Some prominent figures of Hindi literature:
Kabir (15th century) is known for his Granthavali which contains verses with love as the dominant motif. He was a major figure of the bhakti (devotional) movement.
Goswami Tulasidas (1532-1623) is the greatest Hindi poet of the medieval period. His Ramcharitamanas which is a retelling of the Ramayana continues to be popular in India and the Caribbean.
Bihari (1595-1664) became famous by writing Satasai (Seven Hundred Verses).
Premchand (1880-1936) was a great novelist. Of his novels, Godan (The Gift of a Cow, 1936) is considered the best. In this book he sketches rural life in an unparalleled manner.
Maithili Sharan Gupt (1886-1964) was a pioneer of 'Khari Boli' (plain dialect) poetry and the author of the epic Saket in modern Hindi literature.
Jaishankar Prasad (1889-1937) was a leader of the literary movement called Chhayavada.
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' (1899-1961) wrote twelve collections of poetry, six novels, many short stories, essays and criticism, and also translated from Sanskrit and Bengali.
Sumitranandan Pant (1900-1977) authored twenty eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays.
Yashpal (1903-76) is renowned for Jhutha Sach (The False Truth, 1958-60), which is regarded as one of the best Hindi novels ever written.
Hazariprasad Dwivedi (1907-1979), novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic and scholar, penned numerous novels, collections of essays and a historical outline of Hindi literature.
Mahadevi Varma (1907-1987) was educated in Prayag, where she founded the Prayag Mahila Vidyapitha, promoting the education of girls. Mahadevi Verma was one of the four pillars of the great Romantic movement in modern Hindi poetry, Chhayavada, the remaining three being Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant. Her mysticism led to the birth of a movement called Rahasyavada. She has been compared with Mira Bai, the great 16th century devotional poetess, in her lyrical mysticism.
Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (1908-1974) emerged as rebellious poet with his nationalist poetry in pre-Independence days.
Nagarjun (b. 1911), is amjor Hindi poet who has also penned a number of novels, short stories, literary biographies and travelogues. The most popular practising Hindi poet in the last decades of the twentieth century, Nagarjun is considered as the only poet, after Tulasidas, to have an audience ranging from the rural sections of society to the elite.
S. H. Vatsyayan (1911-1987), (Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana), was popularly known by his pen-name Ajneya or Agyeya, was a pioneer of modern trends not only in the realm of poetry, but also fiction, criticism and journalism .
Vishnu Prabhakar (b. 1912), with several short stories, novels, plays and travelogues to his credit, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel, Ardhanarishvara (The Androgynous God or Shiva).
Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' (1921-1977) is one of the great Hindi novelists of the post-Premchand era. His masterpiece is Maila Anchal (The Soiled Border, 1954), a social novel that depicts the life of a region and its people, the backward and the deprived.
Shrilal Shukla (b. 1925) became renowned for his objective and purposive satire.
Mohan Rakesh (1925-1972) was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani movement of the 1950s. He made significant contribution to novel, short story, travelogue, criticism, memoirs and drama.
Dharmavir Bharati (b. 1926) is a renowned poet, fictionist and editor. Essentially a romantic humanist, Bharati is famous for his poignant treatment of first love, his lyricism and humanistic vision.
Raghuvir Sahay (1929-1990) was a versatile Hindi poet, translator, short-story writer and journalist.
Nirmal Verma (b. 1929) together with Mohan Rakesh, Bhisham Sahni, Kamleshwar, Amarkant and others, is the founder of the Nai Kahani (new short story) in Hindi literature. He is best known for his short stories.
