This List of members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Department of Literature shows the members of one of the three departments of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
After being nominated by current members, new members are selected in two elections, the first by the department they join (Art, Literature or Music). Candidates who receive the most votes in their own department are then voted on by the entire membership.
| !Name | Life | Elected |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Aaron | 1912–2016 | 1997 |
| M. H. Abrams | 1912–2015 | 2001 |
| Brooks Adams | 1848–1927 | 1906 |
| Charles Francis Adams | 1835–1915 | 1905 |
| Franklin P. Adams | 1881–1960 | 1946 |
| Henry Adams | 1838–1918 | 1898 |
| James Truslow Adams | 1878–1949 | 1923 |
| Léonie Adams | 1899–1988 | 1951 |
| George Ade | 1866–1944 | 1908 |
| Conrad Aiken | 1889–1973 | 1941 |
| Edward Albee | 1928–2016 | 1966 |
| Henry Mills Alden | 1836–1919 | 1898 |
| Edwin Anderson Alderman | 1861–1931 | 1925 |
| Thomas Bailey Aldrich | 1836–1907 | 1898 |
| Richard Aldrich | 1863–1937 | 1908 |
| Nelson Algren | 1909–1981 | 1981 |
| Hervey Allen | 1889–1949 | 1936 |
| James Lane Allen | 1848–1925 | 1898 |
| Winthrop Ames | 1871–1937 | 1931 |
| A. R. Ammons | 1926–2001 | 1990 |
| Maxwell Anderson | 1888–1959 | 1935 |
| Sherwood Anderson | 1876–1941 | 1937 |
| Charles M. Andrews | 1863–1943 | 1937 |
| Hannah Arendt | 1906–1975 | 1964 |
| Newton Arvin | 1900–1963 | 1952 |
| John Ashbery | 1927–2017 | 1980 |
| Gertrude Atherton | 1857–1948 | 1938 |
| Louis Auchincloss | 1917–2010 | 1965 |
| Wystan Hugh Auden | 1907–1973 | 1948 |
| Irving Babbitt | 1865–1933 | 1920 |
| Irving Bacheller | 1859–1950 | 1920 |
| Leonard Bacon | 1887–1954 | 1941 |
| George Pierce Baker | 1866–1935 | 1916 |
| Ray Stannard Baker | 1870–1946 | 1920 |
| Russell Baker | 1925-2019 | 1984 |
| James Baldwin | 1924–1987 | 1964 |
| Simeon E. Baldwin | 1840–1927 | 1898 |
| Amiri Baraka | 1934–2014 | 2001 |
| Djuna Barnes | 1892–1982 | 1959 |
| Philip Barry | 1896–1949 | 1930 |
| Donald Barthelme | 1931–1989 | 1978 |
| Jacques Barzun | 1907–2012 | 1952 |
| John Spencer Bassett | 1867–1928 | 1923 |
| Hamilton Basso | 1904–1964 | 1955 |
| Arlo Bates | 1850–1918 | 1905 |
| Charles Austin Beard | 1874–1948 | 1939 |
| Carl L. Becker | 1873–1945 | 1933 |
| William Beebe | 1887–1962 | 1939 |
| Samuel N. Behrman | 1893–1973 | 1943 |
| Saul Bellow | 1915–2005 | 1958 |
| Stephen Vincent Benét | 1898–1943 | 1929 |
| William Rose Benét | 1886–1950 | 1933 |
| Bernard Berenson | 1865–1959 | 1922 |
| John Berryman | 1914–1972 | 1965 |
| Albert J. Beveridge | 1862–1927 | 1920 |
| John Bigelow | 1817–1911 | 1898 |
| William Henry Bishop | 1847–1928 | 1918 |
| Morris Bishop | 1893–1973 | 1973 |
| Joseph Bucklin Bishop | 1847–1928 | 1923 |
| Elizabeth Bishop | 1911–1979 | 1954 |
| R. P. Blackmur | 1904–1965 | 1956 |
| Harold Bloom | 1930–2019 | 1990 |
| Louise Bogan | 1897–1970 | 1952 |
| Catherine Drinker Bowen | 1897–1973 | 1963 |
| Claude Bowers | 1878–1958 | 1937 |
| Paul Bowles | 1910–1999 | 1981 |
| James Boyd | 1888–1944 | 1938 |
| Kay Boyle | 1902–1992 | 1968 |
| Gamaliel Bradford | 1863–1932 | 1915 |
| Roark Bradford | 1896–1948 | 1947 |
| Robert Bridges | 1858–1941 | 1906 |
| John Malcolm Brinnin | 1916–1998 | 1978 |
| Crane Brinton | 1898–1968 | 1955 |
| Joseph Brodsky | 1940–1996 | 1979 |
| Louis Bromfield | 1896–1956 | 1928 |
| Cleanth Brooks | 1906–1994 | 1970 |
| Gwendolyn Brooks | 1917–2000 | 1976 |
| Van Wyck Brooks | 1886–1963 | 1925 |
| John Mason Brown | 1900–1969 | 1950 |
| William Crary Brownell | 1851–1928 | 1898 |
| Art Buchwald | 1925–2007 | 1986 |
| Pearl S. Buck | 1892–1973 | 1936 |
| Kenneth Burke | 1897–1993 | 1951 |
| William S. Burroughs | 1914–1997 | 1983 |
| John Burroughs | 1837–1921 | 1898 |
| Maxwell Struthers Burt | 1882–1954 | 1926 |
| Richard Burton | 1861–1940 | 1908 |
| Nicholas Murray Butler | 1862–1947 | 1909 |
| Witter Bynner | 1881–1968 | 1962 |
| James Branch Cabell | 1879–1958 | 1937 |
| George Washington Cable | 1844–1925 | 1898 |
| Erskine Caldwell | 1903–1987 | 1942 |
| Hortense Calisher | 1911–2009 | 1977 |
| Joseph Campbell | 1904–1987 | 1973 |
| Henry Seidel Canby | 1878–1961 | 1931 |
| Truman Capote | 1924–1984 | 1964 |
| Bliss Carman | 1861–1929 | 1898 |
| Rachel Carson | 1907–1964 | 1953 |
| Raymond Carver | 1938–1988 | 1988 |
| R.V. Cassill | 1919–2002 | 1981 |
| Willa Cather | 1876–1947 | 1929 |
| Bruce Catton | 1899–1978 | 1955 |
| Madison J. Cawein | 1865–1914 | 1908 |
| French Ensor Chadwick | 1844–1919 | 1912 |
| Robert W. Chambers | 1865–1933 | 1909 |
| Edward Channing | 1856–1931 | 1911 |
| Stuart Chase | 1888–1985 | 1938 |
| Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor | 1865–1945 | 1912 |
| John Cheever | 1912–1982 | 1957 |
| John Vance Cheney | 1848–1922 | 1908 |
| Winston Churchill | 1871–1947 | 1908 |
| Marchette Chute | 1909–1994 | 1957 |
| John Ciardi | 1916–1986 | 1957 |
| Amy Clampitt | 1920–1994 | 1987 |
| Eleanor Clark | 1914–1996 | 1968 |
| Mark Twain | 1835–1910 | 1898 |
| Robert M. Coates | 1897–1973 | 1958 |
| Robert P. T. Coffin | 1892–1955 | 1946 |
| Mary Colum | 1877–1957 | 1953 |
| Padraic Colum | 1881–1972 | 1948 |
| Henry Steele Commager | 1902–1998 | 1952 |
| Evan S. Connell | 1924–2013 | 1988 |
| Marc Connelly | 1890–1980 | 1935 |
| James Brendan Connolly | 1868–1957 | 1908 |
| Moncure D. Conway | 1832–1907 | 1898 |
| Royal Cortissoz | 1869–1948 | 1908 |
| Malcolm Cowley | 1898–1987 | 1949 |
| James Gould Cozzens | 1903–1978 | 1943 |
| Francis Marion Crawford | 1854–1909 | 1898 |
| Robert Creeley | 1926–2005 | 1987 |
| Herbert Croly | 1869–1930 | 1912 |
| Wilbur L. Cross | 1862–1948 | 1911 |
| Rachel Crothers | 1878–1958 | 1933 |
| Samuel McChord Crothers | 1857–1927 | 1906 |
| E. E. Cummings | 1894–1962 | 1949 |
| Edward Dahlberg | 1900–1977 | 1968 |
| Augustin Daly | 1838–1899 | 1898 |
| H. L. Davis | 1896–1960 | 1956 |
| Owen Davis | 1874–1956 | 1923 |
| Charles DeKay | 1848–1935 | 1905 |
| Margaret Deland | 1857–1945 | 1926 |
| Babette Deutsch | 1895–1982 | 1958 |
| Bernard DeVoto | 1897–1955 | 1948 |
| Peter DeVries | 1910–1993 | 1969 |
| James Dickey | 1923–1997 | 1972 |
| E. L. Doctorow | 1931–2015 | 1984 |
| Theodore A. Dodge | 1842–1909 | 1908 |
| John Dos Passos | 1896–1970 | 1937 |
| W. E. Burghardt DuBois | 1868–1963 | 1944 |
| Rene Jules Dubos | 1901–1982 | 1979 |
| Finley Peter Dunne | 1867–1936 | 1908 |
| Will Durant | 1885–1981 | 1959 |
| Walter Prichard Eaton | 1878–1957 | 1918 |
| Richard Eberhart | 1904–2005 | 1960 |
| Leon Edel | 1907–1997 | 1964 |
| Irwin Edman | 1896–1954 | 1941 |
| Harry Stillwell Edwards | 1855–1938 | 1912 |
| Maurice Francis Egan | 1852–1924 | 1908 |
| Edward Eggleston | 1837–1902 | 1898 |
| Loren Eiseley | 1907–1977 | 1971 |
| Stanley Elkin | 1930–1995 | 1982 |
| Ralph Ellison | 1914–1995 | 1964 |
| Richard Ellmann | 1918–1987 | 1971 |
| John Erskine | 1879–1951 | 1920 |
| Robert Fagles | 1933–2008 | 1998 |
| James T. Farrell | 1904–1979 | 1942 |
| William Faulkner | 1897–1962 | 1939 |
| Edgar Fawcett | 1847–1904 | 1898 |
| Edna Ferber | 1887–1968 | 1930 |
| Francis Fergusson | 1904–1986 | 1962 |
| Chester B. Fernald | 1869–1938 | 1910 |
| Leslie Fiedler | 1917–2003 | 1988 |
| Henry T. Finck | 1854–1926 | 1908 |
| John Huston Finley | 1863–1940 | 1908 |
| Oscar W. Firkins | 1864–1932 | 1912 |
| M. F. K. Fisher | 1908–1992 | 1991 |
| Dorothy Canfield Fisher | 1879–1958 | 1931 |
| Willard Fiske | 1831–1904 | 1898 |
| Dudley Fitts | 1903–1969 | 1957 |
| Robert Fitzgerald | 1910–1985 | 1962 |
| Janet Flanner | 1892–1978 | 1959 |
| John Gould Fletcher | 1886–1950 | 1949 |
| Jefferson Butler Fletcher | 1865–1946 | 1918 |
| James Thomas Flexner | 1908–2003 | 1976 |
| Horton Foote | 1916–2009 | 1998 |
| Shelby Foote | 1916–2005 | 1994 |
| James Forbes | 1871–1938 | 1922 |
| Worthington C. Ford | 1858–1940 | 1908 |
| Paul Leicester Ford | 1865–1902 | 1898 |
| Paula Fox | 1923–2017 | 2004 |
| John Fox Jr. | 1863–1919 | 1898 |
| Waldo Frank | 1889–1967 | 1952 |
| Harold Frederic | 1856–1898 | 1898 |
| Douglas Southall Freeman | 1886–1953 | 1937 |
| Mary E. Wilkins Freeman | 1852–1930 | 1926 |
| Robert Frost | 1874–1963 | 1916 |
| Henry B. Fuller | 1857–1929 | 1898 |
| Horace H. Furness Jr. | 1865–1930 | 1911 |
| Horace Howard Furness | 1833–1912 | 1905 |
| William Gaddis | 1922-1998 | 1984 |
| John Kenneth Galbraith | 1908-2006 | 1966 |
| Hamlin Garland | 1860-1940 | 1898 |
| William H. Gass | 1924-2007 | 1983 |
| Peter Gay | 1923-2015 | 1989 |
| Louise Glück | 1943–2023 | 1996 |
| Arthur Goodrich | 1878-1941 | 1927 |
| George A. Gordon | 1853-1929 | 1898 |
| Francine du Plessix Gray | 1930-2019 | 1992 |
| Julien Green | 1900-1998 | 1972 |
| Donald Hall | 1928-2008 | 1989 |
| Oscar Hammerstein II | 1895-1960 | 1950 |
| Elizabeth Hardwick | 1916-2007 | 1977 |
| John Hawkes | 1925-1998 | 1980 |
| John Hay | 1838-1905 | 1898 |
| Shirley Hazzard | 1931-2016 | 1982 |
| Anthony Hecht | 1923-2004 | 1970 |
| Joseph Heller | 1923-1999 | 1977 |
| Lillian Hellman | 1905-1984 | 1946 |
| Oliver Herford | 1863-1935 | 1911 |
| James Herne | 1839-1901 | 1898 |
| John Hollander | 1929-2013 | 1979 |
| Bronson Howard | 1842-1908 | 1898 |
| Irving Howe | 1920-1993 | 1979 |
| Julia Ward Howe | 1819-1910 | 1907 |
| Mark Anthony DeWolfe Howe | 1864–1960 | 1908 |
| William Dean Howells | 1837-1920 | 1898 |
| Hatcher Hughes | 1884-1945 | 1924 |
| Langston Hughes | 1902-1967 | 1961 |
| Rolfe Humphries | 1894-1969 | 1953 |
| James Gibbons Huneker | 1860-1921 | 1918 |
| Ada Louise Huxtable | 1921-2013 | 1977 |
| Christopher Isherwood | 1904-1986 | 1949 |
| Josephine Jacobsen | 1908-2003 | 1994 |
| Henry James | 1843-1916 | 1898 |
| Marquis James | 1891-1955 | 1953 |
| William James | 1842-1910 | 1998 |
| Randall Jarrell | 1914-1965 | 1960 |
| Robinson Jeffers | 1887-1962 | 1937 |
| Joseph Jefferson | 1829-1905 | 1898 |
| Donald Justice | 1925-2004 | 1992 |
| Justin Kaplan | 1925-2014 | 1985 |
| Alfred Kazin | 1915-1995 | 1965 |
| Donald Keene | 1922-2019 | 1986 |
| Helen Keller | 1880-1968 | 1933 |
| Murray Kempton | 1918-1997 | 1995 |
| George Kennan | 1845-1924 | 1898 |
| George F. Kennan | 1904-2005 | 1962 |
| Galway Kinnell | 1927-2014 | 1980 |
| Kenneth Koch | 1925-2002 | 1996 |
| Alfred Kreymborg | 1883-1966 | 1949 |
| Louis Kronenberger | 1904-1980 | 1951 |
| Joseph Wood Krutch | 1893-1970 | 1937 |
| Stanley Kunitz | 1905-2006 | 1963 |
| Christopher La Farge | 1897-1956 | 1947 |
| Oliver La Farge | 1901-1963 | 1957 |
| Philip Levine | 1928-2015 | 1997 |
| R. W. B. Lewis | 1917-2002 | 1982 |
| Abbott Lawrence Lowell | 1856–1943 | 1910 |
| Robert Lowell | 1917-1977 | 1954 |
| Charles F. Lummis | 1859-1928 | 1908 |
| Dwight Macdonald | 1906–1982 | 1970 |
| Archibald MacLeish | 1892-1982 | 1933 |
| Alfred Thayer Mahan | 1840-1914 | 1898 |
| Norman Mailer | 1923-2007 | 1967 |
| Bernard Malamud | 1914–1986 | 1964 |
| Thomas Mann | 1875-1955 | 1950 |
| Edgar Lee Masters | 1869-1950 | 1918 |
| Peter Matthiessen | 1927-2014 | 1974 |
| Brander Matthews | 1852-1929 | 1898 |
| Mary McCarthy | 1912-1989 | 1960 |
| William Keepers Maxwell | 1908–2000 | 1963 |
| Carson McCullers | 1917-1967 | 1952 |
| William Meredith | 1919-2007 | 1968 |
| W. S. Merwin | 1927-2019 | 1972 |
| Josephine Miles | 1911-1985 | 1980 |
| Arthur Miller | 1915-2005 | 1958 |
| Henry Miller | 1891-1980 | 1957 |
| Joaquin Miller | 1839-1913 | 1898 |
| Czeslaw Milosz | 1911-2004 | 1982 |
| Donald Grant Mitchell | 1822-1908 | 1898 |
| John Ames Mitchell | 1845-1918 | 1908 |
| Joseph Mitchell | 1908-1996 | 1970 |
| Langdon Mitchell | 1862-1935 | 1908 |
| William Vaughn Moody | 1869-1910 | 1905 |
| Charles Moore | 1855-1942 | 1920 |
| Marianne Craig Moore | 1887-1972 | 1947 |
| Paul Elmer More | 1864-1937 | 1908 |
| Samuel Eliot Morison | 1887-1976 | 1963 |
| Toni Morrison | 1931–2019 | 1981 |
| Christopher Morley | 1890-1957 | 1936 |
| Wright Morris | 1910-1998 | 1970 |
| Howard Moss | 1922-1987 | 1971 |
| Albert Murray | 1916-2013 | 1997 |
| Ogden Nash | 1902-1971 | 1950 |
| Robert Nathan | 1894-1985 | 1936 |
| Allan Nevins | 1890-1971 | 1938 |
| Reinhold Niebuhr | 1892-1971 | 1953 |
| Anais Nin | 1903-1977 | 1974 |
| Charles Eliot Norton | 1827-1908 | 1898 |
| Rollo Ogden | 1856-1937 | 1923 |
| John O'Hara | 1905-1970 | 1957 |
| Eugene O'Neill | 1888-1953 | 1933 |
| Thomas Nelson Page | 1853-1922 | 1898 |
| Albert Bigelow Paine | 1861-1937 | 1918 |
| Grace Paley | 1922-2007 | 1980 |
| Dorothy Parker | 1893-1967 | 1959 |
| Will Payne | 1865-1954 | 1908 |
| William Morton Payne | 1858-1919 | 1908 |
| Donald Culross Peattie | 1898-1964 | 1941 |
| Harry Thurston Peck | 1856-1914 | 1898 |
| Walker Percy | 1916-1990 | 1972 |
| S. J. Perelman | 1904-1979 | 1958 |
| James Breck Perkins | 1847-1910 | 1898 |
| Bliss Perry | 1860-1954 | 1905 |
| Ralph Barton Perry | 1876-1957 | 1942 |
| Thomas Sergeant Perry | 1845-1928 | 1898 |
| William Lyon Phelps | 1865-1943 | 1910 |
| Arthur Stanwood Pier | 1874-1966 | 1908 |
| Ernest Poole | 1880-1950 | 1916 |
| Katherine Anne Porter | 1890-1980 | 1941 |
| Ezra Pound | 1885-1972 | 1938 |
| J. F. Powers | 1917-1999 | 1968 |
| Reynolds Price | 1933-2011 | 1988 |
| Herbert Putnam | 1861-1955 | 1925 |
| Edward Kennard Rand | 1871-1945 | 1933 |
| john Crowe Ransom | 1888-1974 | 1965 |
| Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 1896-1953 | 1939 |
| Agnes Repplier | 1858-1950 | 1926 |
| Adrienne Rich | 1929-2012 | 1990 |
| Kenneth L. Roberts | 1885–1957 | 1935 |
| Edwin Arlington Robinson | 1869-1935 | 1908 |
| Theodore Roethke | 1908-1963 | 1956 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 1858–1919 | 1898 |
| Elihu Root | 1845-1937 | 1915 |
| Philip Roth | 1933–2018 | 1970 |
| Josiah Royce | 1855–1916 | 1898 |
| Muriel Rukeyser | 1913–1980 | 1967 |
| John Russell | 1996 | |
| Oliver Sachs | 1933–2015 | 1996 |
| Harrison E. Salisbury | 1908-1993 | 1972 |
| Carl Sandburg | 1878-1967 | 1933 |
| Arthur Schlesinger Jr. | 1917-2007 | 1961 |
| Edward Brewster Sheldon | 1886-1946 | 1918 |
| Upton Sinclair | 1878-1968 | 1944 |
| Isaac Bashevis Singer | 1904-1991 | 1965 |
| William Milligan Sloane | 1850-1928 | 1898 |
| Susan Sontag | 1933-2004 | 1979 |
| Jean Stafford | 1915-1979 | 1970 |
| Wallace Stegner | 1909-1993 | 1969 |
| John E. Steinbeck | 1902-1968 | 1939 |
| Wallace Stevens | 1879-1955 | 1946 |
| Burton E. Stevenson | 1872-1962 | 1928 |
| William J. Stillman | 1828-1901 | 1898 |
| Frederic Jesup Stimson | 1855-1943 | 1898 |
| Frank R. Stockton | 1834-1902 | 1898 |
| Charles Warren Stoddard | 1843-1909 | 1898 |
| Robert Stone | 1937-2015 | 1994 |
| William Styron | 1925-2006 | 1966 |
| Mark Strand | 1934-2014 | 1981 |
| Julian Street | 1879-1947 | 1924' |
| Austin Strong | 1881-1952 | 1929 |
| Simeon Strunsky | 1879-1947 | 1946 |
| Thomas R. Sullivan | 1849-1916 | 1898 |
| May Swenson | 1913-1989 | 1970 |
| Booth Tarkington | 1869-1946 | 1908 |
| Allen Tate | 1899-1979 | 1908 |
| Henry Osborn Taylor | 1856-1941 | 1915 |
| Peter Taylor | 1917-1994 | 1969 |
| Studs Terkel | 1912-2008 | 1997 |
| William Roscoe Thayer | 1859-1923 | 1911 |
| A. E. Thomas | 1872-1947 | 1924 |
| Augustus Thomas | 1857-1934 | 1898 |
| Lewis Thomas | 1913-1993 | 1984 |
| Dorothy Thompson | 1894-1961 | 1938 |
| Maurice Thompson | 1844-1901 | 1898 |
| Ashley H. Thorndike | 1871-1933 | 1913 |
| Chauncey Brewster Tinker | 1876-1963 | 1931 |
| Lionel Trilling | 1905-1975 | 1951 |
| Barbara Tuchman | 1912-1989 | 1968 |
| Moses Coit Tyler | 1835-1900 | 1898 |
| Louis Untermeyer | 1885–1977 | 1941 |
| John Updike | 1932–2009 | 1964 |
| Mona Van Duyn | 1921–2004 | 1983 |
| Gore Vidal | 1925–2012 | 1999 |
| Kurt Vonnegut | 1922–2007 | 1973 |
| Eudora Welty | 1909-2001 | 1952 |
| Edith Wharton | 1862-1937 | 1926 |
| John Hall Wheelock | 1886-1978 | 1948 |
| Andrew Dixon White | 1832-1918 | 1898 |
| E. B. White | 1899-1985 | 1962 |
| Stewart Edward White | 1873-1946 | 1908 |
| William Allen White | 1868-1944 | 1908 |
| Elie Wiesel | 1928-2016 | 1996 |
| Richard Wilbur | 1921-2017 | 1957 |
| August Wilson | 1945-2005 | 1995 |
| William Winter | 1836-1917 | 1998 |
| Yvor Winters | 1900-1967 | 1956 |
| Owen Wister | 1860-1938 | 1998 |
| C. Vann Woodward | 1908-1999 | 1970 |
| Thomas Wolfe | 1900-1938 | 1937 |
| George Edward Woodberry | 1855-1930 | 1908 |
| Frederick J. E. Woodbridge | 1867-1940 | 1933 |
| James A. Wright | 1927-1980 | 1974 |
| Stark Young | 1881–1963 | 1938 |
| Marguerite Yourcenar | 1903–1987 | 1982 |