Austin Warren (July 4, 1899 – 1986) was an American literary critic.

With René Wellek, he authored the landmark classic Theory of Literature, which was published in 1949.

He grew up on a lonely farm in Massachusetts and went to a school where he learned to hate even Shakespeare. He entered college without enthusiasm, and studied at Wesleyan, Harvard, and Princeton.

He taught in the English department of the University of Michigan