Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre.

Howard was born and raised in Texas. He spent most of his life in the town of Cross Plains, with some time spent in nearby Brownwood. A bookish and intellectual child, he was also a fan of boxing, eventually taking up amateur boxing; he also spent some time in his late teens bodybuilding. From the age of nine, he longed to become a writer of adventure fiction but did not have real success until he was 23. Thereafter Howard's writings were published in a wide selection of magazines, journals, and newspapers, and he became proficient in several subgenres. He died by suicide at age 30 while distraught over his mother's imminent death.

Although a Conan novel was nearly published in 1934, Howard's stories were never collected during his lifetime. The main outlet for his stories was Weird Tales, where Howard created Conan the Barbarian. It was only after his death that his writings were collected and more widely read. With Conan and his other heroes, Howard helped fashion the genre now known as sword and sorcery, spawning many imitators and giving him a large influence in the fantasy field. Howard remains a highly read author, with his best works still reprinted.