For an author list of poets and writers of an alternative kind: Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, Richard Brautigan, Ken Kesey, Jerzy Kosinski, Ishmail Kadare, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, Rebecca West (travel author), Kahlil Gilbran, Hunter S. Thompson, J D Saliger, Carl Sandburg, Basho, Saki, Mark Twain. These authors are not necessarily writing today, but their ideas are still relevant to our lives as history repeats itself. Choosing an author from another culture is usually a breath of fresh air as well - quite far away from the mainstream/globalized culture one is exposed to daily in countries like the United States. Hope this helps.