John Anthony Bowden Cuddon (June 2, 1928 – March 12, 1996), was an English author, dictionary writer, and school teacher. He is known best for his Dictionary of Literary Terms (published in several editions), described by the Times Educational Supplement as ‘scholarly, succinct, comprehensive and entertaining…an indispensable work of reference.’ Cuddon also wrote The Macmillan Dictionary of Sport and Games, a two million-word account of most of the world’s sports and games through history, as well as several novels, plays, travel books, and other published works. Cuddon's The Owl's Watchsong was a study of Istanbul.