Atlantic Narratives: Modern Short Stories; Second Series

A little-known early 20th-century fiction writer, she published under the pen name Elizabeth Ashe while also being identified as Georgiana Pentlarge. Her work appeared in magazines including The Atlantic and survives today in a small body of stories and collected fiction.

A little-known early 20th-century writer, Kathleen Carman is remembered today for “The Debt,” a short story included in Atlantic Narratives: Modern Short Stories; Second Series. Surviving records suggest she was born in 1875 and died in 1959, leaving behind only a faint but intriguing literary trace.

A journalist-turned-fiction writer, she moved from newspaper work into stories and essays that often carry a clear moral edge. Her books range from short fiction and social reflection to an early science-fiction mystery co-written at the end of the nineteenth century.

Mazo De la Roche

1879–1961

Best known for the beloved Jalna novels, this prolific Canadian writer built a sweeping family saga that captivated readers around the world. Her stories blend sharp observation, domestic drama, and a strong sense of place.

A warm, quietly observant American writer, she is best remembered for fiction about children and family life, including Rebecca Mary and The Very Small Person.

An American writer whose surviving work feels both literary and historical, he also led an unusually international life in public service. Alongside fiction such as The Master Builders and the short story The Two Apples, he served as a U.S. consul in Europe in the early 1900s.

Rebecca Hooper Eastman

1877–1937

A sharp-eyed journalist and suffrage-era writer, she moved easily between fiction, drama, and public life. Her work captures the energy of early 20th-century America, from witty magazine stories to the novel that became the 1919 silent film The Big Little Person.

William Addleman Ganoe

1881–1966

A career Army officer who turned firsthand experience into lively military history, he wrote with the confidence of someone who had spent decades inside the institution he described. His best-known work, The History of the United States Army, helped introduce generations of readers to the long story of the American soldier.

Best known today for the short story "The Way of Life," this early-20th-century writer published fiction in major magazines and left behind a small but memorable trail in American periodical literature.

An American writer who turned work, industry, and public life into vivid nonfiction, he is best known for first-hand books such as A Year in a Coal-Mine and A Year in the Navy. His writing often brings readers close to the people and machines that shaped early 20th-century America.

Known today mainly through a small trail of early 20th-century magazine fiction, this writer left behind work that still feels sharp and curious. The surviving record is thin, but it clearly places S. H. Kemper among the contributors to The Atlantic and to a notable 1918 short-story anthology.

An early 20th-century American writer, translator, and lecturer, Christina Krysto wrote fiction and historical work shaped by immigrant life and California history. Her surviving publications suggest a voice equally interested in personal stories and the larger forces shaping American society.

A late-19th-century American fiction writer, she published stories in major magazines and left behind a small body of work that captures everyday life, social pressures, and human weakness with a sharp eye. Her writing feels rooted in the magazine world of its time while still staying readable and direct.

Edith Ronald Mirrielees

1878–1962

A pioneering Stanford teacher and writer, she helped shape early creative writing in the United States and encouraged students who would go on to become major literary voices. Her own books, including guides to storytelling and grammar, reflect a practical, clear-eyed love of language.

Margaret Prescott Montague

1878–1955

Known for vivid stories set in the southern mountains, this American writer brought West Virginia landscapes and folklore to a wide early-20th-century audience. Her fiction ranged from novels to magazine stories, with a gift for memorable regional characters.

Edward Morlae

A veteran of the French Foreign Legion, he wrote from close to the front lines and gave readers a direct, vivid look at World War I. His work stands out for its sense of immediacy, discipline, and hard-earned experience.

Meredith Nicholson

1866–1947

Best known for brisk, popular novels like The House of a Thousand Candles, this Indiana writer moved easily between journalism, fiction, politics, and diplomacy. His work helped define a lively chapter in Midwestern literary life at the start of the 20th century.

Kathleen Thompson Norris

1880–1966

One of the most widely read American women writers of the first half of the 20th century, she built a huge audience with emotionally direct novels about family life, love, marriage, and social expectations. Her stories were so popular that several were adapted for film, helping carry her name far beyond the printed page.

A versatile early-20th-century American writer, she moved easily between journalism, short fiction, literary retellings, and even science fiction. Her work appeared in major magazines, and two later novels were published under the shared pseudonym Rayburn Crawley.

An English diarist and bookseller, she became widely known after her journals revealed a vivid, candid record of ordinary life in 20th-century Britain. Her writing is valued for its warmth, honesty, and eye for everyday detail.

Elsie Singmaster

1879–1958

Raised in Pennsylvania Dutch country, this prolific novelist and short-story writer brought the lives, speech, and history of Pennsylvania Germans to a wide American audience. Her work ranged from local-color fiction to children's books, including a Newbery Honor title.

Charles Haskins Townsend

1859–1944

A pioneering American zoologist and naturalist, he helped shape the New York Aquarium and wrote widely about marine life, exploration, and the living world he loved to study.

A Chicago writer with close ties to Hull House, she brought sharp observation and warmth to stories, essays, and poems about everyday American life. Her work moved in the orbit of the city’s reform and literary circles while keeping a clear, human scale.