Speaking in another language is hard enough, but what about writing in another language? Do you think you could do it? The following are some great authors who have written and published books in another language from their own.

Multilingual Authors And Their Books

Vladimir Nabokov – 1899 – 1977

Nabokov was a russian novelist who, with his family, emigrated to England after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1919. He began his study of zoology before deciding on studying Romance and Slavic Languages at Trinity College, Cambridge. Nobokov wrote half his books in Russian and half in English. With help, he managed to translate most of his books in both the languages. Lolita was probably one of his most famous works.

Joseph Conrad 1857 – 1924

Conrad was a successful Polish writer who, in 1874, left his home to travel the world. He was granted British citzenshship and began his writing career after he settled within the UK. Conrad had high knowledge of German, Latin, and Greek langauges. In his late 20’s, he picked up English and chose this language to write his books in. His 1899 novel, Heart Of Darkness, was his most notable work.

Agota Kristof 1935 – 2011

Hungarian writer Kristof was born in North-West Hungry in a village called Csikvand. After the 1956 Hungarian Uprising failed, she was forced to flee her country at the age of 21 with her 4 month old daughter and husband. Moving to Switzerland, Agota worked in a watch factory where she picked up how to speak french over time. From here she wrote and publied ‘Le Rat qui passe’ her first play in 1972 and in 1986 she wrote her first novel Le Grand Cahier.

Sholem Aleichem – 1859-1916

Aleichem was born in the Ukraine and comes from a Hasidic Jewish family. During 1905, he fled with his family to escape the Anit Jew movement that was sweeping across Southern Russia. He ended up in New York where he began his writing career. Aleichem wrote in both Russian and Hebrew lanuages before writing in Yiddish. Some of his best work included Tevye and his Daughters which was transformed into the popular musical and film Fiddler On The Roof.

Andre Brink 1935 –

Brink was born in 1935 in Vrede South, Africa. He is a native Afrikaans speaker and formed an anti-apartheid literary resistance movemnt which protested against the segregatinalist racial government policies by writng in Afrikaans. His most notable work was ‘Kennis Van Die Aand’ in 1973 which was translated into English years later. He now works as a professor of English as the Cape Town University.

Elif Safak 1971 –

Safak was born in Stasbourg, France to Turkish parents. As the years went on she moved to the USA before returning back to Instanbul. She has written many books that are along the lines of Armenian genocide and Kurdish conflict. His most notable award includes the French Ordres des Arts et des Lettres.

Samuel Beckett 1906-1989

Beckett is a Irish playwrite, novelist, poet and theathre director. He has studied English, Italian, and French at the Trinity College and has travelled Europe. One of his most notable novels include Murphy 1937 along with Waiting For Godot. Both these books were translated into different languages which he translated himself.

Jack Kerouac 1922 – 1969

Kerouac was an American novelist and was born in 1922 in Massachusetts. As a french speaker, he learnt English at 6 years of age. When he began writing he wrote all his books in English. The most famous would be On The Road which was published in 1957.

Anna Kazui Stahl 1962 –

Stahl was born in 1962 Louisiana and is an American novelist best known for her work Flores de un sólo día. It was published in Argentina in 2002. She has lived in the USA, Germany, and settled for living in Buenos Aires Argentina.

Rolando Hinojosa-Smith 1929 –

Rolando is an American poet, essayist, and novelist from Texas, USA. Rolando is most notable for his 15 volume work called Klaii City Death Trip Series. He began writing it in 1973 and added to it with the recent update We Happy Few. He was a Spanish speaker who learnt English in School. His book series is written in both Spanish and English.