William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. Nicknamed "the Dean of American Letters," he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novel The Rise of Silas Lapham. He is known as the father of American realism. In 1915, he was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction.
