Writing in 2025 squeezes between old-schoolers and newcomers setting into motion new frontiers. This mixed blend of 15 writers is truly an empire, not only writing bestsellers but transforming people’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of existence. Their words ignite conversations, push boundaries, and occasionally soothe an anxious spirit.
Ocean Vuong is a poetic force blending personal vignettes with sweeping social issues. It feels more like reading poetry as gentle but serious waves sweeping through deeply into the readers. People do not read him-they live through him.
Sally Rooney captivates with her intense depictions of modern relationships, with a scalpel touch for dissecting those crucial, quotidian details that define our humanity. With successful screen adaptations, her reach is growing beyond mere readership.
In speculative fiction, N.K. Jemisin has earned her spot as a pathfinder. Creating complex worlds mirroring real-world issues–especially with respect to race and power–her works confront the audience to consider alternative pathways.
Ta-Nehisi Coates perseveres as an essential voice in American literature and journalism. His essays serve to explain race and identity through personal experience combined with history in ways that remain relevant.
Raven Leilani is one of the freshest voices in 2025; one that tells an unapologetically bold and raw story reflective of millennial life and racial dynamics. Readers are already excited to see her next move.
Margaret Atwood, already a legend, still packs a punch with stories that feel particularly urgent in our day—environmentally and politically. The very themes she writes of resonate with deep-seated feelings in a world that seems more fragile by the day.
Anne Applebaum maintains her authoritative influence in clarifying our understanding of global politics and history with her insightful, graceful nonfiction. Her writings assist her readership in making sense of difficult matters.
From her meteoric rise to fame with stirring poetry, Amanda Gorman stands as a lighthouse reaching generations. Her words activate atmospheres of activism and hope that garner bridges between art and worldly change.
Colson Whitehead blends narration with social commentary, with his books shining a light into conversations on race and history.
Jesmyn Ward and R.O. Kwon write with much honesty and courage about identity, grief, and faith, thereby paving the way for stories that would have otherwise remained silenced.
Sjon, the Icelandic poet and author, spices up the global literary scene with mythic narrative art that feels both ageless and new.
Brandon Taylor’s novels tackle questions of identity and belonging with an aggrieved, contemporary voice that strikes a wide range of minds.
Zadie Smith continues to dazzle with social commentary and graceful prose, remaining a paramount force in contemporary literature.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s elegant examinations of memory and human connection continue to engage readers in reminders of the universal threads that tie us together.
It is these writers that shape the literary world of 2025; not only to entertain, but to guide our reinvention of self and the world in ways new, and perhaps troubling.
