14 Writers Who Would Have Been Great Collaborators

We literary enthusiasts tend to have our favorite writers, both classic and contemporary—and yes, that’s “writers,” as in plural, because as most of us will openly admit, it’s hard to choose just one. Now, imagine two of your favorites pairing up to form a would-be literary dream team! We matched up these talented writers and tried to envision the masterpieces their collaborations would have yielded. While it’s too bad these literary pioneers never did get a chance to work jointly, at least as far as we know, it’s fun to picture the ways they could have paired up to create some undeniably fascinating new works.

D.H. Lawrence and Nathaniel Hawthorne
Imagine all the steamy Puritan love stories these two could have come up with. Perhaps Hester Prynne would’ve benefitted from some of Connie Chatterley’s tips on seduction. After all, if you’re going to be branded for life, at least make sure it’s worthwhile.

Kurt Vonnegut and George Orwell
What do you get when you a take a black humor-driven satirist and an unabashed cynic and put them in a room together? A picture of a doomed dystopian society like you’ve never seen before. Playing off of each other’s pessimism, there’s no telling what the future might hold for humankind if left up to these two, but let’s just say it’s really, really not looking good.

Sylvia Plath and Jack Canfield
They say opposites attract, and we think a healthy dose of Chicken Soup for the Soul would have helped the perpetually dejected Ms. Plath take the darkness factor down a notch in some of her writing. Not that we’d want it to be all inspirational and rosy either, but we think poor Esther Greenwood deserved at least the occasional reprieve from her sleepless, depressive existence.

Agatha Christie and Kathy Reichs
Miss Marple would have had even more of a leg up had she been privy to the forensic techniques employed by Reichs. Rather than rely on instinct and intuition alone, the resourceful sleuth could have used science to her advantage in solving some of England’s most puzzling crimes.

Anthony Burgess and Roald Dahl
Imagine the chaos if A Clockwork Orange‘s rogue narrator Alex were to take a few pointers from Dahl’s Matilda. Perhaps the violence factor would’ve been less severe, with Alex and his gang focusing more on witty trickery aimed at teaching misguided adults a life lesson or two.

Frank McCourt and F. Scott Fitzgerald
McCourt’s somber tales of impoverishment and tragedy could’ve had an impact on the way Jay Gatsby saw the world. Rather than relentlessly pursuing a life of wealth and indulgence, maybe Gatsby would have learned the very important lesson that while money can perhaps buy you a fancy car and a decked-out mansion, it ultimately can’t buy you happiness.

Margaret Atwood and Eve Ensler
Perhaps Atwood would have more fully embraced her calling as a social science fiction novelist had she gotten the chance to draw some direct inspiration from Ensler. After all, anyone bold enough to document the various injustices suffered by vaginas would’ve been the perfect motivator for a brilliant novelist teetering on the edge of feminism.

Which of your favorite writers would you love to see team up?