Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer. His writing style was marked by an economical use of language, vivid imagery, and brief dialogue, which often created an ambiguity that left his stories open to interpretation. This style had a large influence on both the Modernist writers of his generation and fiction writers throughout the 20th century. A prolific writer for three decades, Hemingway published seven novels, six short collections, and several nonfiction works. In 1954, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway spent much of his life outside of the United States, beginning in his early years when he lived throughout Europe following the First World War. Throughout the 1920s, Hemingway wrote numerous short stories based loosely around his many adventures and love affairs while an expatriate. Many of Hemingway’s longer works, including For Whom the Bells Toll and A Farewell to Arms, deal more specifically with his wartime experiences as an ambulance driver and a journalist.

Hemingway’s experiences as an expatriate shaped many of the themes in his work, including isolation and a longing for connection.