# Seeking: Successful Authors For Whom English was NOT First Language **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048 "2007-11-11T21:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/1 "2007-11-11T21:00:00Z")
Joseph Conrad was Polish. Ayn Rand and Vladimir Nabokov were Russian. Kazuo Ishiguro is Japanese. All of them moved to England or the U.S. and learned English well enough to become very successful English language writers. Any other examples come to mind? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/2 "2007-11-11T21:16:48Z")
Kazuo Ishiguro was only six when he came to England, and received the vast majority of his education in English. Arundhati Roy (Indian), Rohinton Mistry (Indian) and Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lankan) spring to mind, but I’m not sure if their upbringings were in English or their native language. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/3 "2007-11-11T21:21:55Z")
Two more: Salman Rushdie (can’t seem to find out how old he was when he moved to England from India, but I suspect it was quite young) and Vikram Seth. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/4 "2007-11-11T21:45:10Z")
Depends what you mean by “succesfull”. If you mean “widely read by english speakers”, I’ve got nothing 'cept what’s been added here already. If you mean “popular, able to live off his/her work, and has been widely translated (including into english)” I can name a few. Jan Guillou, whose political thrillers, journalistic works and historical novels have made in an insanely popular writer, both in his native sweden, the rest of scandinavia and the wider world (a quick amazon search confirms that his work has been translated into english, german and spanish, among many other languages). And his Crusader Trilogy is currently in the final stages of being made into movies (I’m already drooling, BTW). Does something like this fit? I’m in no possition to say what is currently popular in the english speaking worls, not living there and all. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/5 "2007-11-11T21:46:26Z")
Tom Stoppard ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/6 "2007-11-11T21:47:22Z")
Theodore Sturgeon said (in 1976) that Stanislaw Lem was the world’s most widely-read science fiction author. He was Polish, and wrote most or all of his works in Polish. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/7 "2007-11-11T21:48:32Z")
Does Chinua Achebe qualify? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/8 "2007-11-11T21:55:02Z")
Jerzy Kosinski didn’t speak much English when he immigrated to the United States from Poland. Unfortunately, he has been accused both of plagiarism and of using ghostwriters due to significantly differing writing styles in different novels. I still really like his books, whether or not he wrote them. Personally, I didn’t notice much difference in writing styles except in **Being There** , but more from a thematic perspective than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/9 "2007-11-11T21:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=Saltire] Theodore Sturgeon said (in 1976) that Stanislaw Lem was the world’s most widely-read science fiction author. He was Polish, and wrote most or all of his works in Polish. [/QUOTE] I think the point of the OP is that they were successful writing in English. Not in translation. Tom Stoppard is an excellent answer - he’s Czech, but is an accepted genius in English. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/10 "2007-11-11T22:22:32Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Tom Stoppard is an excellent answer - he’s Czech, but is an accepted genius in English. [/QUOTE] Wikipedia says that he immigrated to Singapore when he was 2 and evacuated to India when 4 and received a standard English education in India. It’s not surprising that he wrote so well in English. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/11 "2007-11-11T22:43:28Z")
Adeline Yen Mah (born and raised in China, moved to England to go to college) has had several successful books of memoirs and Chinese legends, all written in English. Algis Budrys was a successful writer of science fiction in the US; his first language was either German or Lithuanian (his father was Lithuanian counsul to the US prior to WWII). US SF author and critic George Zebrowski was born in Austria. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/12 "2007-11-11T22:58:05Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Wikipedia says that he immigrated to Singapore when he was 2 and evacuated to India when 4 and received a standard English education in India. It’s not surprising that he wrote so well in English. [/QUOTE] Sorry, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/13 "2007-11-11T23:06:51Z")
[Ted Morgan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Morgan), a journalist, historian, and biographer of several notable Americans, was born into French nobility, but studied at Yale and worked on various American newspapers. He only became an American citizen in his 40s, at which point he changed his name. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/14 "2007-11-11T23:32:28Z")
[Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isak_Dinesen) > [@](#): > > Blixen wrote works both in Danish and in English. She is best known, at least in English, for Out of Africa, her account of living in Kenya, and one of her stories, Babette’s Feast, both of which have been adapted into highly acclaimed motion pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/15 "2007-11-11T23:47:35Z")
[Khaled Hosseini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Hosseini): > [@](#): > > Khaled Hosseini (Persian: خالد حسینی)(born March 4, 1965) is an Afghanistani-American novelist and physician. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was a bestseller. His second, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was released on May 22, 2007. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/16 "2007-11-12T00:40:05Z")
How about Ha Jin? Chinese, came to the US as an adult and writes in English. I think his best-known novel is _Waiting_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/17 "2007-11-12T01:07:40Z")
[Yann Martel](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Martel) was born in Spain, and won the Booker for _Life of Pi_ in 2002. I can’t find what his childhood language was and when he moved to an English-speaking country though. His parents were Canadian. [Kazuo Ishiguro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuo_Ishiguro) moved from Japan to England when he was 6, and won the 1989 Booker for _Remains of the Day_. I was going to nominate [Haruki Murakami](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami) but it seems he writes in Japanese, even when he lived in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/18 "2007-11-12T01:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=E. Thorp] How about Ha Jin? Chinese, came to the US as an adult and writes in English. I think his best-known novel is _Waiting_. [/QUOTE] Holy crap, he says that he was illiterate (in Chinese) until 14 in this [interview.](http://www.powells.com/authors/jin.html) He started to write because he couldn’t find work after finishing his PhD after deciding not to return to China after the Tiananmen massacre. Amazing! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/19 "2007-11-12T12:44:01Z")
**Robert Has Van Gulik** was a Dutch diplomat living in China. He translated the **Dee Goong An** (Adventures of Judge Dee) into English, then into Japanese. Then he wrote an entire series of Judge Dee adventures in English (that were, like J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter books, buuilt upon an overarching background structure of set-ups from the first) that were original. In addition, he wrote at least one non-Dee mystery and a series of books on Chinese culture and erotic art, all in English. I believe **Jacques Cousteau** has several books in English, but I;m not sure if he wrote them in English/translated them himself. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048/20 "2007-11-12T12:56:09Z")
Jack Kerouac began life speaking French and although he started to learn English about the age of 6, he and his family spoke French at home. Milan Kundera (_The Unbearable Lightness of Being_) wrote in Czech until 1990 and since has written in French. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-successful-authors-for-whom-english-was-not-first-language/426048.md?page=2)