Ever wondered what the most respected authors of the world might have looked like in their teenage years? Today Flavorwire compiled sixteen photographs of writers in their adolescence. Scroll down to see a Yearbook compilation of the ten cutest, most awkward, most serious, and most likely to write the next great Canadian novel…
A 17 year-old Ernest Hemingway
The gangly and adorable Neil Gaiman
Flannery O’Connor confesses to her high school newspaper that her hobby is “Collecting rejection slips” from publishing houses.
Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, age 15
A carefree, teenaged Allen Ginsberg at 16
Posho Martin Amis with his father, the writer Kingsley Amis
J. D. Salinger’s yearbook photo from military academy, 1936
A 14 year-old Virginia Woolf, then Virginia Stephen
Beautfiul Anais Nin at 19
Margaret Atwood in her high school yearbook, minus the distinctive curly locks
For the full showcase, including Samuel Beckett’s steely eyed gaze, head to Flavorwire.