Writers Who Became Famous After They Died

I know, I know, you are thinking, “Hey, Steve this is about writers who became famous after they died. How the fuck exactly is this a pep talk?”

Maybe “pep talk” is a bit of a stretch. Consider it a sort of morbid consolation prize if you fail to become famous as a writer before you pop off. Actually, if you die you won’t really be able to consider it anything, but hey, maybe your loved ones will still benefit from your posthumous fame.

While the idea that my family might benefit from my writing if it becomes famous after I die, I do find it a little bit troubling that this list includes some of the absolute giants of literature. It makes me sad to think that they weren’t able to enjoy some of the success that their work did after they passed.

Franz Kafka

Here is a writer whose work was virtually unknown until a decade after his death in 1924 at the age of 49 years old. And a writer who heavily influenced later literary giants such as Jorge Luis Borges, Albert Camus, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, JD Salinger, and Haruki Murakami to name a few. His work was so influential that it spawned the term Kafkaesque to describe dark and surreal writing, films, art, as well as many other genres.

And yet, as great as his writing was before he died of tuberculous he asked his friend Max Brod to destroy everything he had written.

Sadly, Kafka’s own life which obviously influenced his writing was often as dark and depressing as his short stories and novels.

I know, you are wondering where the hell the pep is in this one. All I can say is posthumous greatness is still greatness.

Edgar Allen Poe

Another literary giant who didn’t enjoy much of his fame due to an early death. Poe is considered one of the greatest American writers of all time. He is credited with inventing detective fiction and contributing heavily to both the horror genre as well as science fiction that was emerging in the US at the time.

The Raven did make Poe fairly famous in the US, but he was apparently only paid $9, around $300 in today’s money for it. And he was able to earn a living from writing and working in the publishing industry from 1831 until his death in 1849, but he was fairly poor the entire time. And he lived a life that included a lot of personal tragedies, alcoholism, drug use, and bouts of severe depression.

Silva Plath

Her story is the saddest of all to me. A brilliant poet, short story writer, and novelist, Plath, unfortunately, struggled with severe depression most of her adult life which eventually led to her tragic suicide in 1963. Posthumously, she was awarded the Pulitzer in 1982 and her poetry and prose continue to be loved and admired by readers and writers all over the world.

John Keats

Poor dude died at 25 years old virtually unknown, not well received at all by the literary world of his day, and deep in debt from medical school loans. But, after his death his work went on to be considered some of the greatest and most influential poetry on the planet.

As nice as it is to think that in some afterlife all of these writers somehow knew of their great popularity, I’m a staunch atheist who can’t go that far personally. Though, I would argue that the fact that all of these writers’ work has been read and enjoyed by millions of people is still a great achievement even if the authors themselves didn’t benefit from it.