21st Century Literature discussion

Are there many authors who you know use pen names? Do you know their real names, as well? Let us know which authors and their pen names you know.

The Bell Jar was published under a pen name originally, just learned that! Plath didn’t think it was “literary” enough… so used the name Victoria Lucas.

“[…] first published in January 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas and later released posthumously under her real name.”

I only can think of writers from long ago… of course Mark Twain, but then all the women especially: the Brontë sisters, Louise May Alcott, George Eliot, & Harper Lee…

great question, Marc!

One modern case that comes to mind is Joe Hill, whose name is Joseph Hillström King. And of course there's Robert Galbraith for J.K. Rowling. And Doris Lessing wrote some novels under the name Jane Somers - she said in an interview that she wanted to see how people would react to novels without her name.

Though as victoria, I'm more familiar with the practice in earlier centuries.

I just finished Anna Seghers' excellent classic The Seventh Cross, and found out her real name was Netty Radványi, née Reiling.

victoria wrote: "The Bell Jar was published under a pen name originally, just learned that! Plath didn’t think it was “literary” enough… so used the name Victoria Lucas ..."

Had never heard that about Plath having used Victoria Lucas as a name!

Hmm... pen names I'm aware of...
- Stendhal --> Marie-Henri Beyle
- Richard Bachman --> Stephen King
- Sjón --> Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson
- Voltaire --> François-Marie Arouet
- Antoine Volodine (I guess I/we don't know his real name!) writes under several heteronyms (a phrase that's new to me): Lutz Bassmann, Manuela Draeger, and Elli Kronauer
- Elena Ferrante --> ?

(Stephen King is the only one above whose real name I both knew and could spell without looking up!)

I find writers who have multiple pen names & the reasons behind each one interesting.
Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, JK Rowling, Agatha Christie, Anne Rice, Charlotte Brontë, Daniel Handler, Washington Irving, Michael Crichton, Anne Rice have all had work published under more than one name. Dean Koontz has had work published under 10 names including his own.
Reasons include different personas for different genres, overcoming genre/gender bias or just plain gender bias, avoiding marketplace saturation, wanting to explore other areas without jeopardising ‘the brand’, wanting a work to be taken on its own merits without all the preconception & judgement that comes with a new release from an established author.