E. M. Forster 1879to –1970
English novelist and essayist, member of the Bloomsbury Group, known for his novels A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. He was aware of his homosexuality at a young age, and was out to his close friends, although he didn’t enjoy a sexual relationship until later in life. His novels were often informed by his experiences as a gay man, dealing with themes of social inequality, repression, and self-realization. In 1913, he wrote the novel Maurice, a beautiful story of a gay protagonist coming into his own, which was inspired by the real life couple Edward Carpenter and George Merrill. He revised the story several times during his life, but it was never published until after his death.