I've been working a lot lately with non-native English speakers on projects that involve collaborative writing. Surprise at how well my teammates take suggestions has gotten me thinking about what role models and advice I can point non-native English speakers to. I'm especially interested in helping my Chinese colleagues recognize the habits from their native language that define their English writing style. Chinese metaphor, idiomatic structure, and adjective usage tend to have a lot of flourish and awkward phrasing that is normally absent in good written English..
The first piece I always point people to is Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language." Getting beyond using strings of pre-cooked phrases to form sentences is difficult enough for native English speakers. I hope non-native speakers have an easier time of it while they're still rapidly acquiring English proficiency
Hunter S. Thompson also makes a good role model. He's up there with Hemingway in terms of clarity and style, but more accessible with his ESPN column. Not that Hemingway isn't the gold standard, his advice was just too terse and short articles are easier to digest than short stories.
I'm sure more will come to mind as time goes on- suggestions are welcome.
