Atlantic Narratives: Modern Short Stories; Second Series

A San Francisco nurse and social reformer, she turned firsthand experience in wartime France into vivid letters that bring World War I relief work to life. Her writing is especially compelling because it grows out of years spent caring for children, families, and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.

A little-known early 20th-century fiction writer, she is remembered today for “The Debt,” a short story published by The Atlantic in 1915. Very little biographical information appears to survive online, which gives her work an added air of mystery.

A Vassar-educated journalist and fiction writer, she moved easily between newspapers, magazines, and books, bringing a sharp eye for character to stories, essays, and even an early scientific detective tale. Her work appeared in outlets like The Atlantic, and her books range from literary short fiction to thoughtful social commentary.

Mazo De la Roche

1879–1961

Best known for the wildly popular Jalna novels, this Canadian writer created one of the 20th century's most enduring family sagas. Her books brought country houses, tangled relationships, and generations of Whiteoak drama to readers around the world.

A Maine-born writer of warm, lively fiction for young readers, she had a gift for stories that mix everyday humor with tenderness and moral courage.

A journalist and author from the early 20th century, remembered for writing The Master Builders. His work sits in the world of public affairs and big personalities, with a style shaped by the concerns of his time.

Rebecca Hooper Eastman

1877–1937

An early 20th-century American novelist and short story writer, she wrote lively, readable fiction that often centered on women, family life, and everyday social tensions. Her work also reached silent-era audiences when one of her novels was adapted for film.

William Addleman Ganoe

1881–1966

Best known for writing a widely used history of the U.S. Army, this soldier-scholar brought a professional officer’s eye to the long sweep of American military history. His work also ranged into biography and memoir, including a book on Douglas MacArthur.

A journalist and fiction writer active in the 1910s, she moved between social reporting and storytelling in a way that still feels vivid today.

An American journalist and nonfiction writer, he turned firsthand reporting into vivid books about hard work, travel, and modern industry. His best-known writing brings readers straight into places most people never saw for themselves, including the dangerous world of coal mining.

A little-known early 20th-century fiction writer, this author published stories in major American magazines including The Atlantic and Harper’s. The surviving record is sparse, but the work that remains suggests a sharp eye for social life and character.

An early 20th-century American writer whose work moved between fiction, journalism, and regional history, she published stories in The Atlantic and wrote about Sacramento’s past with a clear sense of place.

A little-known American fiction writer from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she is remembered for stories and novels including The King of the Town and A coward and other stories. Her work still survives through library and public-domain collections, giving modern readers a glimpse of popular literary tastes of her era.

Edith Ronald Mirrielees

1878–1962

A pioneering Stanford teacher of creative writing, she helped shape generations of writers and is often remembered as an early mentor to John Steinbeck. Her long academic life bridged classroom teaching, literary criticism, and the rise of creative writing as a serious field of study.

A gifted early-20th-century storyteller, she brought the people and landscapes of the southern mountains vividly to life. Her fiction was widely read in magazines and books, and several of her novels later reached the screen.

Edward Morlae

An American who served in the French Foreign Legion during World War I, he wrote from direct experience, giving his work an unusual immediacy. His best-known book offers a vivid, personal view of trench warfare, military routine, and the international mix of men in the Legion.

Meredith Nicholson

1866–1947

A bestselling Indiana novelist, journalist, and diplomat, he helped shape the state's literary boom in the early 1900s. His most famous books blend mystery, romance, and a warm sense of place.

Kathleen Thompson Norris

1880–1966

One of the most popular American writers of her era, she built a huge readership with novels and columns that centered on family life, love, duty, and everyday moral choices. Her stories reached millions of readers over several decades and helped shape mainstream women's fiction in the first half of the twentieth century.

A magazine writer with a sharp eye for everyday life, she also had an unexpected sideline in early science fiction. Her work ranged from essays and short stories to novels published under a shared pseudonym.

Best known for early 20th-century fiction in The Atlantic, this writer published stories that moved between childhood, everyday life, and longer-form narrative. Her surviving bibliography is small but distinctive, with work still preserved in major digital libraries.

Elsie Singmaster

1879–1958

Known for warm, vividly observed stories about Pennsylvania German life, this prolific early 20th-century writer published novels, short stories, and children's books that reached a wide popular audience. Her work blends regional detail with an easy, human touch that still feels inviting today.

Charles Haskins Townsend

1859–1944

A pioneering American zoologist and naturalist, he helped shape public interest in marine life during his long career at the New York Aquarium. He was also known for scientific work on fishes, whales, and other ocean animals.

A sharp-eyed Chicago writer with deep ties to Hull House, she wrote fiction, essays, and poetry shaped by city life and social conscience. Her work moves between everyday intimacy and the larger questions of labor, community, and reform.