Across
- 1. This famous author started the Second World War as a RAF pilot and later spent time at the White House. He got his start in writing through C.S. Forester. (5,4)
- 4. This Irish author, poet, literary critic and polyglot, whose most famous book was constructed as a modern parallel to Homer's Odyssey, had over a dozen eye surgeries for a stubborn vision problem. (5,5)
- 8. This mystery author, often called the Queen of crime, disappeared for 11 days after her first marriage fell apart. (6,8)
- 10. This Irish poet, who was inspired by Irish folklore, was the first Irish nobel prize laureate. (1,1,5)
- 11. This fantasy writer, whose writings were influenced by his experiences in the first world war, worked briefly at the oxford english dictionary where he mainly worked on the history and etymology of words of germanic origin beginning with the letter W. (1,1,1,7)
- 13. This queer feminist author wrote a book about a protagonist who mysteriously changes gender and continues to live as a woman for over 300 years. (8,5)
- 15. This English poet, who published, among other things, 54 poems and 3 novels, died at 25 years old. (4,5)
- 16. This novelist, essayist, journalist and critic, who was an outspoken socialist, had a goat named Muriel. (6,6)
- 20. This author, who is considered the father of American literature, was friends with both Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison. (4,5)
- 21. this fantasy author, who forged his own sword out of a meteorite when he was knighted, is most famous for his book series spanning 41 novels and many other works. (5,9)
- 24. This Scottish author, who spent his later years and eventually died on a small Polynesian island, ‘officially’ gave away his birthday to a girl called Annie. (6,5,9)
- 25. This Scottish novelist and playwright, whose most famous work started as a play, gave the copyright of said famous work to a Children's hospital in London. (1,1,6)
- 26. This English author, who unsurprisingly worked for the Naval Intelligence Division during the second world war, based the name of his famous character on the name of a bird expert. (3,7)
- 28. This female author, who is seen as an early sci-fi author, reportedly lost her virginity on her mother's grave. (4,5)
- 29. This science fiction writer, who foresaw things like space travel, the atomic bomb and something like the internet, is also considered the father of miniature war gaming. (1,1,5)
- 30. This children's author’s most famous character is named after a bear he and his son saw in the London zoo. (1,1,5)
Down
- 1. This English author, poet and journalist, who wrote, among other things, about British soldiers in India, was the youngest writer to win the nobel prize for literature.(7,7)
- 2. This Irish author, who married a former lover of Oscar Wilde, his most famous character has been played by more different actors than any other. (4,6)
- 3. This children's author and illustrator, who likely invented the word nerd, wrote one of his most famous books as a result of a bet with his publisher that he couldn't write a book that consisted of just 50 different words. (2,5)
- 5. This English poet, who was also a politician, famously had a tame bear while at university in Cambridge. (4,5)
- 6. This famous detective author, who was briefly friends with Harry Houdini, got fooled by paper cut outs of fairies. (6,5,5)
- 7. This American author and screenwriter, who has been played by e.g. Tom Hiddleston, was best known for writing about the flamboyance of the jazz age, a term which he popularised. (1,5,10)
- 9. This horror author, who died under mysterious circumstances after being missing for five days, is credited as the inventor of the modern detective story. (5,5,3)
- 12. This female author, who is currently on the British ten pound note, had only four of her six books published during her lifetime. (4,6)
- 14. This author overstayed his welcome when visiting Charles Dickens and is said to have sobbed in Dickens' garden after a particularly bad review.(4,9,8)
- 17. This children's author known for his somewhat absurdist stories was actually a maths professor at Christ church college, Oxford. Aside from his fiction he's published books on Recreational mathematics. (5,7)
- 18. This American author, who won a Pulitzer prize and the nobel prize for literature survived Anthrax, three wars, two plane crashes, several car crashes, pneumonia, a broken skull, and many more things. (6,9)
- 19. This French author reportedly wrote one of the longest novels in existence. (6,4)
- 22. This Irish poet and playwright's last words are often falsely reported to be 'either the wallpaper goes or I go'. (5,5)
- 23. This fantasy author and screenwriter, whose most famous series started at a BBC radio comedy, is often reported to be the first person in the UK to own a Macintosh computer. (7,5)
- 27. This children's author, whose middle name is Staples, famously had an animal as an allegory for God. (1,1,5)