Stephen Crane was a gay American writer born in Newark, New Jersey. He became a journalist. He introduced grim realism into the American novel, but his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), was too grim to find a readership.

He won fame in 1895 with his next work, Red Badge of Courage, dealing wividly with the American Civil War. It is a study of an inexperienced soldier and his reactions to the ordeal of battle. It was hailed as a masterpiece of psychological realism.

His other works include two volumes of free verses, volumes of short stories, notably The Open Boat (1898), and sketches. He died in Badenweiler, Germany.