Art and literature
.jpg)
- Helen Andelin (born 1920), author of Fascinating Womanhood
- Maya Angelou (1928–2014), author and poet
- Thomas P. Barnett (1870–1929), architect and impressionist painter
- Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975), painter
- George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879), artist (born in Virginia but moved to central Missouri)
- Edward McKendree Bounds (1835–1913), author and theologian
- Mark Bowden (born 1951), author, journalist
- William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), author
- Kate Chopin (1851–1904), author (The Awakening) and early feminist
- Lester Dent (1904–1959), author of Doc Savage novels
- Suzette Haden Elgin (1936–2015), science-fiction author and linguist
- T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), poet, dramatist and literary critic
- Mary Engelbreit (born 1952), graphic artist, children's book illustrator
- Michael Evans (1944–2005), photographer
- Eugene Field (1850–1895), writer and poet
- Gillian Flynn (born 1971), novelist, television critic
- Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998), novelist, travel writer and journalist
- William Least Heat-Moon (born 1939), author
- Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), science fiction author
- Frederick Hibbard (1881–1950), sculptor known for his works of famous 19th century figures
- Langston Hughes (1902–1967), African-American poet, novelist and playwright
- William W. Johnstone (1938–2004), author of western, horror and survivalist novels
- Donald Judd (1928–1994), artist
- Jim Lee (born 1964), comic book artist and writer
- David Limbaugh (born 1952), columnist, author, political commentator
- Bernarr Macfadden (1868–1955), founder of Macfadden Publications, bodybuilding advocate
- Dennis L. McKiernan (born 1932), author
- Marianne Moore (1887–1972), poet and writer
- Archie Musick (1902–1978), painter and illustrator, associated with the Regionalist movement
- John R. Musick (1849–1901), author and poet, known for the Columbian Historical novels
- Ruth Ann Musick (1897–1974), author and folklorist
- H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962), author, theologian
- Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971), author, theologian, political commentator
- John Ross (born 1957), author
- Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926), artist
- Clay Shirky (born 1964), writer, consultant, lecturer, author of Here Comes Everybody
- Kimora Lee Simmons, fashion model, author, actress
- Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), poet
- Kay Thompson (1909–1998), creator of Eloise children's books
- Mark Twain (1835–1910), born Samuel Clemens, humorist, writer and lecturer
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), writer and author of the Little House series
- Tennessee Williams (1911–1983), playwright (born in Mississippi, grew up in St. Louis)
- Daniel Woodrell (born 1953), author of crime fiction
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)