Lajos Egri (1888‑1967) was born in Hungary and founded the Egri School of Writing in New York City in the 1930s. He was the author of The Art of Dramatic Writing, which is widely regarded as one of the best works on the subject of playwriting. He is also the author of The Art of Creative Writing, which expounds on the concepts in his first book. Born in Hungary, Egri emigrated to the United states with his wife. In America he became a journalist and wrote, directed and produced plays and screenplays. The Art of Dramatic Writing has been translated into seventeen languages and has been used as a textbook by many universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and New York University.