
8. Justus Miles Forman
Writer | The Face Between
Justus Miles Forman was born on 1st November 1875 in Le Roy, New York, USA. He went to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and graduated in 1898. He was a successful writer and Playwright. On 7th May 1915, he was on board the Lusitania when it was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20. The ...
BA 1898; author, playwright.
9. Brendan Gill
Writer | Playdate
Brendan Gill was born on October 4, 1914 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was a writer, known for Playdate (1961), Broadway: The American Musical (2004) and New York: A Documentary Film (1999). He was married to Anne Barnard. He died on December 27, 1997 in New York City, New York, USA.
BA 1936; architectural critic.
11. Linda Greenhouse
Producer | We're Glad You're Here
Linda Greenhouse is known for We're Glad You're Here (2010), Reversing Roe (2018) and Frontline (1983). She has been married to Eugene R. Fidell since January 1, 1981.
journalist; US Supreme Court Correspondent for the New York Times.
12. Edwin S. Grosvenor
Script_department | The Sound and the Silence
Edwin S. Grosvenor has been Editor-in-Chief of American Heritage and Invention & Technology Magazines and President of American Heritage Publishing since 2007. He has published twelve books and is best known for writing about his great-grandfather, Alexander Graham Bell, including two books and ...
BA 1974; President and Editor in Chief of American Heritage.
13. Gilbert M. Grosvenor
Gilbert M. Grosvenor is known for Lions of the African Night (1987), Amazing Planet: Mummies Unwrapped (1998) and Land of the Tiger (1985).
BA 1954; former editor, then president, and now Chairman Emeritus of the National Geographic.
editor at large for "The Daily Beast."
15. Quiara Alegría Hudes
Writer | In the Heights
Quiara Alegría Hudes was born on September 22, 1977 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for In the Heights (2021), tick, tick... BOOM! (2021) and Vivo (2021).
BA; playwright, "In The Heights," 2008 Tony for Best Musical.
16. Joan Kahn
Producer | Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Joan Kahn is known for Ripley's Believe It or Not! (1982).
attended Yale School of Art in early 1930s; mystery editor, anthologist; novelist; children's writer.
18. John Knowles
Writer | A Separate Peace
John Knowles was born on September 16, 1926 in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA. He was a writer, known for A Separate Peace (1972) and A Separate Peace (2004). He died on November 29, 2001 in Miami, Florida, USA.
BA 1949.
19. Larry Kramer
Writer | Women in Love
Larry Kramer was born on June 25, 1935 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Women in Love (1969), The Normal Heart (2014) and Lost Horizon (1973). He was married to William David Webster. He died on May 27, 2020 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
BA 1957; playwright, gay activist
20. John Lahr
Writer | Prick Up Your Ears
John Lahr was born on July 12, 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990) and Solitaire for 2 (1994). He has been married to Connie Booth since August 19, 2000. He was previously married to Anthea Mander.
BA 1963; drama critic for the New York Times.
21. David Leavitt
Writer | The Lost Language of Cranes
David Leavitt was born on June 23, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer, known for The Lost Language of Cranes (1991), Food of Love (2002) and PBS NewsHour (1975).
BA 1983; author
22. David Leonhardt
Self | The Robert MacNeil Report
BA 1994; Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Times.
23. Elizabeth Letts
Writer | The Eighty-Dollar Champion
Elizabeth Letts is known for The Eighty-Dollar Champion and Today (1952).
BA 1983.
24. Jeremy Leven
Writer | Don Juan DeMarco
Jeremy Leven was born on August 16, 1941 in South Bend, Indiana, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Don Juan DeMarco (1994), Real Steel (2011) and The Notebook (2004). He was previously married to Roberta Danza.
author, screenwriter, director, and producer.
BA 1984; Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times.
27. Peter Matthiessen
Writer | At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Peter Matthiessen was born on May 22, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), Knight of Cups (2015) and The Young One (1960). He was married to Maria Eckhart, Deborah Love and Patsy Southgage. He died on April 5, 2014 in ...
BA 1950; naturalist, author of historical fiction and non-fiction.
28. Jane Mayer
Writer | Strange Justice
Jane Mayer is known for Strange Justice (1999), Ghosts of Beirut (2023) and War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State (2013).
BA 1977; journalist and author.
29. J.D. McClatchy
Script_department | The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
J.D. McClatchy was born on August 12, 1945 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), 1984 (2006) and Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014). He was married to Chip Kidd. He died on April 10, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, ...
Ph.D. 1974; poet, critic, member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
30. Claire Messud
Writer | The Emperor's Children
Claire Messud is known for The Emperor's Children.
BA 1987;
31. George Packer
Self | No End in Sight
George Packer was born on August 13, 1960 in Palo Alto, California, USA. He has been married to Laura Secor since 2006.
BA 1982; author
32. Ann Packer
Writer | One Dollar
Ann Packer is known for One Dollar (2018), The Dive from Clausen's Pier (2015) and The Dive from Clausen's Pier (2005).
BA 1982; author
34. Tom Perrotta
Writer | The Leftovers
Tom Perrotta was born on August 13, 1961 in Garwood, New Jersey, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Leftovers (2014), Little Children (2006) and Mrs. Fletcher (2019). He has been married to Mary Granfield since September 14, 1991. They have two children.
BA 1983; author
35. David Pogue
Soundtrack | CBS News Sunday Morning
David Pogue is an American technology writer and TV science presenter. He is the founder of Yahoo Tech, having been groomed for the position by 13 years as the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. He's also a monthly columnist for Scientific American and host of science shows on ...
BA 1985; technology columnist for the New York Times.
MFA 1971; sculptor.
37. Alexandra Robbins
Alexandra Robbins is known for Joe Pera Talks with You (2018) and Doll & Em (2013).
BA 1998; author.
38. Sam Savage
Writer | Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife
Sam Savage was born on November 9, 1940 in Camden, South Carolina, USA. He was a writer, known for Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife. He was married to Nora Manheim. He died on January 17, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
BA 1968; Ph.D. 1979; author
39. Vincent Scully
Self | Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown
Vincent Scully was born on August 21, 1920 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was married to Marian Lafolette, Nancy Keith and Catherine Willis Lynn. He died on November 30, 2017 in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA.
BA 1940; art historian
40. Ari Shapiro
Soundtrack | CBS News Sunday Morning
BA 2000; White House Correspondent for National Public Radio.
41. Mark Strand
Self | Finding Titles: Se Mi Traduci Mi Cancelli
Mark Strand was born on April 11, 1934 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was married to Julia Rumsey Garretson and Antonia Ratensky. He died on November 29, 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.
BFA 1959; former poet laureate of the United States.
43. Dick Wimmer
Writer | The Million Dollar Infield
Dick Wimmer was born on June 18, 1936 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Million Dollar Infield (1982). He died on May 18, 2011 in Agoura Hills, California, USA.
MA 1959; novelist
44. Naomi Wolf
Self | The Real Anthony Fauci
Naomi Wolf graduated from Yale in 1984 and was a Rhodes scholar at New College, Oxford University. She is the author of the bestselling feminist books, "The Beauty Myth", "Fire with Fire", "Promiscuities" and "Misconceptions". The New York Times called "The Beauty Myth" one of the 70 most ...
BA 1984; feminist writer
45. Tom Wolfe
Writer | The Right Stuff
Tom Wolfe was born on March 2, 1930 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Right Stuff (1983), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. He was married to Sheila Berger. He died on May 14, 2018 in New York, USA.
Ph.D. 1957; journalist, author of "The Right Stuff" and "The Bonfire of the Vanities."
46. Ilana Dayan
Self | Uvda
Ilana Dayan is known for Uvda (1993), Inside the Golden Statue (1998) and Our Heroes (2016).
Ph.D. 1992; Israeli journalist and anchorwoman
47. Gordon McLendon
Actor | The Killer Shrews
Gordon McLendon was born on June 8, 1921 in Paris, Texas, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for The Killer Shrews (1959), The Giant Gila Monster (1959) and Victory (1981). He was married to Susan Stafford and Gay McLendon. He died on September 14, 1986 in Lake Dallas, Texas, USA.
BA 1942; radio pioneer, top 40 radio format; Co-founder of the Association for Intelligence Officers.
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