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Reading List · Literary MovementsLiterary Movements, Explained
Some writers are easiest to understand alongside the people they argued with, drank with or wrote against. This page gathers the literary movements and traditions covered on this site: what each one is, and which writers to read, with one book to start with for every writer.
Each movement has an explainer page for the ideas and a reading list for the writers. Where a tradition is defined by form or community rather than a manifesto, such as the short story or LGBTQ+ writing, there is a reading list only.
Absurdism
People searching for meaning in a world that offers none.
Existentialism
Existence comes first; meaning is made, not given.
Magical realism
Extraordinary events told as if they were ordinary.
Autofiction
Novels built from the author’s own life.
The Beat Generation
New York in the 1940s, San Francisco in the 1950s.
Transcendentalism
Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller and the inner life.
More traditions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between absurdism and existentialism?
Existentialism generally holds that individuals can create their own meaning through free choices. Absurdism is more sceptical of constructed meaning and focuses on the ongoing conflict between the desire for meaning and the world’s silence.
What is the difference between magical realism and fantasy?
Fantasy usually builds a separate world with its own rules. In magical realism the setting is our recognisable world and the supernatural is accepted as ordinary, often to say something about real history or society.
What is the difference between autofiction and memoir?
A memoir is presented as a true account and asks the reader to trust its facts. Autofiction is presented as a novel: it draws openly on the author’s life but claims the freedom to invent, reorder and compress.
Who were the main Beat Generation writers?
The core figures were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, with Gregory Corso, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Neal Cassady closely associated. Women writers such as Diane di Prima, Joyce Johnson and Hettie Jones were also part of the scene.
Pick the movement whose question interests you most, then start with one writer from its list.
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