The World's Most Influential People

Time magazine’s fifth annual list of the world's most influential people - leaders, thinkers, heroes, artists, scientists and more – has recently been published. The compilers say that this is not a list of the hottest, most popular or most powerful people, but rather the most influential - the people who shape our world. Three authors and the playwright Tom Stoppard join heavyweights George W. Bush, Oprah Winfrey and The Dalai Lama on the 2008 list. The listed authors are Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth Gilbert and Stephenie Meyer. Hosseini, the author of the bestselling "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns", introduced readers around the world to the people of Afghanistan. Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of "Eat Pray Love; One Woman’s Search for Everything" - a remarkable one-year quest for self-discovery. Stephenie Meyer writes the "Twilight Series" of books about a vampire romance which has proved hugely popular amongst young adult readers.