American · 1902–1968
John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962 and the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for "The Grapes of Wrath." The American author's novels about California—migrant workers, cannery row, the Salinas Valley—documented Depression-era America with anger and compassion. Steinbeck wrote about the dispossessed: the Joads fleeing Oklahoma, Lennie and George chasing dreams. His reputation has fluctuated since his death, but his best work remains essential American literature.