Genres of Fiction
A thorough list of literary and fiction genres, with definitions and examples.
This page is focused upon literary and genre fiction only, with a companion page that is more comprehensive. It's a fun exercise to list several examples from each category, by fame or personal favorites.
These genre lists, along with descriptions and examples, are presented by Writing to Publish for research, educational, trivia-browsing, and other purposes. The prose subgenres we've listed here are in plain text, and sub-subgenres in (red text and parentheses). Clarifications are in {braces}, and major categories in larger print. Genres that spring from non-English sources, which have become popular in translation, are usually in italics. Genres and subgenres that haven't seen wide use in decades are marked by an *asterisk.
Some of the broader genres listed here might be thought of as 'descriptive' or 'functional' categories instead, and there is no real agreement on which is which. There is plenty of overlap between subgenres (as with American West Romances and Romantic Westerns), and we've chosen to be a thorough as possible. Astute observers will encounter several different classification systems.
In practice, a novel's (or short story's) genre is often fixed by its cover and marketing, while the work itself could fairly belong to two or more genres.
This list of fiction genres is drawn from numerous sources, listed on a separate page.
Here's a list of all written genres, fiction and nonfiction, prose and poem and practical, as seen in a variety of lengths and formats. (In the case of broadcasts, movie scripts, sermons, etc., they are normally written down before being spoken aloud.)
Here are some basic definitions.
Here's a list of keywords particular to each genre.
Major Categories:
List of Fiction Genres:
♦ Ab-to-Ch genre definitions and examples
Absurdist
Adventure (cliffhanger, Milesian*, Robinsonade, swashbuckler)
African-American
Airport novels
Allegorical
Alternative History
Americana (road trip)
Asian-American
Autobiographical Fiction
Bizarro
Campus (varsity)
Canadiana
Chick Lit (hen or matron lit, ethnic)
Children's Literature
Children's subgenre definitions and examples
By Children or Juvenilia
Early Readers
Middle or Junior Readers (chapter books)
Picture Books
Pop-Up Picture Books
Second Person POV
Traditional Stories
♦ Cl-to-Fa genre definitions and examples
Classic Inspirational
Coming of Age (bildungsroman)
Commercial Fiction {a high-concept 'catchall' designation}
Constrained or Oulipo
Contemporary Indian
Coterie or Cult Novel
Crime (gang or mafia, gentleman thief, Newgate novels*, renegade cops, sensation novel*, etc.)
Decadent
Detective
Dickensian*
Drama or Realistic (over-the-top)
{a modern-setting 'catchall' designation}
Economic or Financial
Ecotopian or Cli-Fi
Emerging
Erotica (Chinese, contemporary, early works, faux memoirs, fetish and BDSM)
Epistolary
Existentialist
Experimental (anti-novel*, ergodic)
Fable or Apologue (legend, parable)
Fairy Tales {traditional}
False Autobiography or Fake Memoirs {if exposed}
FanFic
Fantasy
Fantasy subgenre definitions and examples
Alternate Worlds
Arthurian
Bangsian
Celtic
Christian
Comedic
Contemporary
Court Intrigue
Culinary
Dark
Dying Earth
Erotic
Fantasy of Manners or Mannerpunk
Feghoot
Flintlock
Heroic
High or Epic Fantasy
Historical
Historical High Fantasy
Juvenile
Low Fantasy
Math
Media tie-in (Buffy novels, etc.)
Medieval
Military
Mythic (mythopoeia, mythpunk)
Portal
Power Player
Prehistoric
Quest
Romantic
Science Fantasy
Series
Shenmo
Superhero (accidental, alien, demigod, felix or techie, magical, mutant, spoof, supervillain, etc.)
Sword & Sorcery
Urban Fantasy (law enforcer, nerd outfoxes supernatural)
Urban Parallel
Vampire (Dracula, Nosferatu, sexy youth)
Wuxia
Mystery
Mystery subgenre definitions and examples
Amateur Investigator
Bumbling Detective
Caper (heist)
Child in Peril (woman in peril)
Cozy
Culinary
Doctor Detective
Fair Play
Furry Sleuth
Handicapped {previously called "defective detectives"*}
Hard-boiled (literary, noir, tart noir)
Historical (Chinese, Elizabethan)
Inverted or Howdunit {reader already knows}
Legal (courtroom)
Locked Room or Puzzle
Police Procedural (forensic, futuristic, serial killer, stalker, etc)
Private Detectives (female PI)
Romantic
Serials or Series
Supernatural
Third World
Whodunit
Accidentally Pregnant Amateur Sleuth
♦ My-to-Ro genre definitions and examples
Mythology
Neuronovel
Nouveau roman*
Novela del dictador
Novel of manners* or Roman de mœurs*
New Adult
Pastiche
Philosophical
Picaresque
Postcolonial (postcolonial gothic)
Prehistoric
Prison Literature
Proletarian*
Prompt Stories (designated first line, precise theme, three-six-nine, etc.)
Psychological
Pulp {in magazines, etc.}
Regional
Retail
Roman à clef
Roman a These*
Romantic*
Romance subgenre definitions and examples
Action
Americana
American West (precolumbian)
Baby Love
Bodice Ripper
Christian (Amish, contemporary, historical)
Civil War
Colonial America
Contemporary
Exotic Locales
Family Saga
Futuristic (other planets)
Glitz or Glamor
Gothic
Historical (Elizabethan, Georgian, Medieval, Tudor, Viking, etc.)
Indigenous or Primitive
Inspirational or Spiritual (New Age)
Lesbian
Medical
Men's
Monster
Multicultural
Paranormal
Regency
Romantic Suspense
Romentics
Ruritanian*
Sensual, Spicy, or Romantica
Sweet or Gentle
Time Travel
♦ Sa-to-Ta genre definitions and examples
Saga or Epic (family, *gaweda, mock, roman fleuve)
Satire or Lampoon (burlesque or travesty, farce, Horatian, Juvenalian, parody, etc.)
Science Fiction
SF subgenres A-F definitions and examples
Afrofuturism
Age Regression
Alien Invasion
Alternate Histories
Anthropological
Apocalyptic (asteroid hit, gonzo apocalypse, nuclear war, pandemic, etc.)
Artificial Intelligence
Astrobiology
Astrosociobiology
Bigger Than Worlds
Biopunk
Biorobotics
Christian
Clerical {religious orders}
Communalness
Cosy Catastrophe
Cybernetic Revolt
Cyberpunk {numerous subtypes and spinoffs}
Cyberspace
Cyborg
Detective (robotic police, telepathic investigation, etc.)
Dying Astronaut
Dying Earth
Dystopian (crowded world, gilded cage, jaded society, theocracy, etc.)
Edisonade*
Environmental or Cli-fi
Erotica
Exotic Ecosystems {unusual life forms}
Extraterrestrial Life
Firm Science
First Encounters
First Landings (Mars, other planets; return to Moon)
Frontier (asteroid miners, rough colony, theme park)
SF subgenres G-P definitions and examples
Galactic Empire
Gay
Gendanken
Generation Ship
Gothic
Hard
Historic
Hollow Earth
Hopepunk
Horrific
Hyperspace
Immortality
Invisibility
Kaiju or Monster
Kēhuàn or Chinese
Lesbian
Libertarian
Light or Humorous
Lokapanatti
Lost Worlds (mysterious islands)
Media tie-in (game-based, Star Trek novels, etc.)
Microbiological
Military
Mind Transfer
Multiverse
Mundane
Mythological {advanced technology reduxes}
New Wave
Nanopunk
Occupational (accountants, drivers, plumbers, sales reps, etc.)
Pantropy
Parallel Universe
Pastoral or Small Town
Planes of Existence (altered consciousness)
Planetary Romance
Post-apocalyptic
Postcyberpunk
Posthumanism
Progenitive
Pulp
SF subgenres R-X definitions and examples
Recursive {self-referential}
Religious (alien faiths, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, etc.)
Restored Eden
Retro-futurism
Robot
Science Fantasy
Science Tales
Scientific Romance*
Shapeshifting
Shrinking/Enlarging Humans (endless, episodic, giantess)
Social
Soft
Space Opera (noir)
Space Science Fantasy
Sports
Spunky Heroine
SpyFi
Steampunk (clockpunk, gaslamp or gaslight, weird west, etc.)
Sword and Planet
Synthetic Biology
Terraforming
Third Law
Time Travel (timepunk)
Transhumanism
Undersea
Utopian (19th century visions*, ideological, New Age, etc.)
Voyages Extraordinaires*
Wetware Computer
World-building {unusual solar systems}
World Government
Xenofiction
~~~~~~~
Semi-fiction
Sentimental*
Short Fiction
Short Fiction subgenre definitions and examples
55 Fiction
Drabble
Flash
Microfiction
Pinhead
Six Word
Twitterfic {One Twitter post}
~~~~~~~
Slave Narrative
Slipstream
Speculative Fiction {encompasses SF, Fantasy, and Horror}
Sports
Spy (contemporary, historical)
Stream of Consciousness
Tall Tale
Thriller or Suspense
{Formerly Action}
Thriller subgenre definitions and examples
Aviation
Comedic
Conspiracy
Disaster
Ecothriller
Espionage
Exploration
Legal
Medical
Mercenary
Paranormal or Supernatural
Political
Psychological
Religious
Romantic
Survivalist
Technothriller
Treasure Hunter
♦ Tr-to-Ve genre definitions and examples
Tragedy (revenge, romance, tragicomedy)
Transrealism
Travelogue {fictional account}
Urban or Hip-hop Lit
Upmarket {'literary' to 'blockbuster' crossover}
Verse Novel
Westerns
Western subgenre definitions and examples
Australian
Black Cowboy (buffalo soldier)
Bounty Hunter
Cattle Drive
Civil War
Cowpunk {outrageous cross-genre}
Doctor and Preacher
Eurowestern
Gunfighter
Humorous or Parody
Indian wars
Kidnappings
Land Rush
Lawmen (Texas Rangers)
Mexican wars (Texan independence)
Mormon
Outlaw
Prairie Settlement
Prospecting (gold rushes)
Quest
Railroad
Range wars (sheepmen)
Revenge
Romantic
Town-tamer
Trapper or Mountain Man
Wagon Train
Women
Young Adult
Christian (Jewish)
Fantasy (comedic, scary)
Gay Teen (lesbian, trans, etc.)
Historical
Other
Realistic Life
Science Fiction
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