
author
1837–1920
A leading voice of American realism, he wrote sharply observed novels about everyday life and helped shape the literary culture of the late 1800s. As an editor and critic, he also encouraged writers such as Henry James and Sarah Orne Jewett while building a reputation as the “Dean of American Letters.”

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, John Kendrick Bangs, Alice Brown, Mary Stewart Cutting, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, William Dean Howells, Henry James, Elizabeth Garver Jordan, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Henry Van Dyke, Mary Heaton Vorse, Edith Wyatt

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells

by William Dean Howells
Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, on March 1, 1837, William Dean Howells grew up in a family connected to printing and newspapers. He began working early as a typesetter and reporter, and that hands-on start in journalism stayed with him throughout his career, giving his fiction its clear, grounded feel.
Howells became one of the best-known champions of literary realism in the United States. He served as editor of The Atlantic Monthly and used that role to support important writers of his time, including Henry James and Sarah Orne Jewett. His best-known books include The Rise of Silas Lapham, A Modern Instance, Indian Summer, and A Traveler from Altruria.
Readers often turn to Howells for novels that pay close attention to ordinary lives, social ambition, and moral choices. He died in New York City on May 11, 1920, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime, both through his own books and through the writers he helped bring forward.