The eponymous author of a literary work, often a work that is meant to be prophetic or homiletic, is not really the author. An anonymous author chooses to write in the name of another. This eponymous author is not merely a pen name for the real author, but someone with a completely different identity. The author is often

• a real person who is famous, but usually long deceased, whom the author has chosen to achieve recognition or fame for his work. Such a work is said to be pseudepigraphical
  Pseudepigraphy
  Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded; a work, simply, "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past." The word "pseudepigrapha" is the plural of "pseudepigraphon" ; the Anglicized forms...
  
  . For example, Jeremiah
  Jeremiah
  Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
  
   was said to be the author of Lamentations
  Book of Lamentations
  The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
  
  , and Solomon the author of Song of Songs
  Song of songs
  Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
  
  . Most biblical scholars attribute both works to later authors, writing eponymously.
• a fictitious person, cloaking the identity of the real author. The fictitious author is often clearly not a real person. The character of the fictitious author, as perceived by the reader, may itself be a fictional device.
• a fictitious person, even though the identity of the real author is well known. John Updike
  John Updike
  John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
  
   created an interview of himself, conducted by Henry Bech
  Henry Bech
  Henry Bech is a fictional character created by American author John Updike. Bech first appeared in assorted short stories, stories which were later compiled in the books Bech: A Book , Bech Is Back , and Bech at Bay...
  
  , one of his fictitious characters.

Sources

• Sandys-Wunsch, John. What Have They Done to the Bible: A History of Modern Biblical Interpretation. Liturgical Press (2005).