My Current Favorite Contemporary Authors

I have in the past posted a couple of “favorite authors” lists on this blog; I now post my current favorite contemporary authors of fiction (either living, or having died recently). By favorite I mean not only that I very much like reading their novels and stories, but also that I consider them among the best writers writing. This list is not inclusive, and I will probably think of others soon after I post this list. And I do recognize that perhaps there “should” be more writers from outside the U.S. and Great Britain, more ethnic and racial minority writers, and more male writers; if the list were to include all writers I have ever read from the past as well as current writers, the totals would be more “balanced”; for example, overall I may have read almost as many male as female writers, and I have at times read many novels from India, Africa, South America, Europe, and elsewhere, as well as much fiction by Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American authors. So, without further ado, here are my favorite contemporary authors as of right now, in alphabetical order: Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Carolyn Cooke, Anita Desai, Emma Donoghue, Margaret Drabble, Anne Enright, Jane Gardam, Barbara Gowdy, Tessa Hadley, Alan Hollinghurst, Helen Humphreys, Tania James, Gish Jen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Penelope Lively, Ian McEwan, Lorrie Moore, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Antonya Nelson, Stewart O’Nan, Lori Ostlund, Julie Otsuka, Ann Patchett, Edith Pearlman, Tom Rachman, Anne Raeff, Richard Russo, Carol Shields, Mona Simpson, Zadie Smith, Jean Thompson, Colm Toibin, William Trevor, Valerie Trueblood, and Anne Tyler.