Illinois Authors Illinois State Library
Illinois Authors on the Illinois State Library
One of the unique features on the Illinois State Library, Gwendolyn Brooks Building, is the names of Illinois authors etched on the building's exterior fourth-floor frieze. These names represent thirty-five distinguished authors who made an indelible mark in literature and in the rich history of Illinois.
These authors also serve as the foundation for the State Library's Illinois Authors Room, where a collection of their works are preserved and displayed. Many of these works are rare first editions or signed copies.
- Jane Addams (1860-1935)
- George Ade, 1866-1944
- Nelson Algren, 1909-1981
- Sherwood Anderson, 1876-1941
- Paul Angle, 1900-1975
- L. Frank Baum, 1856-1919
- Saul Bellow, 1915-2005
- Black Hawk, 1767-1838
- Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012
- Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917-2000
- Cyrus Colter, 1910-2002
- Theodore Dreiser, 1871-1945
- Finley Peter Dunne, 1867-1936
- Eliza Farnham, 1815-1864
- James T. Farrell, 1904-1979
- Edna Ferber, 1887-1968
- Henry Blake Fuller, 1857-1929
- Hamlin Garland, 1860-1940
- Lorraine Hansberry, 1930-1965
- Ben Hecht, 1894-1964
- Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961
- Robert Herrick, 1868-1938
- James Jones, 1921-1977
- Ring Lardner, 1885-1933
- Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865
- N. Vachel Lindsay, 1879-1931
- Edgar Lee Masters, 1868-1950
- William Maxwell, 1908-2000
- Frank Norris, 1870-1902
- Donald Peattie, 1898-1964
- Elia Peattie, 1862-1935
- Carl Sandburg, 1878-1967
- Upton Sinclair, 1878-1968
- Louis (Studs) Terkel, 1912-2008
- Richard Wright, 1908-1960
Illinois Authors Directory
The Illinois Authors Directory is a project of the Illinois Center for the Book. It is a comprehensive resource for information on authors, photographers and illustrators who have published books and have lived in Illinois or written about Illinois.