One of the nice surprises I had after learning Esperanto a while back was that there is a small but vibrant literature of original novels and poetry in Esperant

One of the nice surprises I had after learning Esperanto a while back was that there is a small but vibrant literature of original novels and poetry in Esperanto. Especially in the first half of the 20th century quite a few gems were written. I've been able to read works about life in Russia at the turn of the 19th century, a Czech Jew's experiences during WWI, and a collection of short stories written by Chinese authors shortly after the Cultural Revolution, all without need of a translator. One Esperanto poet, William Auld, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times before he died about a decade ago.