Lajos Egri (1888-1967) was born in Eger, then Austria-Hungary, now Hungary. He is the author of The Art of Dramatic Writing, highly regared as one of the best works on the subject of playwriting, though its teachings have since been adapted for the writing of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Originally published by Simon and Schuster in 1942 as How to Write a Play, it was revised and published as The Art of Dramatic Writing in 1946.