Literary Hub

12 Famous Authors at Work With Their Dogs

Here at the Literary Hub office, pretty much every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Or so we hope and dream. Sometimes, when we’re lucky, we do have a dog in the office: our current Editorial Fellow’s dog Grizz, who is an extremely good boy. And we’re in good company: some very famous authors also liked to have dogs around while they worked. Even (and probably more often) when they worked at home.

So, is all this a) just an excuse for me to comb through pictures of writers and their dogs or b) just an excuse for me to look at other writers’ workspaces and messy desks or c) because the news is terrible and we all deserve some top-level literary cuteness? I bet you already know the answer, but either way, please enjoy these adorable photographs, which I have gathered here for you. Don’t miss the surprise at the end!

stephen king office dog

Stephen King at his home office with his Corgi Marlowe; Bangor, Maine, July 20, 1995. Photo by Jill Krementz

E.B. White dog office

E.B. White and his dog Minnie in White’s office at the New Yorker. Photo via Tilbury House

jane smiley dog office

Jane Smiley in her home office, with her German shorthaired pointer, Frida. Photo by Daniel Shea via the New York Times

amy tan dog

Amy Tan hard at work with Bubba Zo, her Yorkshire terrier, New York City, April 16, 1996. Photo by Jill Krementz via New York Social Diary

Sheila Heti at her desk with her dog

Sheila Heti at her desk with her dog. Photo by Charla Jones via The Great Discontent

sheila heti dog office

Couldn’t help it: another cute shot of Sheila Heti with her dog in her office. Photo by Charla Jones via The Great Discontent

didion dog

Joan Didion andJohn Gregory Dunne with their daughter Quintana and their dog in 1976. Photo by John Bryson via The Times UK

Ian Fleming at work at his desk in Goldeneye, with dogs. Photo by Harry Benson

amy hempel dog desk

Amy Hempel at her desk with her yellow Lab, Wanita, NYC, January 18, 2008. Photo by Jill Krementz via New York Social Diary

Romain Gary at desk, with dog

Romain Gary at desk, with dog. Not a hoax. via Binary Coffee

Robert B. Parker dog

Robert B. Parker with a Corgi (not Pearl) and a typewriter

Rumer Godden dogs

Rumer Godden at work with two pups afoot, Kashmir 1942. Photo via Herr Und Hund

Ross MacDonald, writing with dog

Ross MacDonald, writing with canine accompaniment

Bonus Content:

Arthur C Clarke monkey

Arthur C. Clarke, hard at work . . . with his monkey. Photo by Billye Cutchen.

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