This Day in Literature
| Oct 25 1400: | Commonly accepted date for the death of Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales. | |
| Feb 03 1468: | Death of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of movable type and the modern printing press, in Mainz, Germany, at the age of about 70. | |
| Mar 14 1471: | Death of Sir Thomas Malory, author of Le Morte d'Arthur. | |
| Sep 29 1547: | Birth of Miguel de Cervantes, best known as the author of Don Quixote, in Alcala de Henares, Spain. | |
| Apr 23 1564: | Day traditionally celebrated as the birthday of William Shakespeare, although his date of birth is not known for certain. Coincidentally, it is also St George's Day, St George being the patron saint of England. | |
| Apr 26 1564: | Date recorded for the christening of William Shakespeare, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His date of birth is not known for certain, but presumably was only a few days earlier. | |
| Feb 25 1578: | Birth of Maugan Killigrew, the narrator and central character in Winston Graham's historical novel about the second Spanish Armada, The Grove of Eagles. | |
| Jan 16 1605: | Publication of the first part of Miguel de Cervantes' picaresque novel Don Quixote in Madrid, Spain. This first part was entitled El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha. | |
| Apr 23 1616: | Death of Miguel de Cervantes, best known as the author of Don Quixote, in Madrid, Spain, at the age of 68. | |
| Apr 23 1616: | Death of William Shakespeare, poet and playwright in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, at the age of 52. | |
| Nov 28 1628: | Birth of John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, near Bedford, England. | |
| Feb 23 1633: | Samuel Pepys, diarist, born in London, England. | |
| Jan 01 1660: | First entry in Samuel Pepys' Diary. | |
| May 31 1669: | Last entry in Samuel Pepys' Diary. | |
| Aug 31 1688: | Death of John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, at Snow Hill, near London, England, at the age of 59. | |
| May 26 1703: | Samuel Pepys, diarist, died in Clapham, near London, England, at the age of 70. | |
| Jan 28 1706: | John Baskerville, printer and typographer, born in Luton, England. | |
| Sep 18 1709: | Samuel Johnson, essayist and lexicographer, born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. | |
| Oct 12 1713: | Enoch Root visits Dr Daniel Waterhouse in Boston Common in the opening scenes of Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. | |
| Nov 24 1713: | Laurence Sterne, novelist best known for The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. | |
| Jul 18 1720: | Gilbert White, parson, naturalist and writer of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, born in Selborne, Hampshire, England. | |
| Apr 15 1755: | Publication of Samuel Johnson's magisterial A Dictionary of the English Language. | |
| Nov 28 1757: | William Blake, artist and poet, born in Soho, London, England. | |
| Jan 25 1759: | Birth of Robert Burns, poet, in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. His birthday is celebrated by Scots throughout the world with Burns Night suppers and readings of his poetry. | |
| Mar 09 1763: | William Cobbett, journalist and polemicist, best known as the writer of Rural Rides, born in Farnham, Surrey, England. | |
| Aug 04 1767: | Date of first dated letter (Letter X) in Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. | |
| Mar 18 1768: | Laurence Sterne, novelist best known for The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, died in London, England, at the age of 54. | |
| Aug 15 1771: | Birth of Sir Walter Scott, historical novelist and poet, in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Jan 08 1775: | John Baskerville, printer and typographer, died in Birmingham, England, at the age of 68. | |
| Dec 16 1775: | Jane Austen, novelist, born in Steventon, Hampshire, England. | |
| Mar 10 1780: | Frances Trollope, prolific novelist and mother of the author Anthony Trollope, born in Bristol, England. | |
| Dec 13 1784: | Samuel Johnson, essayist and lexicographer, died in London, England. | |
| Jun 25 1787: | Date of last letter (Letter LXVI) in Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. | |
| Nov 01 1788: | Publication of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, by Gilbert White. | |
| Jul 10 1792: | Birth of Captain Frederick Marryat in London, England. Marryat is remembered as the first writer of sea stories and the author of the children's book, The Children of the New Forest. | |
| Jun 26 1793: | Gilbert White, parson, naturalist and writer of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, died in Selborne, Hampshire, England, at the age of 72. | |
| Jul 21 1796: | Death of Robert Burns, poet, in Dumfries, Scotland. His birthday (January 25) is celebrated by Scots throughout the world with Burns Night suppers and readings of his poetry. | |
| Aug 30 1797: | Mary Shelley, best known as the author of Frankenstein, born in London, England. | |
| Jul 24 1802: | Alexandre Dumas, historical novelist, born near Paris, France. | |
| Jul 05 1803: | George Borrow, novelist and travel writer, born in East Dereham, Norfolk, England. | |
| Oct 14 1803: | Captain Denny is found dead in the woods on the estate in the opening section of P. D. James's crime novel Death Comes to Pemberley, a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. | |
| Mar 31 1809: | Edward Fitzgerald, best known for his translation and free adaptation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, born near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. | |
| Jul 18 1811: | William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, born in Calcutta, India. | |
| Oct 30 1811: | Sense and Sensibility, a novel by Jane Austen, advertised for sale. | |
| Feb 07 1812: | Charles Dickens, novelist, born in Portsea, Portsmouth, England. | |
| Jan 27 1813: | Jane Austen receives a copy of her novel, Pride and Prejudice. | |
| Jan 28 1813: | Publication of Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice. | |
| May 09 1814: | Mansfield Park, a novel by Jane Austen, was advertised for sale; this date is its presumed publication date. | |
| Feb 24 1815: | While acting captain of the merchant ship Pharaon, Edmond Dantès arrives in the port of Marseilles in the opening scene of Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling novel The Count of Monte Cristo. | |
| Apr 24 1815: | Anthony Trollope, prolific novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Jul 12 1815: | Hablot Knight Browne, best known as 'Phiz' and illustrator of many of Dickens' novels, born in Lambeth, London, England. | |
| Apr 21 1816: | Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre, born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. | |
| May 04 1816: | Publication of The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott. | |
| Jun 26 1817: | Birth of Branwell Brontë in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Jul 12 1817: | Henry David Thoreau, essayist and naturalist, born in Concord, Massachusetts, USA. | |
| Mar 18 1817: | Last day that Jane Austen worked on the manuscript of Sanditon. The novel was unfinished at the time of her death four months later. | |
| Jul 18 1817: | Jane Austen, novelist, died in Winchester, at the age of 41. | |
| Jul 30 1818: | Birth of Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Sep 01 1819: | Herman Melville, novelist, born in New York, USA. | |
| Nov 22 1819: | Mary Ann Evans, aka George Eliot, novelist, born in Warwickshire, England. | |
| Jan 17 1820: | Birth of Anne Brontë, author and youngest of the Brontë sisters, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Feb 28 1820: | Sir John Tenniel born in London, England. He was an illustrator, best known for his woodcuts for Alice in Wonderland. | |
| Mar 30 1820: | Anna Sewell, writer best known for the novel Black Beauty, born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. | |
| Nov 11 1821: | Birth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, novelist, in Moscow, Russia. | |
| Dec 12 1821: | Birth of Gustave Flaubert, novelist best known for Madame Bovary, in Rouen, France. | |
| May 26 1822: | Edmond de Goncourt, elder of the Goncourt brothers, diarists and men-about-town, born in Nancy, France. | |
| Jan 08 1824: | Wilkie Collins, novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Apr 24 1825: | Robert Ballantyne, novelist best known for Coral Island, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Jun 07 1825: | R. D. Blackmore, writer best known for the historical novel Lorna Doone, born in Longworth, Oxfordshire, England. | |
| Aug 12 1827: | William Blake, artist and poet, died in London, England, at the age of 69. | |
| Feb 08 1828: | Jules Verne, novelist, born in Nantes, France. | |
| Sep 09 1828: | Leo Tolstoy, writer and philosopher, probably best known as the author of War and Peace, born on the family estate at Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. | |
| Dec 17 1830: | Jules de Goncourt, younger of the Goncourt brothers, diarists and men-about-town, born in Paris. | |
| Oct 15 1831: | Date of Mary Shelley's Preface to the third edition of her novella Frankenstein. | |
| Sep 21 1832: | Death of Sir Walter Scott, historical novelist and poet, in Melrose, Scotland, at the age of 61. | |
| Nov 29 1832: | Louisa May Alcott, writer of children's fiction, best known for Little Women, born in Germantown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| May 21 1838: | The Count of Monte Cristo, newly arrived in Paris, goes to breakfast at the home of Albert de Morcerf, and sets in motion his long-planned revenge in Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling novel The Count of Monte Cristo. | |
| Oct 05 1838: | His vengeance completed, the Count of Monte Cristo sails away from the island, leaving Maximilian Morrel and his soon-to-be wife Valentine de Villefort in possession of his fortune and secret in the closing scene of Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling novel The Count of Monte Cristo. | |
| Mar 03 1839: | Birth of Ellen Ternan, an actress who became Charles Dickens' mistress, born in Rochester, Kent, England. | |
| Jun 02 1840: | Thomas Hardy, novelist and poet, born at Higher Brockhampton, near Dorchester, Dorset, England. | |
| Jan 03 1841: | Herman Melville ships out as a crewman on the whaler Acushnet. | |
| Jun 23 1842: | Herman Melville deserts from the whaler Acushnet on Nuku Hiva, one of the Marquesas Islands in Polynesia. | |
| Apr 15 1843: | Henry James, probably best known as the author of The Portrait of a Lady, born in New York, USA. | |
| Dec 19 1843: | Publication of A Christmas Carol, a novella by Charles Dickens, and arguably his most famous work. The story was published by Chapman and Hall. | |
| Jul 28 1844: | Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet, born in Stratford, Essex, England. | |
| Jun 18 1845: | William Cobbett, journalist and polemicist, best known as the writer of Rural Rides, died in Normandy, Surrey, England, at the age of 72. | |
| Jul 04 1845: | Henry David Thoreau took up residence in his cabin by Walden Pond. | |
| Jul 23 1846: | Either this night or the next (July 24), Henry David Thoreau spent the night in jail Concord, Massachusetts, for refusing to pay his poll tax because he disgreed with the Government's policy on war with Mexico. He was released the next day when, much to his annoyance, his Aunt Maria paid the tax on his behalf. This confinement was a formative experience in the development of his ideas articulated in his essay Civil Disobedience. | |
| Sep 06 1847: | Henry David Thoreau stopped living in his cabin by Walden Pond, and resumed living in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. | |
| Oct 16 1847: | Publication of Jane Eyre, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. | |
| Jan 26 1848: | Henry David Thoreau delivered a public lecture at the Concord Lyceum explaining his views on the citizen's duty of resistence to civil government. After some reworking and expansion, this essay was published in 1849. The best-known version was published in 1866 with the title Civil Disobedience. | |
| Aug 09 1848: | Death of Captain Frederick Marryat in Norfolk, England, at the age of 56. Marryat is remembered as the first writer of sea stories and the author of the children's book, The Children of the New Forest. | |
| Sep 24 1848: | Death of Branwell Brontë in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 31. | |
| Nov 06 1848: | Richard Jefferies, nature writer, born in Coate, Wiltshire, England. | |
| Dec 19 1848: | Death of Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights, in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 30. | |
| May 28 1849: | Death of Anne Brontë, author and youngest of the Brontë sisters, in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 29. | |
| May 30 1849: | Publication of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau. The book was published by James Munroe and Company of Boston, Massachusetts. A thousand copies were printed and Thoreau paid the costs of publication. | |
| Sep 21 1849: | Edmund Gosse, writer probably best known for Father and Son, a memoir of his troubled relationship with his father, born in London, England. | |
| Oct 26 1849: | Publication of Shirley, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. | |
| Nov 13 1850: | Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist and travel writer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Dec 10 1850: | Publication of Wuthering Heights, a novel by Emily Brontë, and Agnes Grey, a novel by Anne Brontë. These were new editions of these works, trading on the success of Jane Eyre. These were posthumous editions and both had an introduction by Charlotte Brontë, in memory of her sisters. | |
| Feb 01 1851: | Mary Shelley, best known as the author of Frankenstein, died in London, England, at the age of 53. | |
| Oct 06 1851: | Mary Ann Evans, aka George Eliot, novelist, meets George Henry Lewes, with whom she lives for twenty-four years. | |
| Oct 18 1851: | Publication of Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, in London, England. This edition was published under the title The Whale. | |
| Nov 14 1851: | Publication of American edition of Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville. | |
| Dec 02 1851: | First entry in the Goncourt Journal, by Jules and Edmond de Goncourt. It records the publication of their first novel, an event which was eclipsed by the coup d'état staged by Louis Napoleon. | |
| Dec 27 1852: | Charles Dickens' first public reading of his own work. He read A Christmas Carol to an audience at Birmingham Town Hall, England. The event was a great success. | |
| Jan 28 1853: | Publication of Villette, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. | |
| Aug 09 1854: | Publication of Walden, an extended nature essay and philosophical treatise by Henry David Thoreau. The book was published by Ticknor and Fields of Boston, Massachusetts. They printed 2000 copies and the book cost one dollar | |
| Mar 31 1855: | Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre, died in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 38. | |
| Jun 06 1857: | Publication of The Professor, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. Although written early in her career, it was not published until after her death. | |
| Dec 03 1857: | Birth of Joseph Conrad, novelist, in Poland. | |
| Aug 15 1858: | Edith Nesbitt, children's writer, born in Kennington, Surrey, England. | |
| Mar 08 1859: | Kenneth Graham, author of The Wind in the Willows, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Apr 09 1859: | Publication of first edition (250 copies printed) of Edward Fitzgerald's translation and adaptation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. | |
| May 02 1859: | Jerome K. Jerome, author of Three Men in a Boat, born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England. | |
| May 22 1859: | Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Dec 19 1861: | Birth of Constance Garnett, translator best known for her work on 19th century Russian novels, in Brighton, Sussex, England. | |
| May 06 1862: | Henry David Thoreau, essayist and naturalist, died in Concord, Massachusetts, USA, at the age of 44. | |
| Oct 06 1863: | Frances Trollope, prolific novelist and mother of the author Anthony Trollope, died in Florence, Italy, at the age of 83. | |
| Dec 24 1863: | William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, died at the age of 52. | |
| Jun 09 1865: | Charles Dickens is involved in a train accident at Staplehurst. Although he was not badly hurt, ten people died in the accident. | |
| Jun 13 1865: | W. B. Yeats, poet, born in Sandymount, County Dublin, Ireland. | |
| Dec 30 1865: | Birth of Rudyard Kipling, novelist and poet, in Bombay, India. | |
| Sep 21 1866: | H. G. Wells, novelist and writer, born in Bromley, Kent, England. A prolific writer in several genres, he is best known for his science fiction novels, especially The War of the Worlds. | |
| May 27 1867: | Arnold Bennett, writer best known for the Clayhanger novels, born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. | |
| Jul 24 1867: | E. F. Benson, prolific writer probably best known for the Mapp and Lucia series of humorously satirical novels, born in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. | |
| Aug 14 1867: | John Galsworthy, author of the Forsyte Saga series of novels, born in Kingston Hill, Surrey, England. | |
| Sep 19 1867: | Birth of Arthur Rackham, artist and book illustrator, in Lambeth, London, England. | |
| Mar 21 1868: | Captain Nemo and the crew of the submarine Nautilus reach the South Pole in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. | |
| Jul 16 1868: | Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone, published in London, England. | |
| Jun 09 1870: | Charles Dickens, novelist, died at Gad's Hill, England, following a stroke the day before, at the age of 58. | |
| Jun 20 1870: | Jules de Goncourt, younger of the Goncourt brothers, diarists and men-about-town, died in Paris at the age of 39. | |
| Dec 05 1870: | Alexandre Dumas, historical novelist, died in France, at the age of 68. | |
| Dec 18 1870: | Birth of H. H. Munro, short story writer, in Akyab, Burma. Munro published under the pen-name Saki. | |
| Jul 10 1871: | Marcel Proust, novelist best known for Remembrance of Things Past, born in Auteuil, on the southern edge of Paris, France. | |
| Oct 08 1872: | Birth of John Cowper Powys, novelist, in Shirley, Derbyshire, England. | |
| Jan 28 1873: | Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, writer better known under the pen name Colette, born in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Burgundy, France. | |
| Jan 25 1874: | W. Somerset Maugham born in Paris, France. Maugham was a travel writer and novelist but is best known for his short stories about British expatriates living in the Far East. | |
| Feb 12 1874: | Edmond de Goncourt describes a visit to Degas's studio where he saw paintings of ballet dancers and washerwomen. | |
| Jun 06 1875: | Thomas Mann, novelist perhaps best known for Death in Venice, born in Lübeck, Germany. | |
| Jul 02 1877: | Hermann Hesse, novelist, born in Calw, Württemberg, Germany. | |
| Sep 02 1877: | D. K. Broster, historical novelist, born near Liverpool, England. | |
| Nov 24 1877: | Publication date of Anna Sewell's novel Black Beauty. The novel became an instant success. | |
| Feb 10 1878: | Jeffery Farnol, writer of Regency romance novels and swashbucklers, born in Aston, Birmingham, England. | |
| Mar 03 1878: | Edward Thomas, poet, born in London. | |
| Apr 25 1878: | Anna Sewell, writer best known for the novel Black Beauty, died in Old Catton, Norfolk, England, at the age of 58. | |
| Jan 01 1879: | E. M. Forster, novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Dec 10 1879: | Birth of E. H. Shepard in St. John's Wood, London. Shepard was an artist and illustrator, who created drawings for the Winnie the Pooh books and The Wind in the Willows. | |
| May 06 1880: | At the age of 61, Mary Ann Evans, aka George Eliot, marries John Cross, a long-time friend who is twenty years her junior. | |
| May 08 1880: | Gustave Flaubert, novelist best known for Madame Bovary, died at Croisset, near Rouen, France, at the age of 58. | |
| Dec 22 1880: | Mary Ann Evans, aka George Eliot, novelist, died in London, England, at the age of 61. | |
| Feb 09 1881: | Death of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, novelist, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the age of 59. | |
| Feb 13 1881: | Eleanor Farjeon, children's author, born in London, England. | |
| Mar 25 1881: | Birth of Mary Webb, Shropshire novelist, in the village of Leighton, Shropshire, England. | |
| Jul 26 1881: | George Borrow, novelist and travel writer, died in Oulton, Suffolk, England, at the age of 78. | |
| Oct 15 1881: | P. G. Wodehouse, prolific writer of comic novels and creator of Jeeves, born in Guilford, England. | |
| Jan 18 1882: | A. A. Milne, writer and creator of Winnie the Pooh, born in Scotland. | |
| Feb 22 1882: | Birth of Eric Gill, typeface designer, in Brighton, Sussex, England. | |
| May 20 1882: | Sigrid Undset, author of historical novels, born in Kalundborg, Denmark. | |
| Jul 08 1882: | Hablot Knight Browne, best known as 'Phiz' and illustrator of many of Dickens' novels, died in Brighton, England, at the age of 66. | |
| Dec 06 1882: | Anthony Trollope, prolific novelist, died in London, England, at the age of 67. | |
| Feb 18 1883: | Nikos Kazantzakis, writer best known for the novel Zorba the Greek, born in Heraklion, Crete. | |
| Jun 14 1883: | Edward Fitzgerald, best known for his translation and free adaptation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, died in Merton, England, at the age of 74. | |
| Jul 03 1883: | Franz Kafka, writer of surreal fiction, born in Prague. | |
| Jan 18 1884: | Birth of Arthur Ransome, author, best known for children's fiction, especially the Swallows and Amazons series, in Headingley, Leeds, England. | |
| Mar 13 1884: | Birth of Hugh Walpole, author of the Herries chronicles, in Auckland, New Zealand. | |
| Jun 29 1884: | Birth of Francis Brett Young, novelist, in Halesowen, near Birmingham, England. | |
| Apr 17 1885: | Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dinesen, best known as the author of the memoir Out of Africa, born in Rungsted, Denmark. | |
| Sep 11 1885: | Birth of D. H. Lawrence, novelist, in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England. | |
| Jan 14 1886: | Hugh Lofting, writer and creator of Doctor Doolittle, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. | |
| Apr 17 1886: | Edmond de Goncourt visits Rodin's studio in Paris and provides a vivid word portrait of the workplace and the sculptor. He saw 'The Burghers of Calais' and 'The Gates of Hell' in unfinished form. | |
| Mar 03 1887: | Publication of the first volume of the Goncourt Journal, edited by Edmond de Goncourt. | |
| Aug 14 1887: | Richard Jefferies, nature writer, died in Goring-by-Sea, Sussex, England, at the age of 38. | |
| Mar 06 1888: | Louisa May Alcott, writer of children's fiction, best known for Little Women, died in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, at the age of 56. | |
| Mar 20 1888: | The first events in A Scandal in Bohemia, the first of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, occur on this night, as Watson pays a visit to Holmes at his Baker Street rooms. | |
| Sep 26 1888: | T. S. Eliot, literary critic and poet, born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. | |
| Dec 21 1888: | Publication of Rudyard Kipling's short story Baa, Baa, Black Sheep in the The Week's News, a supplement to the The Pioneer, a newspaper Kipling worked for in Allahabad, India. The story is a searing fictionalized account of his early childhood. | |
| Feb 10 1889: | Birth of Howard Spring, novelist probably best known for Fame is the Spur, in Cardiff, Wales. | |
| Mar 23 1889: | Birth of Robert Gibbings in Cork, Ireland. He was a sculptor and artist especially known for his wood engraving illustrations of books and was the sometime owner of the Golden Cockerel Press. | |
| Jun 08 1889: | Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet, died in Dublin, Ireland, at the age of 44. | |
| Jul 02 1889: | Edmond de Goncourt describes dining on the platform of the Eiffel Tower, a newly opened attraction for the Universal Exhibition marking the centenary of the French Revolution. | |
| Sep 23 1889: | Wilkie Collins, novelist, died in London, England, at the age of 89. | |
| Sep 25 1889: | C. K. Scott Moncrieff born in Stirlingshire, Scotland. He is best known for his translation of Proust's work under the title Remembrance of Things Past. | |
| Feb 10 1890: | Birth of Boris Pasternak, best known as the author of Doctor Zhivago, in Moscow, Russia. | |
| Sep 01 1890: | Birth of Arthur W. Upfield, author of detective novels set in the Australian outback, in Gosport, Hampshire, England. | |
| Sep 28 1891: | Herman Melville, novelist, died in New York, USA, at the age of 72. | |
| Jan 03 1892: | J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. | |
| Mar 13 1892: | Birth of Janet Flanner, journalist and essayist, in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. | |
| Jun 26 1892: | Pearl S. Buck, novelist whose stories are often located in China, best known for The Good Earth, born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, USA. | |
| Dec 21 1892: | Rebecca West, writer probably best known for Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, born in London, England. | |
| Jun 13 1893: | Birth of Dorothy L. Sayers, best known for mystery novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, in Oxford, England. | |
| Apr 09 1893: | Victor Gollancz, publisher, born in Maida Vale, London, England. | |
| Dec 06 1893: | Sylvia Townsend Warner, novelist, born in England. | |
| Feb 08 1894: | Robert Ballantyne, novelist best known for Coral Island, died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 68. | |
| Sep 13 1894: | J. B. Priestley, novelist perhaps best known for The Good Companions, born in Bradford, England. | |
| Dec 03 1894: | Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist and travel writer, died in Samoa, at the age of 44. | |
| Jul 24 1895: | Robert Graves, novelist and essayist, born in Wimbledon, London, England. | |
| Dec 01 1895: | Henry Williamson, nature writer and author of Tarka the Otter, born in London, England. | |
| May 26 1896: | Publication of the ninth and last volume of the Goncourt Journal. The writer, Edmond de Goncourt, died just six weeks later. | |
| Jul 03 1896: | Last entry by Edmond de Goncourt in his journal; he died 12 days later. | |
| Jul 16 1896: | Edmond de Goncourt, elder of the Goncourt brothers, diarists and men-about-town, died in Champrosay, a suburb of Paris, at the age of 74. | |
| Sep 24 1896: | Birth of F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer probably best known for The Great Gatsby, in St Paul, Minnesota, USA. | |
| Jun 23 1898: | Winifred Holtby, writer best known for the novel South Riding, born in Rudston, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Nov 29 1898: | C. S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series of children's books, born in Belfast, Ireland. | |
| Jan 17 1899: | Nevil Shute Norway, who wrote novels under the name Nevil Shute, born in Ealing, London, England. | |
| Apr 22 1899: | Vladimir Nabokov, novelist, born in St Petersburg, Russia. | |
| Aug 27 1899: | C. S. Forester, writer best known for the Hornblower novels, born in Cairo, Egypt. | |
| Oct 19 1899: | Miguel Angel Asturias, writer perhaps best known for the novel The Green Pope, born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. | |
| Jan 20 1900: | R. D. Blackmore, writer best known for the historical novel Lorna Doone, died in Teddington, Middlesex, England, at the age of 74. | |
| Apr 24 1900: | Elizabeth Goudge, novelist, born in Wells, England. | |
| Dec 16 1900: | Birth of V. S. Pritchett, novelist, in Ipswich, Norfolk, England. | |
| Oct 01 1901: | Publication of Kim, a novel by Rudyard Kipling. | |
| Dec 01 1901: | C. E. Tunnicliffe, naturalist and artist, born in Langley, Cheshire, England. Tunnicliffe is perhaps best known as the illustrator of Tarka the Otter. | |
| Feb 27 1902: | John Steinbeck, novelist probably best known for The Grapes of Wrath, born in Salinas, California, USA. | |
| Aug 16 1902: | Georgette Heyer, writer best known for Regency romance novels, born in Wimbledon, London, England. | |
| Jun 25 1903: | Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell, novelist and essayist, born in Motihari, Bihar, India. | |
| Jul 10 1903: | Birth of John Wyndham, scifi writer, in Dorridge, Knowle, Warwickshire, England. | |
| Jul 14 1903: | Irving Stone, best known as the author of long biographical novels, born in San Francisco, California. | |
| Oct 28 1903: | Evelyn Waugh, writer and novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Jan 23 1904: | Anya Seton, historical novelist, born in New York city, USA. | |
| Aug 27 1904: | Norah Lofts, writer of historical novels, born in Shipdham, Norfolk, England. | |
| Oct 02 1904: | Graham Greene, novelist, born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. | |
| Dec 26 1904: | Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer and novelist, born in Lausanne, Switzerland. | |
| Mar 24 1905: | Jules Verne, novelist, died in Amiens, France, at the age of 77. | |
| May 16 1905: | H. E. Bates, writer and novelist, born in Rushden, Northamptonshire, England. | |
| May 24 1905: | Mikhail Sholokov, author of And Quiet Flows the Don, born in the Ukraine. | |
| Sep 04 1905: | Mary Renault, writer of historical novels, born in Forest Gate, London. | |
| Oct 15 1905: | C. P. Snow, scientist and novelist best known for the 'Strangers and Brothers' sequence, born in Leicester, England. | |
| Dec 21 1905: | Birth of Anthony Powell, novelist best known for 'A Dance to the Music of Time' series, in Westminster, England. | |
| May 29 1906: | T. H. White, best known as the author of The Once and Future King, born in Bombay, India. | |
| Aug 28 1906: | John Betjeman, poet, born in Hampstead Heath, London, England. | |
| Sep 01 1906: | Eleanor Hibbert, who wrote historical novels under the pen name of Jean Plaidy, and also wrote under the names Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr, born in England. | |
| Oct 10 1906: | R. K. Narayan, novelist whose stories were often set in the fictional south Indian town of Malgudi, born in Madras, India. | |
| Dec 13 1906: | Laurens van der Post, journalist, conservationist, and writer, born in Philippolis, South Africa. | |
| Jan 17 1907: | A. W. Wainwright, fellwalker, writer, and artist, born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. | |
| May 13 1907: | Birth of Daphne du Maurier, best known as the author of Rebecca, in London, England. | |
| May 27 1907: | Rachel Carson, ecologist and writer of Silent Spring, born in Springdale, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| May 31 1907: | Peter Fleming, travel writer best known for News from Tartary, born in London, England. | |
| Dec 10 1907: | Rudyard Kipling, novelist and poet, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 09 1908: | Birth of Simone de Beauvoir, writer, philosopher, and feminist, in Paris, France. | |
| Mar 02 1908: | Birth of Olivia Manning, best known as the author of the Balkan Trilogy, in Portsmouth, England. | |
| May 22 1908: | W. G. Hoskins, historian and writer of The Making of the English Landscape, born in Exeter, England. | |
| Jun 30 1908: | Winston Graham, historical novelist best known for the Poldark series, born in Manchester, England. | |
| Aug 21 1908: | M. M. Kaye, best known as the author of romantic historical novels set in India, including The Far Pavilions, born in India. | |
| Sep 19 1908: | Mika Waltari, writer of historical novels, born in Helsinki, Finland. | |
| Feb 18 1909: | Wallace Stegner, environmentalist and novelist, writer of the memoir Wolf Willow, born in Lake Mills, Iowa, USA. | |
| Jul 28 1909: | Malcolm Lowry, novelist best known for Under the Volcano, born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England. | |
| Sep 14 1909: | Peter Scott, son of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott and sculptor Kathleen Bruce, born in London, England. In adult life, Peter Scott became a well known naturalist, wildlife artist, broadcaster, writer, and conservationist. | |
| Aug 09 1910: | Robert van Gulik, best known as the author of the Judge Dee mysteries, born in Zutphen, The Netherlands. | |
| Jul 09 1911: | Birth of Mervyn Peake, writer of the Gormenghast series of surreal novels, in Kuling, central China. | |
| Sep 19 1911: | William Golding, best known as the author of Lord of the Flies, born in Cornwall, England. | |
| Dec 11 1911: | Birth of Naguib Mahfouz, novelist, in Cairo, Egypt. | |
| Dec 22 1911: | Birth of Henry Treece, best known as a writer of historical novels for children, in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England. | |
| Feb 12 1912: | R. F. Delderfield, novelist best known for family sagas set in the west country, born in London, England. | |
| Feb 27 1912: | Lawrence Durrell, novelist best known for 'The Alexandria Quartet', born in Jalandhar, India. | |
| May 03 1912: | Birth of May Sarton, poet and novelist, in Wondelgem, Belgium. | |
| May 28 1912: | Birth of Patrick White, novelist, in London, England. | |
| Jun 24 1912: | Birth of Mary Wesley, novelist, in Englefield Green, Surrey, England. | |
| Aug 10 1912: | Jorge Amado, novelist, born in Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil. | |
| Aug 15 1912: | Julia Child, author of cookery books, born in Pasadena, California, USA. | |
| Feb 27 1913: | Birth of novelist Irwin Shaw in the Bronx, New York City. | |
| Mar 29 1913: | R. S. Thomas, poet, born in Cardiff, Wales. | |
| Jun 02 1913: | Barbara Pym, novelist, born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. | |
| Aug 11 1913: | Angus Wilson, novelist, born in Bexhill, Sussex, England. | |
| Aug 28 1913: | Robertson Davies, novelist and journalist, born in Thamesville, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Sep 28 1913: | Edith Pargeter, aka Ellis Peters, best known as the author of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, born in Horsehay, Shropshire, England. | |
| Nov 07 1913: | Albert Camus, novelist probably best known for The Plague, born in Mondovi, Algeria. | |
| Nov 25 1913: | Birth of Lewis Thomas, physician and essayist, in Flushing, New York, USA. | |
| Dec 12 1913: | George Whitman, owner of the famous bookshop Shakespeare and Company in Paris, born in East Orange, New Jersey, USA, USA. | |
| Jan 26 1914: | Kaye Webb, editor for Puffin Books, born in Chiswick, London, England. | |
| Feb 25 1914: | Sir John Tenniell died in London, England, at the age of 93. He was an illustrator, best known for his woodcuts for Alice in Wonderland. | |
| Mar 13 1914: | Birth of novelist W. O. Mitchell in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. | |
| Apr 25 1914: | Ellen Ternan, an actress who became the mistress of Charles Dickens, died in London, England, at the age of 95. | |
| Jul 15 1914: | Birth of Gavin Maxwell, naturalist, travel writer, and author of Ring of Bright Water, in Elrig, Scotland. | |
| Aug 01 1914: | W. J. Burley, crime writer best known for the 'Wycliffe' series, born in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. | |
| May 10 1915: | Monica Dickens, novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Jun 11 1915: | Saul Bellow, novelist, born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. | |
| Feb 28 1916: | Henry James, probably best known as the author of The Portrait of a Lady, died in London, England, at the age of 71. | |
| Sep 12 1916: | Mary Stewart, novelist, born in Sunderland, County Durham, England. | |
| Oct 03 1916: | James Herriot born in Sunderland, County Durham, England. James Herriot is the pen name of vetinarian and writer James Alfred Wight. | |
| Nov 14 1916: | Death of H. H. Munro, short story writer, killed by a sniper, near Beaumont-Hamel, France, at the age of 45. Munro published under the pen-name Saki. | |
| Dec 17 1916: | Penelope Fitzgerald, novelist, born in England. | |
| Feb 25 1917: | Anthony Burgess, literary critic and novelist, born in Manchester, England. | |
| Apr 09 1917: | Edward Thomas, poet, killed in France at the Battle of Arras, at the age of 39. | |
| Jul 24 1917: | John Hillaby, walker and travel writer, born in Leeds, England. | |
| Sep 17 1917: | Birth of Han Suyin, writer, in Xinyang, Henan province, central China. | |
| Dec 16 1917: | Arthur C. Clarke, scifi author best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, born in Minehead, Somerset, England. | |
| Feb 01 1918: | Birth of Muriel Spark, novelist best known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Dec 11 1918: | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, historian and writer, born in Kislovodsk, Russia. | |
| Jul 15 1919: | Birth of Iris Murdoch, novelist, in Dublin, Ireland. | |
| Oct 22 1919: | Birth of Doris Lessing, author, in Kermanshah, now Iran. | |
| Dec 06 1919: | Eric Newby, travel writer, born in Hammersmith, London, England. | |
| Jan 02 1920: | Official birthdate of Isaac Asimov, scifi author, in Petrovichi, Smolensk, Russia. His actual birthdate is not known. | |
| Mar 03 1920: | Ronald Searle, artist, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for 'St Trinians', born in Cambridge, England. | |
| Mar 25 1920: | Paul Scott, novelist best known for the 'Raj Quartet' and other books set in India, born in Southgate, London, England. | |
| May 09 1920: | Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, born Newbury, Berkshire, England. | |
| Jul 12 1920: | Pierre Berton, journalist and writer of popular books on Canadian history, born in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. | |
| Aug 03 1920: | Birth of P. D. James, crime novelist, in Oxford, England. | |
| Oct 08 1920: | Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series of scifi novels, born in Tacoma, Washington, USA. | |
| Oct 31 1920: | Dick Francis, writer of crime novels, born in Lawrenny, Wales. | |
| Nov 20 1920: | Leo Tolstoy, writer and philosopher, probably best known as the author of War and Peace, died in the stationmaster's house at Astapovo Junction, Russia. | |
| Oct 08 1920: | Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series of scifi novels, born in Tacoma, Washington, USA. | |
| Dec 14 1920: | Mary Sutcliff, historical novelist, born in Surrey, England. | |
| May 12 1921: | Farley Mowat, writer, born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Aug 25 1921: | Brian Moore, novelist, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. | |
| Mar 09 1922: | Gregory Rabassa, translator, born in Yonkers, New York, USA. Rabassa translates from Portuguese and Spanish into English and is probably best known for his translations of some works of Julio Cortázar and Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez. | |
| Jun 25 1922: | Alan Hunter, writer of crime fiction featuring Inspector Gently, born in Hoveton St John, Norfolk England. | |
| Aug 11 1922: | Mavis Gallant, short-story writer, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. | |
| Sep 09 1922: | Pauline Baynes, book illustrator best known for her work on books by C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, born in Hove, Sussex, England. | |
| Nov 11 1922: | Kurt Vonnegut, novelist, born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. | |
| Nov 16 1922: | Writer José Saramago born in Azinhaga, Portugal. | |
| Nov 18 1922: | Marcel Proust, novelist best known for Remembrance of Things Past, died in Paris, France, at the edge of 51. | |
| Jan 23 1923: | Birth of Walter M. Miller Jr, author of A Canticle for Leibowicz, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA. | |
| Jan 31 1923: | Norman Mailer, writer and novelist, born in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. | |
| Mar 27 1923: | Shasaku Endo, novelist, born in Tokyo, Japan. | |
| Apr 21 1923: | John Mortimer, writer and creator of Horace Rumpole, born in Hampstead, London, England. | |
| Jul 24 1923: | William Weaver, translator best known for his work on 20th century Italian novels, born in USA. | |
| Aug 25 1923: | Birth of Dorothy Dunnett, historical novelist, in Dunfermline, Scotland. | |
| Oct 15 1923: | Italo Calvino, novelist, born in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. | |
| Nov 20 1923: | Nadine Gordimer, novelist, born near Johannesburg, South Africa. | |
| Dec 10 1923: | W. B. Yeats, poet, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| May 04 1924: | Edith Nesbitt, children's writer, died in New Romney, Kent, England, at the age of 65. | |
| Jun 24 1924: | Franz Kafka, writer of surreal fiction, died in Vienna, Austria. | |
| Aug 03 1924: | Death of Joseph Conrad, novelist, in Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury, England, at the age of 66. | |
| Sep 04 1924: | Birth of Joan Aiken, novelist and children's writer, in Rye, Sussex, England. | |
| Sep 27 1924: | Birth of Josef Škvorecký, novelist, in Náchod, Czechoslovakia. | |
| Oct 10 1924: | James Clavell, author best known for the Asian Saga, born in Australia. | |
| Nov 21 1924: | Christopher Tolkien, the third son of J.R.R. Tolkien, and the literary executor for his father's papers, born in Leeds, England. | |
| Jan 07 1925: | Gerald Durrell, naturalist, conservationist, and writer, born in Jamshedpur, India. | |
| Feb 04 1925: | Russell Hoban, novelist, born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| Mar 12 1925: | Harry Harrison, scifi writer, born in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. | |
| May 27 1925: | Tony Hillerman, author of mystery novels set in the Four Corners area of US, born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, USA. | |
| May 27 1925: | John Cheever, novelist and short story writer, born in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. | |
| Aug 18 1925: | Brian Aldiss, scifi writer, born in East Dereham, Norfolk, England. | |
| Sep 06 1925: | Andrea Camilleri, writer of crime novels featuring Inspector Montalbano, born in Porto Empedocle, Sicily. | |
| Oct 03 1925: | Gore Vidal, best known as a writer of sprawling historical novels mostly focused on US events, born in West Point, New York, USA. | |
| Dec 29 1925: | Birth of Dudley Pope, writer of nautical fiction, especially the Ramage series, Ashford, Kent, England. | |
| Jan 13 1926: | Michael Bond, writer and creator of Paddington Bear and Monsieur Pamplemousse, born in Newbury, Berkshire, England. | |
| Mar 31 1926: | John Fowles, novelist probably best known as the author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England. | |
| Apr 28 1926: | Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, born in Monroeville, Alabama, USA. | |
| Jul 18 1926: | Birth of Margaret Laurence, novelist, in Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. | |
| Oct 31 1926: | H. R. F. Keating, prolific writer of crime fiction and creator of Inspector Ghote, born in St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England. | |
| Jan 29 1927: | Edward Abbey, best known as the writer of Desert Solitaire, born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| Mar 03 1927: | Nicholas Freeling, writer of mystery novels notably those featuring Inspector Van Der Valk, born in London, England. | |
| Mar 06 1927: | Birth of Gabriel García Márquez, best known as the writer of One Hundred Years of Solitude, in Aracataca, Colombia. | |
| May 07 1927: | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, novelist and screenwriter, born in Cologne, Germany. | |
| Jun 14 1927: | Jerome K. Jerome, author of Three Men in a Boat, died in England. | |
| Jun 26 1927: | Robert Kroetsch, novelist, poet and teacher, born in Heisler, Alberta, Canada. | |
| Sep 29 1927: | Birth of Barbara Mertz, aka Elizabeth Peters, author of the Amelia Peabody mysteries, in Canton, Illinois, USA. | |
| Oct 08 1927: | Death of Mary Webb, Shropshire novelist, in St Leonards-on-Sea, on southeastern coast of England, at the age of 46. | |
| Oct 14 1927: | Dylan Thomas, poet, born in Swansea, Wales. | |
| Oct 16 1927: | Günther Grass, novelist probably best known for The Tin Drum, born in Danzig (now Gdansk), Poland. | |
| Dec 16 1927: | Peter Dickinson, novelist, especially known for mystery novels, born in Africa. | |
| Jan 11 1928: | Thomas Hardy, novelist and poet, died in Dorchester, England, at the age of 87. | |
| Mar 30 1928: | Birth of Tom Sharpe in London, England. Sharpe writes blistering satirical novels. | |
| Apr 24 1928: | Gavin Young, journalist and travel writer, born in Wales. | |
| May 16 1928: | Edmund Gosse, writer probably best known for Father and Son, a memoir of his troubled relationship with his father, died in London, England, at the age of 79. | |
| Jul 16 1928: | Anita Brookner, novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Nov 11 1928: | Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist, born in Panama City. | |
| Dec 10 1928: | Sigrid Undset, author of historical novels, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 06 1929: | Jules Feiffer, cartoonist and illustrator, born in The Bronx, New York, USA. | |
| May 04 1929: | Mystery writer Eric Wright born in London, England. | |
| Jun 02 1929: | Children's author Norman Juster born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. | |
| Jun 10 1929: | Edward O. Wilson, famous for his writings on biodiversity, born in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. | |
| Oct 21 1929: | Birth of Ursula Le Guin, sci-fi and fantasy author, in Berkeley, California, USA. | |
| Nov 18 1929: | Publication of Robert Graves' autobiography and memoir of World War I entitled Goodbye to All That. | |
| Dec 10 1929: | Thomas Mann, novelist perhaps best known for Death in Venice, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Feb 17 1930: | Birth of Ruth Rendell, writer of crime and mystery novels, in London. | |
| Feb 28 1930: | C. K. Scott Moncrieff died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 40. He is best known for his translation of Proust's work under the title Remembrance of Things Past. | |
| Mar 02 1930: | Death of D. H. Lawrence, novelist and poet, in Vence, France, at the age of 44. | |
| May 27 1930: | John Barth, novelist, born in Cambridge, Maryland, USA. | |
| Jul 07 1930: | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, died in Crowborough, Sussex, England, at the age of 71. | |
| Aug 08 1930: | Birth of Barry Unsworth, novelist, in Wingate, County Durham, England. | |
| Aug 17 1930: | Ted Hughes, poet, born in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England. | |
| Sep 29 1930: | Colin Dexter, writer of a series of police procedurals featuring Inspector Morse, born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. | |
| Oct 30 1930: | Timothy Findley, novelist, born in Toronto. Ontario, Canada. | |
| Nov 15 1930: | J. G. Ballard, scifi author and novelist, born in Shanghai, China. | |
| Jan 06 1931: | E. L. Doctorow, novelist, born in New York, USA. | |
| Feb 12 1931: | Janwillem van de Wetering, writer of detective fiction mostly set in Amsterdam, born in The Netherlands. | |
| Mar 02 1931: | Jane Rule, novelist best known for Desert of the Heart, born in Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. | |
| Mar 02 1931: | Tom Wolfe, journalist and novelist, born Richmond, Virginia, USA. | |
| Mar 27 1931: | Arnold Bennett, writer best known for the Clayhanger novels set in the Potteries district of the English Midlands, died in England, at the age of 63. | |
| May 02 1931: | Martha Grimes, detective novelist, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| Jul 10 1931: | Julian May, scifi writer and author of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile series, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. | |
| Sep 22 1931: | Birth of Fay Weldon, novelist, in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England. | |
| Oct 19 1931: | David Cornwell, aka John le Carré, writer of espionage novels, born in Poole, Dorset, England. | |
| Nov 28 1931: | Birth of Dervla Murphy, travel writer, in Lismore, Ireland. | |
| Jan 05 1932: | Umberto Eco, novelist best known for The Name of the Rose, born in Alessandria, Italy. | |
| Mar 06 1932: | Publication of John Cowper Powys's novel A Glastonbury Romance. | |
| Mar 18 1932: | Birth of John Updike, writer and novelist probably best known for the Rabbit series, in Shillington, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| Jul 06 1932: | Kenneth Graham, author of The Wind in the Willows, died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, England. | |
| Aug 17 1932: | V. S. Naipaul, novelist and travel writer, born in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago. | |
| Sep 07 1932: | Malcolm Bradbury, novelist probably best known for The History Man, born in Sheffield, England. | |
| Sep 17 1932: | Robert B. Parker, best known for crime novels featuring Spenser, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. | |
| Dec 10 1932: | John Galsworthy, English author of the Forsyte Saga series of novels, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 31 1933: | Death of John Galsworthy, author of the Forsyte Saga series of novels, in Hampstead, England, at the age of 65. | |
| Aug 25 1933: | Birth of journalist Diana Norman in Devon, England. She wrote historical mysteries under the pen-name of Ariana Franklin. | |
| Sep 21 1934: | Leonard Cohen, poet and singer-songwriter, born in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. | |
| Feb 10 1935: | Julian Rathbone, novelist, born Blackheath, London, England. | |
| Apr 27 1935: | Rosemary Hawley Jarman, historical novelist, born in Worcester, England. | |
| May 29 1935: | André Brink, novelist, born in Vrede, South Africa. | |
| Sep 29 1935: | Winifred Holtby, writer best known for the novel South Riding, died in London, England, at the age of 37. | |
| Dec 01 1935: | George Bowering, novelist and poet, born in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. | |
| Jan 10 1936: | Stephen E. Ambrose, historian and writer, born in Decatur, Illinois, USA. | |
| Mar 07 1936: | Birth of Georges Perec in Paris, France. Perec was an experimentalist writer best known for his novel Life: A User's Manual. | |
| Mar 22 1936: | Edith Grossman born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a translator of Spanish-language novels probably best known for her translation of Don Quixote. | |
| Mar 28 1936: | Mario Vargas Llosa, novelist and essayist, born in Arequipa, Peru. | |
| Apr 03 1936: | Birth of Reginald Hill in West Hartlepool, County Durham, England. Hill is best known for his police procedural crime novels featuring Dalziel and Pascoe.. | |
| Apr 30 1936: | A. E. Housman, poet, died in Cambridge, England, at the age of 77. | |
| Aug 11 1936: | Jonathan D. Spence, writer and historian specializing in the history of modern China, born in Surrey, England. | |
| Aug 24 1936: | Novelist A. S. Byatt born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Mar 08 1937: | Publication of George Orwell's examination of social conditions in the north of England, The Road to Wigan Pier. | |
| Jun 08 1937: | Gillian Clarke, poet, born in Cardiff, Wales. | |
| Jun 18 1937: | Gail Godwin, novelist, born in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. | |
| Sep 21 1937: | Publication of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, published by George Allen and Unwin in London, England. | |
| Dec 17 1937: | John Kennedy Toole, author of the comic novel A Confederacy of Dunces, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. | |
| Dec 19 1937: | J.R.R. Tolkien writes to his publishers, Allen and Unwin, and mentions that he has begun writing a 'new story about Hobbits', the tale that would eventually turn into The Lord of the Rings. | |
| Apr 15 1938: | David Helwig, poet and novelist, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. | |
| May 25 1938: | Margaret Forster, novelist, born in Carlisle, England, UK. | |
| Aug 25 1938: | Frederick Forsyth, writer of thrillers, born in Ashford, Kent, England. Forsyth is best known to Canadians as the author of the short story, The Shepherd, which is broadcast every Christmas Eve on the CBC Radio program As It Happens. | |
| Oct 03 1938: | Jack Hodgins, novelist, born in the Comox Valley, British Columbia, Canada. | |
| Dec 10 1938: | Pearl S. Buck, novelist whose stories are often located in China, best known for The Good Earth, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 28 1939: | W. B. Yeats, poet, died in Menton, France, at the age of 73. | |
| Apr 14 1939: | Publication of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck in USA. | |
| Jun 05 1939: | Margaret Drabble, novelist, born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Sep 06 1939: | Death of Arthur Rackham, artist and book illustrator, near Limpsfield, Surrey, England, at the age of 71. | |
| Nov 18 1939: | Birth of Margaret Atwood, poet and novelist, in Ottawa, Ontario. | |
| Feb 29 1940: | E. F. Benson, prolific writer probably best known for the Mapp and Lucia series of humorously satirical novels, died in London, England, at the age of 72. | |
| May 13 1940: | Bruce Chatwin, novelist and travel writer, born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. | |
| Nov 17 1940: | Death of Eric Gill, typeface designer, in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England, at the age of 58. | |
| Dec 21 1940: | Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer probably best known for The Great Gatsby, in Hollywood, California, USA, at the age of 44. | |
| Feb 19 1941: | Stephen Dobyns, best known as the writer of the 'Saratoga' series of detective novels, born in Orange, New Jersey, USA. | |
| Mar 18 1941: | Isaac Asimov starts writing the classic sci-fi short-story Nightfall, which was published in the September issue of Astounding magazine. | |
| Mar 26 1941: | Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and writer, born in Nairobi, Kenya. | |
| Apr 10 1941: | Birth of Paul Theroux, novelist and travel writer, in Medford, Massachusetts, USA. | |
| May 19 1941: | Birth of Nora Ephron, novelist and screenwriter, New York City, USA. | |
| Jun 01 1941: | Death of Hugh Walpole, author of the Herries chronicles, at Brackenburn, Manesty Park, Derwentwater, Cumberland, at the age of 57. | |
| Jun 10 1941: | Philip Caputo, novelist and journalist, born in Westchester, Illinois, USA. | |
| Aug 11 1941: | Isaac Asimov starts writing a short story called The Encyclopaedists, the first story in the 'Foundation' series, and later the opening chapter in the classic sci-fi novel Foundation. | |
| Sep 10 1941: | Stephen Jay Gould, palaeontologist, biologist, an essayist, born in New York. | |
| Sep 17 1941: | Isaac Asimov receives a cheque for $126 for the sale of his short story called The Encyclopaedists, the first story in the 'Foundation' series, to Astounding magazine. The story later became the opening chapter in the classic sci-fi novel Foundation. | |
| Sep 22 1942: | Gail Bowen, writer of mystery novels set in Saskatchewan, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Sep 29 1942: | Birth of Donna Leon, mystery writer best known for novels set in Venice featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. | |
| Mar 01 1943: | Witold Rybczynski, architect and writer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. | |
| Sep 12 1943: | Michael Ondaatje, novelist, born in Sri Lanka. | |
| May 12 1944: | William Horwood, novelist best known for the Duncton series, born in Oxford, England. | |
| Sep 28 1944: | Birth of Simon Winchester, journalist and non-fiction writer, in London, England. | |
| Oct 27 1944: | Birth of J. A. Jance, writer of crime and mystery novels, in South Dakota, USA. | |
| Dec 29 1944: | Birth of Douglas Porch, military historian, in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. | |
| Jan 06 1945: | Barry Lopez, essayist, nature writer, and fiction writer, born in Port Chester, New York, USA. | |
| Aug 17 1945: | Publication of George Orwell's political satire called Animal Farm. | |
| Nov 24 1945: | Nuruddin Farah, novelist, born in Baidoa, Somalia. | |
| Dec 08 1945: | John Banville, novelist, born in Wexford, Ireland. | |
| Jan 19 1946: | Julian Barnes, novelist, born in Leicester, England. | |
| Mar 22 1946: | Rudy Rucker, cyberpunk novelist, computer scientist and mathematician, born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. | |
| Aug 13 1946: | H. G. Wells, novelist and writer, died in London, England, at the age of 79. A prolific writer in several genres, he is best known for his science fiction novels, especially The War of the Worlds. | |
| Aug 29 1946: | Leona Gom, novelist and poet, born in Fairview, Alberta, Canada. | |
| Nov 26 1946: | Andreas Schroeder, Canadian-based writer, born in Hoheneggelsen, West Germany. | |
| Dec 10 1946: | Hermann Hesse, novelist, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 17 1946: | Death of Constance Garnett, translator best known for her work on 19th century Russian novels, at her home near Edenbridge, southern England, at the age of 84. | |
| Jan 16 1947: | Magdalen Nabb, writer of crime novels featuring Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, born in Church, near Blackburn, Lancashire, England. | |
| Mar 21 1947: | Birth of Michael Dibdin in Wolverhampton, England. Dibdin is best known as the author of crime novels set in Italy and featuring Aurelio Zen. | |
| Mar 24 1947: | Birth of Alan Weisman, journalist and author, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. | |
| May 13 1947: | Stephen R. Donaldson, writer of fantasy novels, especially 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever' series, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. | |
| Jun 08 1947: | Sara Paretsky, writer of crime novels featuring priviate investigator V. I. Warshawski, born in Ames, Iowa, USA. | |
| Jun 19 1947: | Birth of novelist Salman Rushdie in Bombay (now called Mumbai), India. | |
| Sep 26 1947: | Hugh Lofting, writer and creator of Doctor Doolittle, died in Topanga, California, USA, at the age of 61. | |
| Feb 03 1948: | Birth of Henning Mankell, writer of crime novels featuring Detective Kurt Wallander, in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Mar 17 1948: | Birth of William Gibson, author of cyberpunk novels, in Conway, South Carolina, USA. | |
| Jun 21 1948: | Ian McEwan, novelist, born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. | |
| Jul 04 1948: | Katherine Govier, novelist, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. | |
| Aug 24 1948: | Birth of Alexander McCall Smith in Bulawayo, then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. | |
| Sep 24 1948: | Birth of George R. R. Martin, fantasy writer, in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. | |
| Dec 07 1948: | Birth of Mark Kurlansky, journalist and writer of non-fiction books, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. | |
| Dec 10 1948: | T. S. Eliot, literary critic and poet, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 11 1949: | Birth of Adam Zamoyski, historian and writer, in New York City, USA. | |
| Feb 26 1949: | Birth of Elizabeth George, author of complex crime novels, in Warren, Ohio, USA. | |
| May 04 1949: | Birth of Graham Swift, novelist, in London, England. | |
| Jun 08 1949: | Publication of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. | |
| Jun 10 1949: | Sigrid Undset, author of historical novels, died in Lillehammer, Norway, at the age of 67. | |
| Jun 21 1949: | Jane Urquhart, novelist, born in Little Longlac, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Sep 26 1949: | Jane Smiley, novelist, born in Los Angeles, California, USA. | |
| Oct 05 1949: | Peter Ackroyd, novelist, born in London, England. | |
| Jan 21 1950: | Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell, novelist and essayist, died in London, England, at the age of 46. | |
| Feb 07 1950: | D. K. Broster, historical novelist, died in Bexhill, London, England, at the age of 72. | |
| Feb 07 1950: | Birth of novelist Karen Joy Fowler in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. | |
| Mar 17 1950: | Peter Robinson, author of crime novels featuring Inspector Banks, born in Yorkshire, England. | |
| May 30 1950: | M. G. Vassanji, novelist, born in Kenya, Africa. | |
| Oct 27 1950: | A. N. Wilson, novelist and literary biographer, born in England. | |
| Apr 05 1951: | Guy Vanderhaeghe, novelist, born in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada. | |
| Jul 02 1951: | Publication of The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson. | |
| Aug 20 1951: | Greg Bear, scifi novelist, born in San Diego, California, USA. | |
| Oct 22 1951: | Elizabeth Hay, novelist, born in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Oct 31 1951: | UK release of the movie Scrooge, retitled A Christmas Carol for its US release, an adaptation of the short novel by Charles Dickens. The movie featured Alistair Sim in the title role. | |
| Dec 08 1951: | Birth of travel writer and journalist Bill Bryson in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. | |
| Dec 21 1951: | Birth of Fred Stenson in Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada. Stenson writes historical novels set in the Canadian west. | |
| Feb 19 1952: | Nevada Barr, writer probably best known for The Joy Luck Club, born in Oakland, California, USA. | |
| Mar 01 1952: | Nevada Barr, writer of mystery novels featuring Anna Pigeon, born in Yerington, Nevada, USA. | |
| Mar 11 1952: | Douglas Adams, writer of the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series, born in Cambridge, England. | |
| Mar 23 1952: | Birth of Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction writer, in Waukegan, Illinois, USA. | |
| Jun 20 1952: | Vikram Seth, novelist, born in Calcutta, India. | |
| Jul 03 1952: | Birth of Rohinton Mistry, novelist, in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. | |
| Jul 06 1952: | Birth of Hilary Mantel, novelist and literary critic, in Glossop, Derbyshire, England. | |
| Aug 09 1952: | Jeffery Farnol, writer of Regency romance novels and swashbucklers, died in England, at the age of 74. | |
| Apr 20 1953: | Birth of Sebastian Faulks, novelist, in Donnington, Berkshire, England. | |
| Jul 22 1953: | Author Paul Quarrington born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Aug 12 1953: | Great 1953 Ionian Earthquake affects large areas of southwest Greece, including the island of Cephalonia, and impacts the lives of characters in Louis de Bernières' novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin. | |
| Nov 09 1953: | Dylan Thomas, poet, died in Manhattan, USA, at the age of 39. | |
| Mar 28 1954: | Death of Francis Brett Young, novelist, in Cape Town, South Africa. | |
| Jul 06 1954: | Louise Erdrich, novelist, born in Little Falls, Minnesota, USA. | |
| Jul 21 1954: | Publication of The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, the first volume in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. | |
| Aug 03 1954: | Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, writer better known under the pen name Colette, died in Paris, France, at the age of 82. | |
| Aug 15 1954: | Stieg Larsson, crime writer, born in Skelleftehamn, Sweden. | |
| Sep 17 1954: | Publication of Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding. | |
| Nov 07 1954: | Guy Gavriel Kay, writer of fantasy and alternative fiction, born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. | |
| Nov 11 1954: | Publication of The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, the second volume in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. | |
| Dec 08 1954: | Birth of Louis de Berières, novelist best known for Captain Corelli's Mandolin, in London, England. | |
| Aug 02 1955: | Caleb Carr, novelist specializing in stories set in the Victorian era, born in New York, USA. | |
| Aug 12 1955: | Thomas Mann, novelist perhaps best known for Death in Venice, died in Zürich, Switzerland, at the age of 80. | |
| Oct 20 1955: | Publication of The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, the third volume in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. | |
| Oct 26 1955: | Publication of The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson. | |
| Jan 31 1956: | A. A. Milne, writer and creator of Winnie the Pooh, died at the age of 74. | |
| May 14 1956: | Gillian Bradshaw, writer of historical novels and alternate history novels, born in Arlington County, Virgina, USA. | |
| Jun 09 1956: | Patricia Cornwell, author of crime novels, born in Miami, Florida, USA. | |
| Jul 11 1956: | Birth of writer Amitav Ghosh in Calcutta, India. | |
| Aug 24 1956: | Adam Gopnik, cultural commentator and staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. | |
| Jun 03 1957: | Death of Arthur Ransome, author, best known for children's fiction, especially the Swallows and Amazons series, in Cheadle, Manchester, England, at the age of 83. | |
| Jun 26 1957: | Malcolm Lowry, novelist best known for Under the Volcano, died in Ripe, East Sussex, England, at the age of 47. | |
| Oct 26 1957: | Nikos Kazantzakis, writer best known for the novel Zorba the Greek, died in Freiburg, Germany, at the age of 74. | |
| Nov 13 1957: | Stephen Baxter, sci-fi author, born in Liverpool, England. | |
| Dec 10 1957: | Albert Camus, novelist probably best known for The Plague, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 17 1957: | Death of Dorothy L. Sayers, best known for mystery novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, in Witham, Essex, England, at the age of 64. | |
| Jan 19 1958: | Death of Robert Gibbings in Oxford, England, at the age of 68. He was a sculptor and artist especially known for his wood engraving illustrations of books and was the sometime owner of the Golden Cockerel Press. | |
| Dec 10 1958: | Swedish Academy conferred the Nobel Prize in Literature on Boris Pasternak, best known as the author of Doctor Zhivago, even though he had officially refused the honour and was not able to travel to Stockholm for the ceremony. | |
| Oct 31 1959: | Neal Stephenson, writer of lengthy alternate fiction novels, born in Fort Meade, Maryland, USA. | |
| Jan 04 1960: | Albert Camus, novelist probably best known for The Plague, killed in a car crash in the town of Villeblevin, France, at the age of 46. | |
| Jan 12 1960: | Nevil Shute Norway, who wrote novels under the name Nevil Shute, died in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 60. | |
| Apr 28 1960: | Ian Rankin, writer best known for the Inspector Rebus series of crime novels, born in Cardenden, Fife, Scotland. | |
| Apr 29 1960: | Robert J. Sawyer, scifi writer, born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. | |
| May 30 1960: | Death of Boris Pasternak, best known as the author of Doctor Zhivago, in Peredelkino, Russia, at the age of 70. | |
| Jul 11 1960: | Harper Lee's influential novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published in the USA. | |
| Sep 30 1960: | Nicola Griffith, scifi writer, born in Yorkshire, England. | |
| Nov 24 1960: | Matthew Kneale, author of English Passengers, born in England. | |
| Feb 17 1961: | Publication of The Agony and the Ecstasy, a biographical novel about Michelangelo by Irving Stone. | |
| Sep 13 1961: | Birth of Tom Holt, novelust, in London, England. | |
| Oct 16 1961: | Publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, by A. A. Knopf, New York. | |
| Aug 09 1962: | Hermann Hesse, novelist, died in Montagnola, Switzerland, at the age of 85. | |
| Sep 07 1962: | Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dinesen, best known as the author of the memoir Out of Africa, died at Rungstedlund, in Denmark, at the age of 77. | |
| Sep 27 1962: | Publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, one of the most influential books in the environmental and conservation movement in the 20th century. | |
| Dec 10 1962: | John Steinbeck, US writer, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Feb 25 1963: | Thomas Wharton, novelist, born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. | |
| Jun 17 1963: | Death of John Cowper Powys, novelist, in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales, at the age of 90. | |
| Nov 22 1963: | C. S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series of children's books, died in Oxford, England, at the age of 64. | |
| Jan 17 1964: | T. H. White, best known as the author of The Once and Future King, died aboard ship near Greece, at the age of 57. | |
| Feb 13 1964: | Death of Arthur W. Upfield, author of detective novels set in the Australian outback, in Bowral, New South Wales, Australia, at the age of 73. | |
| Apr 04 1964: | Alfred Duggan, author of historical novels, died in Ross-on-Wye, Wales, at the age of 60. | |
| Apr 14 1964: | Rachel Carson, ecologist and writer of Silent Spring, died in USA, at the age of 56. | |
| Jan 04 1965: | T. S. Eliot, literary critic and poet, died in London, England, at the age of 76. | |
| Mar 04 1965: | Novelist Khaled Hosseini born in Kabul, Afghanistan. | |
| May 03 1965: | Death of Howard Spring, novelist probably best known for Fame is the Spur, in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, at the age of 76. | |
| Jun 05 1965: | Eleanor Farjeon, children's author, died in Hampstead, London, England, at the age of 74. | |
| Jul 31 1965: | J. K. Rowling, children's author, born in Yate, Gloucester, England. | |
| Dec 10 1965: | Mikhail Sholokov, author of And Quiet Flows the Don, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 16 1965: | W. Somerset Maugham died at Cap Ferrat, France, at the age of 91. Maugham was a travel writer and novelist but is best known for his short stories about British expatriates living in the Far East. | |
| Apr 02 1966: | C. S. Forester, writer best known for the Hornblower novels, died in Berkeley, California, USA, at the age of 66. | |
| Apr 10 1966: | Evelyn Waugh, writer and novelist, died in Combe Florey, Somerset, England, at the age of 62. | |
| Jun 10 1966: | Death of Henry Treece, best known as a writer of historical novels for children, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. | |
| Sep 24 1966: | Date of the disappearence of Harriet Vanger, the pivotal event in Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. | |
| Nov 30 1966: | Publication of Les Belles Images, a novel by Simone de Beauvoir. | |
| Feb 08 1967: | Victor Gollancz, publisher, died in England, at the age of 73. | |
| Aug 31 1967: | Kenneth Oppel, writer of children's and young adult fiction, born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada | |
| Sep 24 1967: | Robert van Gulik, best known as the author of the Judge Dee mysteries, died in The Hague, The Netherlands, at the age of 57. | |
| Dec 10 1967: | Miguel Angel Asturias, writer perhaps best known for the novel The Green Pope, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Nov 17 1968: | Death of Mervyn Peake, writer of the Gormenghast series of surreal novels, in England. | |
| Dec 28 1968: | John Steinbeck, novelist probably best known for The Grapes of Wrath, died in New York, USA, at the age of 66. | |
| Mar 11 1969: | Death of John Wyndham, scifi writer, in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, at the age of 65. | |
| Mar 26 1969: | John Kennedy Toole, author of the comic novel A Confederacy of Dunces, died in USA at the age of 31. | |
| Apr 23 1969: | Arthur Phillips, novelist, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. | |
| May 28 1969: | Muriel Barbery, novelist, born in Casablanca, Morocco. | |
| Sep 07 1969: | Death of Gavin Maxwell, naturalist, travel writer, and author of Ring of Bright Water, in Scotland, at the age of 55. | |
| Dec 11 1969: | Death of Margaret Irwin, historical novelist, in England, at about the age of 80. | |
| Mar 01 1970: | Publication of The Blessing Way, a Navajo mystery by Tony Hillerman. | |
| Jun 07 1970: | E. M. Forster, novelist, died in Coventry, England, at the age of 91. | |
| Dec 10 1970: | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian historian and writer, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Solzhenitsyn was not able to be present at the ceremony to receive the award in person. | |
| Jun 07 1971: | Publication of Frederick Forsyth's thriller The Day of the Jackal. | |
| Aug 09 1971: | Peter Fleming, travel writer best known for News from Tartary, died in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, England, at the age of 64. | |
| Jun 24 1972: | R. F. Delderfield, novelist best known for family sagas set in the west country, died in Sidmouth, Devon, England, at the age of 60. | |
| Jan 03 1973: | Rory Stewart, writer of books analyzing the political and social situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, born in Hong Kong. | |
| Mar 06 1973: | Pearl S. Buck, novelist whose stories are often located in China, best known for The Good Earth, died in Danby, Vermont, USA, at the age of 81. | |
| Sep 02 1973: | J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, died in Bournemouth, England, at the age of 81. | |
| Dec 10 1973: | Patrick White, Australian novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 29 1974: | H. E. Bates, writer and novelist, died in Little Chart, Kent, England, at the age of 69. | |
| Feb 13 1974: | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, historian and writer, is deported from Russia (then the Soviet Union) and sent to Germany (then the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany), and his Russian citizenship revoked. | |
| Jun 09 1974: | Miguel Angel Asturias, writer perhaps best known for the novel The Green Pope, died in Madrid, Spain, at the age of 75. | |
| Jul 04 1974: | Georgette Heyer, writer best known for Regency romance novels, died in London, England, at the age of 71. | |
| Feb 14 1975: | P. G. Wodehouse, prolific writer of comic novels and creator of Jeeves, died in Remsenburg, Long Island, USA, at the age of 93. | |
| Mar 24 1976: | Death of E. H. Shepard in England at the age of 96. Shepard was an artist and illustrator, who created drawings for the Winnie the Pooh books and The Wind in the Willows. | |
| Jun 17 1976: | Four companions - Harry Boyd, Eleanor Dew, Ralph Cody, and Gwen Symon - leave Yellowknife for a canoe trip down the Thelon River, in Elizabeth Hay's novel Late Nights on Air. | |
| Sep 30 1976: | Publication of The Shepherd, a short story by Frederick Forsyth, that is broadcast every Christmas Eve on CBC Radio's As It Happens. | |
| Dec 10 1976: | Saul Bellow, American novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jul 02 1977: | Vladimir Nabokov, novelist, died in Montreux, Switzerland, at the age of 77. | |
| Aug 13 1977: | Henry Williamson, novelist and nature writer, author of Tarka the Otter, died in England, at the age of 81. | |
| Sep 22 1977: | Publication of Richard Adams's novel The Plague Dogs. | |
| Oct 21 1977: | Publication of Kathleen Paterson's childrens novel Bridge to Terabithia. | |
| Mar 01 1978: | Paul Scott, novelist best known for the 'Raj Quartet' and other books set in India, died in London, England, at the age of 57. | |
| May 01 1978: | Sylvia Townsend Warner, novelist, died in Frome Vauchurch, Dorset, England, at the age of 84. | |
| Jun 12 1978: | Publication of The Private Life of Florence Nightingale, an historical novel by Richard Gordon. | |
| Nov 07 1978: | Death of Janet Flanner, journalist and essayist, in New York City, USA, at the age 86. | |
| Jan 01 1979: | Publication of Sally Hemings, an historical novel by Barbara Chase-Riboud. | |
| Feb 07 1979: | C. E. Tunnicliffe, naturalist and artist, died in Malltraeth, Angelsey, Wales, at the age of 77. Tunnicliffe is perhaps best known as the illustrator of Tarka the Otter. | |
| Aug 26 1979: | Mika Waltari, writer of historical novels, died in Finland at the age of 70. | |
| Sep 13 1979: | Publication of Chopin: A Biography by Adam Zamoyski. | |
| Sep 29 1979: | Publication of Life Before Man, a novel by Margaret Atwood. | |
| Jan 11 1980: | Barbara Pym, novelist, died in Finstock, Oxfordshire, England, at the age of 66. | |
| Apr 24 1980: | Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer and novelist, died in Paris, France, at the age of 76. | |
| May 15 1980: | Publication of Misia: The Life of Misia Sert, a biography by Arthur Gold and Robert Fitzdale. | |
| Jul 01 1980: | C. P. Snow, scientist and novelist best known for the 'Strangers and Brothers' sequence, died in London, England, at the age of 74. | |
| Jul 08 1980: | Publication of The Origin, a biographical novel about Charles Darwin by Irving Stone. | |
| Jul 23 1980: | Death of Olivia Manning, best known as the author of the Balkan Trilogy, in Ryde, Isle of Wight, England, at the age of 72. | |
| Jan 26 1981: | Publication of John Banville's novel Kepler. | |
| Mar 01 1981: | Publication of True Stories, a book of poems by Margaret Atwood. | |
| Mar 08 1981: | Broadcast of the first episode of the BBC's radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. | |
| Mar 16 1981: | Publication of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, by G. B. Edwards. | |
| Jun 18 1981: | Publication of Elena by Judith Egan, a historical novel set at the time of the Russian Revolution. | |
| Jul 10 1981: | Birth of author Karen Russell in Miami, Florida, USA. | |
| Nov 09 1981: | Publication of Funeral Games, an historical novel by Mary Renault. | |
| Jan 01 1982: | Publication of Rudy Rucker's cyberpunk novel Software, the first book in the Ware tetralogy. | |
| Mar 03 1982: | Death of Georges Perec in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, at the age of 45. Perec was an experimentalist writer best known for his novel Life: A User's Manual. | |
| Apr 19 1982: | Publication of The Voyage of the Destiny, an historical novel about Sir Walter Raleigh by Robert Nye. | |
| May 04 1982: | Publication of Wolfnight, a crime novel featuring Castaing by Nicholas Freeling. | |
| Dec 10 1982: | Gabriel García Mârquez, best known as the writer of One Hundred Years of Solitude, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 01 1983: | Publication of Margaret Atwood's book of short stories Bluebeard's Egg. | |
| Mar 12 1983: | Publication of Heartburn, a savagely funny novel by Nora Ephron. | |
| Mar 15 1983: | Rebecca West, writer probably best known for Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, died at the age of 90. | |
| Mar 24 1983: | Publication of The Apostate, an historical novel by Ashley Aasheim. | |
| Apr 09 1983: | Publication of Eagle Song, an historical novel by James Houston. | |
| Sep 10 1983: | Norah Lofts, writer of historical novels, died in England, at the age of 79. | |
| Nov 30 1983: | Publication of Generations: An American Family, a biographical investigation by John Egerton. | |
| Dec 10 1983: | William Golding, best known as the author of Lord of the Flies, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 13 1983: | Mary Renault, writer of historical novels, died in South Africa, at the age of 78. | |
| Feb 21 1984: | Mikhail Sholokov, author of And Quiet Flows the Don, died at the age of 78. | |
| Apr 01 1984: | Elizabeth Goudge, novelist, died in Peppard Common, Oxfordshire, England, at the age of 83. | |
| May 16 1984: | Death of novelist Irwin Shaw in Davos, Switzerland, at the age of 71. | |
| May 19 1984: | John Betjeman, poet, died in Trebetherick, Cornwall, England, at the age of 77. | |
| Jul 01 1984: | Publication of William Gibson's cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. | |
| Aug 14 1984: | J. B. Priestley, novelist perhaps best known for The Good Companions, died in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, at the age of 89. | |
| Sep 13 1984: | Publication of Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard, an account of a young boy in Shanghai, China, in World War II, just before it was over-run by the Japanese. Ballard drew on his own childhood experiences for the novel. | |
| Oct 12 1984: | Publication of The Conquest of the Sahara an account of France's colonial ambitions in North Africa between 1870 and 1910 by military historian Douglas Porch. | |
| Jan 01 1985: | Publication of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale. | |
| Jan 01 1985: | Publication of Susan Kay's historical novel Legacy. | |
| Mar 11 1985: | Publication of The Tenth Man, a novel by Graham Greene. | |
| Mar 27 1985: | Publication of Brian Moore's historical novel about New France, Black Robe. | |
| Sep 19 1985: | Italo Calvino, novelist, died in Siena, Italy, at the age of 61. | |
| Dec 07 1985: | Robert Graves, novelist and essayist, died in Deya, Majorca, at the age of 90. | |
| Feb 11 1986: | Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series of scifi novels, died in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, at the age of 65. | |
| Apr 14 1986: | Death of Simone de Beauvoir, writer, philosopher, and feminist, in Paris, France, at the age of 78. | |
| Apr 24 1986: | Publication of English Country Pubs, an illustrated guide by Derry Brabs. | |
| Jul 12 1986: | Publication of the English language edition of Adieu, Volodya, a posthumous novel by the actor Simone Signoret. | |
| Jul 18 1986: | Publication of Home: A Short History of an Idea, an examination by Witold Rybczynski. | |
| Aug 26 1986: | Publication of Niccolò Rising, the first volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Jan 05 1987: | Death of Margaret Laurence, novelist, in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 60. | |
| Mar 17 1987: | Publication of Gallow's View, the 1st Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Mar 19 1987: | Publication of Knots and Crosses, the first Inspector Rebus novel by Ian Rankin. | |
| Aug 01 1987: | Publication of Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Cure, a gastronomic mystery by Michael Bond. | |
| Jan 11 1988: | Publication of A Dedicated Man, the 2nd Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Mar 12 1988: | Publication of Video Night in Kathmandu, a book of travel essays by Pico Iyer. | |
| Mar 12 1988: | Publication of The Greenlanders, an historical novel by Jane Smiley. | |
| Mar 12 1988: | Publication of The Perón Novel, an historical novel by Tomás Eloy Martínez. | |
| Mar 12 1988: | Publication of the English language version of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. | |
| Apr 05 1988: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Ratking, the first Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| May 01 1988: | Publication of A Great Deliverance, the first Inspector Lynley crime novel by Elizabeth George. | |
| May 12 1988: | Publication of Richard Adams's historical novel Traveller. | |
| Oct 01 1988: | Publication of Margaret Atwood's novel Cat's Eye. | |
| Dec 13 1988: | Mollie Hardwick, mystery writer, died at the age of 88. | |
| Jan 18 1989: | Bruce Chatwin, novelist and travel writer, died in the south of France, at the age of 48. | |
| Mar 14 1989: | Edward Abbey, best known as the writer of Desert Solitaire, died near Oracle, Arizona, USA, at the age of 62. | |
| Apr 19 1989: | Death of Daphne du Maurier, best known as the author of Rebecca, in Cornwall, England, at the age of 81. | |
| Jul 01 1989: | Publication of Letting in the Rumour, a book of poetry by Gillian Clarke. | |
| Jul 25 1989: | Publication of The Hanging Valley, the 4th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Aug 09 1989: | Publication of The Hermit of Eyton Forest, the fourteenth Brother Cadfael mystery by Ellis Peters. | |
| Aug 26 1989: | Irving Stone, best known as the author of long biographical novels, died at the age of 86. | |
| Aug 29 1989: | Sir Peter Scott, son of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott and sculptor Kathleen Bruce, died in Bristol, England, at the age of 79. In adult life, Peter Scott became a well known naturalist, wildlife artist, broadcaster, writer, and conservationist. | |
| Oct 26 1989: | Publication of Race of Scorpions, the third volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Nov 04 1989: | Publication of James Houston's historical novel Running West. | |
| Jan 18 1990: | Publication of Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates, a gastronomic mystery by Michael Bond. | |
| Mar 01 1990: | Publication of A. S. Byatt's novel Possession. | |
| Jun 04 1990: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Vendetta, the second Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Jun 05 1990: | Publication of Caedmon's Song, a novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Aug 01 1990: | Publication of Those in Peril, a crime novel featuring Castaing by Nicholas Freeling. | |
| Sep 30 1990: | Death of Patrick White, novelist, in Australia, at the age of 78. | |
| Nov 06 1990: | Publication of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's biographical novel about Simon Bolivar, The General in His Labyrinth. | |
| Nov 07 1990: | Lawrence Durrell, novelist best known for The Alexandria Quarte', died in Sommières, France, at the age of 78. | |
| Nov 08 1990: | Anya Seton, historical novelist, died in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, USA, at the age of 86. | |
| Jan 20 1991: | A. W. Wainwright, fellwalker, writer, and artist, died in Kendal, England, at the age of 84. | |
| Apr 03 1991: | Graham Greene, novelist, died in Vevey, Switzerland, at the age of 86. | |
| Jun 03 1991: | Publication of Past Reason Hated, the 5th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Sep 01 1991: | Publication of Wilderness Tips, a collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood. | |
| Oct 23 1990: | Publication of Monsieur Pamplemousse Rests His Case, the seventh gastronomic mystery by Michael Bond. | |
| Oct 31 1991: | Publication of Scales of Gold, the fourth volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Jan 11 1992: | W. G. Hoskins, historian and writer of The Making of the English Landscape, died in England, at the age of 83. | |
| Feb 27 1992: | Publication of the brilliant historical novel Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth. | |
| Apr 06 1992: | Isaac Asimov, scifi author, died in New York, USA, at the age of 72. | |
| May 26 1992: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Cabal, the third Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Jul 23 1992: | Mary Sutcliff, historical novelist, died in Arundel, Sussex, England, at the age of 71. | |
| Sep 01 1992: | Publication of Recalled to Life, the 12th Dalziel and Pascoe police procedural novel by Reginald Hill. | |
| Oct 01 1992: | Publication of The Vintner's Art: How Great Wines are Made, by Hugh Johnson and James Haliday. | |
| Dec 01 1992: | Publication of The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson. | |
| Dec 23 1992: | Publication of Nicola Griffith's scifi novel Ammonite. | |
| Dec 25 1992: | Monica Dickens, novelist, died in Reading, England, at the age of 77. | |
| Jan 01 1993: | Publication of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, the first book in the Mars trilogy. | |
| Jan 08 1993: | Eleanor Hibbert, who wrote historical novels under the pen name of Jean Plaidy, and also wrote under the names Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr, died in England at the age of 86. | |
| Apr 13 1993: | Wallace Stegner, environmentalist and novelist, writer of the memoir Wolf Willow, died in Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA, at the age of 84. | |
| Jun 19 1993: | William Golding, best known as the author of Lord of the Flies, died in Cornwall, England, at the age of 81. | |
| Nov 04 1993: | Publication of The Unicorn Hunt, the fifth volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Nov 22 1993: | Anthony Burgess, literary critic and novelist, died in London, England, at the age of 76. | |
| Dec 03 1993: | Death of Lewis Thomas, physician and essayist, in USA, at the age of 80. | |
| Mar 01 1994: | Publication of A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, one of the longest novels in the English language. | |
| Mar 01 1994: | Publication of Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. | |
| Apr 01 1994: | Publication of Moosewood Sandhills, a book of poetry by Tim Lilburn. | |
| Apr 11 1994: | Publication of Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Berières. | |
| Apr 18 1994: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Dead Lagoon, the fourth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Sep 06 1994: | Publication of Field Notes, short stories by Barry Lopez. | |
| Sep 07 1994: | James Clavell, author best known for the Asian Saga, died in Switzerland at the age of 69. | |
| Oct 27 1994: | Publication of Sharon Penman's historical novel When Christ and His Saints Slept. | |
| Jan 30 1995: | Gerald Durrell, naturalist, conservationist, and writer, died at the age of 70. | |
| Feb 23 1995: | James Herriot died in Thirlby, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 78. James Herriot is the pen name of vetinarian and writer James Alfred Wight. | |
| Apr 06 1995: | Publication of Nevada Barr's novel, Ill Wind, the third Anna Pigeon mystery. | |
| May 10 1995: | Publication of Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Danuel C. Dennett. | |
| Jul 16 1995: | Death of May Sarton, poet and novelist, in USA, at the age of 83. | |
| Oct 14 1995: | Edith Pargeter, aka Ellis Peters, best known as the author of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, died in Madeley, Shropshire, England, at the age of 82. | |
| Nov 02 1995: | Publication of To Lie With Lions, the sixth volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Dec 02 1995: | Robertson Davies, novelist and journalist, died in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 82. | |
| Jan 09 1996: | Death of Walter M. Miller Jr, author of A Canticle for Leibowicz, at the age of 72. | |
| Feb 01 1996: | Publication of Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by historian Stephen Ambrose. | |
| Jan 16 1996: | Kaye Webb, editor for Puffin Books, died in Little Venice, London, England, at the age of 81. | |
| Apr 12 1996: | Pulication of David Quammen's fine book about island biogeography, The Song of the Dodo. | |
| Jun 01 1996: | Publication of Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. | |
| Jun 14 1996: | Publication of Innocent Graves, the 8th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Jun 22 1996: | Publication of The Lions of Al-Rassan, an alternate history novel by Guy Gavriel Kay. | |
| Aug 06 1996: | Publication of A Game of Thrones, first volume in A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. | |
| Sep 04 1996: | Publication of William Gibson's cyberpunk novel Idoru. | |
| Sep 07 1996: | Publication of Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace. | |
| Sep 29 1996: | Shasaku Endo, novelist, died at the age of 73. | |
| Oct 02 1996: | Publication of David Cruise and Alison Griffiths's imaginative recreation of The Great Adventure: How the Mounties Conquered the West. | |
| Oct 10 1996: | John Hillaby, walker and travel writer, died in York, England, at the age of 79. | |
| Oct 14 1996: | Publication of The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carré. | |
| Dec 16 1996: | Laurens van der Post, journalist, conservationist, and writer, died in London, England, at the age of 90. | |
| Jan 01 1997: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Cosi Fan Tutti, the fifth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Mar 27 1997: | Death of V. S. Pritchett, novelist, in London, England, at the age of 96. | |
| Apr 15 1997: | Publication of Margaret George's historical novel The Memoirs of Cleopatra. | |
| Apr 25 1997: | Death of Dudley Pope, writer of nautical fiction, especially the Ramage series, at the age of 71. | |
| Jun 30 1997: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first volume in the series. | |
| Aug 11 1997: | Publication of Dead Right, the 9th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Nov 06 1997: | Publication of Caprice and Rondo, the seventh volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Dec 04 1997: | Publication of Julian Rathbone's historical novel The Last English King. | |
| Feb 25 1998: | Death of novelist W. O. Mitchell in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the age of 83 | |
| Jun 03 1998: | Publication of Jeffrey Archer's post-Cold War thriller The Eleventh Commandment. | |
| Jul 01 1998: | Publication of Kim Stanley Robinson's book Antarctica. | |
| Jul 02 1998: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second volume in the series. | |
| Aug 03 1998: | Publication of Stephen Baxter's sci-fi novel Moonseed. | |
| Oct 28 1998: | Ted Hughes, poet, died in Devon, England, at the age of 68. | |
| Dec 01 1998: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel A Long Finish, the sixth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Dec 10 1998: | Writer José Saramago awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 01 1999: | Publication of Voyage to the North Star, an arctic adventure story by Peter Nichols. | |
| Jan 11 1999: | Brian Moore, novelist, died in Malibu, California, USA, at the age of 77. | |
| Feb 08 1999: | Death of Iris Murdoch, novelist, in Oxford, England, at the age of 79. | |
| Apr 26 1999: | Publication of In a Dry Season, the 10th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Jul 08 1999: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third volume in the series. | |
| Sep 01 1999: | Publication of The Martians by Kim Stanley Robinson. | |
| Sep 20 1999: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Blood Rain, the seventh Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Oct 01 1999: | Publication of Sky Humour, a book of poetry by Sid Marty. | |
| Oct 19 1999: | Publication of Barry Unsworth's novel Losing Nelson. | |
| Oct 26 1999: | Publication of Winter Count, short stories by Barry Lopez. | |
| Dec 01 1999: | Publication of The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age by Edmund Blair Bolles. | |
| Dec 10 1999: | Günther Grass, novelist probably best known for The Tin Drum, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Mar 02 2000: | Publication of English Passengers, a historical novel by Matthew Kneale. | |
| Mar 28 2000: | Death of Anthony Powell, novelist best known for 'A Dance to the Music of Time' series, in England, at the age of 94. | |
| Apr 28 2000: | Penelope Fitzgerald, novelist, died in England, at the age of 83. | |
| Jun 06 2000: | Publication of Bill Bryson's book about travelling around Australia, In a Sunburned Country. | |
| Jun 29 2000: | Publication of Gemini, the eighth and final volume in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series of historical novels. | |
| Jul 08 2000: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth volume in the series. | |
| Sep 01 2000: | Publication of Cutter's Island: Caesar in Captivity, an historical novel by Vincent Panella. | |
| Sep 02 2000: | Publication of The Blind Assassin, a novel by Margaret Atwood. | |
| Sep 14 2000: | Publication of Cold is the Grave, the 11th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Aug 08 2000: | Publication of Kings of Albion, an historical novel by Julian Rathbone. | |
| Aug 10 2000: | Publication of One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Scewdriver and the Screw, an extended essay by Witold Rybczynski. | |
| Aug 21 2000: | Publication of The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder, a collection of essays by David Quammen. | |
| Sep 25 2000: | R. S. Thomas, poet, died in Wales, at the age of 87. | |
| Nov 27 2000: | Malcolm Bradbury, novelist probably best known for The History Man, died in England, at the age of 68. | |
| Jan 04 2001: | Publication of The Constant Gardener, a novel by John le Carré. | |
| Jan 18 2001: | Gavin Young, journalist and travel writer, died in London, England, at the age of 72. | |
| Apr 02 2001: | Publication of Joanne Harris's novel Five Quarters of the Orange. | |
| Apr 10 2001: | Publication of Jane Urquhart's novel The Stone Carvers. | |
| May 11 2001: | Douglas Adams, writer of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, died in Montecito, California, USA, at the age of 49. | |
| May 13 2001: | R. K. Narayan, novelist whose stories were often set in the fictional south Indian town of Malgudi, died at the age of 94. | |
| Aug 06 2001: | Jorge Amado, novelist, died in Bahia, Brazil, at the age of 88. | |
| Aug 07 2001: | Publication of The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester. | |
| Sep 01 2001: | Publicatin of The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon. | |
| Sep 04 2001: | Publication of Fury, a satirical novel of New York by Salman Rushdie. | |
| Sep 15 2001: | Publication of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. | |
| Oct 02 2001: | Publication of Aftermath, the 12th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Nov 09 2001: | Death of Dorothy Dunnett, historical novelist, in Scotland, at the age of 78. | |
| Dec 10 2001: | V. S. Naipaul, novelist and travel writer, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 11 2001: | Publication of Stanley Park, a novel by Timothy Taylor. | |
| Jan 22 2002: | Publication of Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. | |
| Apr 01 2002: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel And Then You Die, the eighth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| May 20 2002: | Stephen J. Gould, palaeontologist, biologist, and essayist, dies at the age of 60. | |
| Jun 21 2002: | Timothy Findley, novelist, died in the small town of Brignoles, France, at the age of 71. | |
| Sep 03 2002: | Publication of trade paperback edition of Tears of the Giraffe, the second installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. | |
| Oct 02 2002: | Publication of Diane Smith's epistolatary novel Letters from Yellowstone. | |
| Oct 13 2002: | Stephen E. Ambrose, historian and writer, died in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA, at the age of 66. | |
| Nov 12 2002: | Publication of trade paperback edition of Morality for Beautiful Girls, the third installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. | |
| Nov 15 2002: | W. J. Burley, crime writer best known for the 'Wycliffe' series, died in Holywell, Cornwall, England, at the age of 88. | |
| Dec 30 2002: | Death of Mary Wesley, novelist, in Totnes, Devon, England, at the age of 90. | |
| Jan 01 2003: | Publication of Audubon's Elephant, an account of the artist and his project to publish The Birds of America by Duff Hart-Davis. | |
| Jan 01 2003: | Publication of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, a historical account by Ross King. | |
| Jan 14 2003: | Publication of The Summer that Never Was, the 13th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Apr 01 2003: | Publication of Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester. | |
| Apr 29 2003: | Publication of US hardcover edition of The Kalahari Typing School for Men, the fourth installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. | |
| May 06 2003: | Publication of The Bug, a novel by Ellen Ullman. | |
| May 14 2003: | Publication of The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth's Antiquity, by Jack Repcheck. | |
| May 29 2003: | Publication of The Kite Runner, a novel by Khaled Hosseini. | |
| Jun 21 2003: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth volume in the series. | |
| Jul 08 2003: | Winston Graham, historical novelist best known for the Poldark series, died in London, England, at the age of 95. | |
| Jul 20 2003: | Nicholas Freeling, writer of mystery novels notably those featuring Inspector Van Der Valk, died in Strasbourg, France, at the age of 76. | |
| Aug 07 2003: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Medusa, the ninth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Aug 14 2003: | Publication of Edward P. Jones's novel The Known World. | |
| Aug 19 2003: | Publication of Language Visible: Unravelling the Mystery of the Alphabet from A to Z by David Sacks. | |
| Sep 01 2003: | Publication of Tracy Chevalier's historical novel The Lady and the Unicorn. | |
| Sep 23 2003: | Publication of Quicksilver, the first volume of The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. | |
| Oct 06 2003: | Publication of Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa by Nicholas Shrady. | |
| Oct 16 2003: | Publication of Simon Winchester's non-fiction book The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. | |
| Oct 23 2003: | Publication of Poem for the Day Two, a fine poetry anthology. | |
| Jan 02 2004: | Publication of Playing with Fire, the 14th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Jan 04 2004: | Death of Joan Aiken, novelist and children's writer, in Petworth, West Sussex, England, at the age of 79. | |
| Jan 29 2004: | M. M. Kaye, best known as the author of romantic historical novels set in India, including The Far Pavilions, died in Lavenham, Suffolk, England, at the age of 95. | |
| Mar 01 2004: | Publication of Cassandra & Jane: A Jane Austen Novel by Jill Pitkeathley. | |
| Apr 22 2004: | Publication of Karen Joy Fowler's novel entitled The Jane Austen Book Club. | |
| Jun 01 2004: | Publication of Gillian Clarke's book of poetry entitled Making the Beds for the Dead. | |
| Aug 10 2004: | Publication of Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, and How a 19th Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry by Scott Huler. | |
| Aug 13 2004: | Julia Child, author of cookery books, died in Montecito, California, USA, at the age of 91. | |
| Aug 31 2004: | Publication of The Egyptologist, a novel by Arthur Phillips. | |
| Sep 21 2004: | Publication of The System of the World, third volume of The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. | |
| Nov 09 2004: | Stieg Larsson, crime writer, died in Stockholm, Sweden, at the age of 50. | |
| Nov 09 2004: | Publication of The Children's Blizzard, a historical account of the storm of January 12 1883 by David Laskin. | |
| Nov 16 2004: | Publication Jacquard's Web, a history of punched-card technology by James Essinger. | |
| Nov 30 2004: | Pierre Berton, journalist and writer of popular books on Canadian history, died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 84. | |
| Feb 15 2005: | Publication of Strange Affair, the 15th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Feb 26 2005: | Alan Hunter, writer of crime fiction featuring Inspector Gently, died in Norfolk, England, at the age of 82. | |
| Mar 03 2005: | Publication of Blood from a Stone, the fourteenth Guido Brunetti mystery by Donna Leon. | |
| Apr 05 2005: | Saul Bellow, novelist, died in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA, at the age of 89. | |
| Apr 19 2005: | Publication of Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road. | |
| Apr 26 2005: | Publication of Blackfly Season, the third John Cardinal mystery by Giles Blunt. | |
| Jul 11 2005: | Publication of Oak: The Frame of Civilization by William Bryant Logan. | |
| Jul 16 2005: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, the sixth volume in the series. | |
| Aug 01 2005: | Publication of William Ruddiman's thought-provoking book discussing Plows, Plagues and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate. | |
| Aug 04 2005: | Publication of Michael Dibdin's novel Back to Bologna, the tenth Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Aug 23 2005: | Publication of Jane Urquhart's novel A Map of Glass. | |
| Sep 09 2005: | Publication of Julian Barnes's novel Arthur & George. | |
| Oct 11 2005: | Publication of Margaret Atwood's retelling of the tale of Odysseus from the perspective of his wife, The Penelopiad. | |
| Nov 05 2005: | John Fowles, novelist probably best known as the author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, died in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, at the age of 79. | |
| Apr 13 2006: | Death of Muriel Spark, novelist best known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in Italy, at the age of 88. | |
| Apr 18 2006: | Publication of Marq de Villiers's book Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather. | |
| May 16 2006: | Publication of The Janissary Tree, the first Inspector Yasim mystery by Jason Goodwin. | |
| Jun 19 2006: | Publication of Piece of my Heart, the 14th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Aug 30 2006: | Death of Naguib Mahfouz, novelist, in Cairo, Egypt, at the age of 94. | |
| Sep 26 2006: | Publication of The Library at Night, a rumination by Alberto Manguel. | |
| Oct 20 2006: | Eric Newby, travel writer, died in Guilford, Surrey, England, at the age of 86. | |
| Feb 06 2007: | Publication of Mistress of the Art of Death, a historical mystery by Ariana Franklin, Book 1 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. | |
| Mar 06 2007: | Publication of Medicus, the first Giaus Petreius Ruso mystery by Ruth Downie. | |
| Mar 06 2007: | Publication of The God of Spring, a historical novel by Arabella Edge. | |
| Mar 13 2007: | Publication of Death Comes for the Fat Man, the twenty-second Dalziel and Pascoe mystery by Reginald Hill. | |
| Mar 23 2007: | Publication of Ian McEwan's tenth novel On Chesil Beach. | |
| Mar 30 2007: | Michael Dibdin, author of a series of detective novels featuring Aurelio Zen, died in USA, at the age of 60. | |
| Apr 10 2007: | Publication of Walter Isaacson's biography of Albert Einstein called Einstein: His Life and Universe. | |
| Apr 11 2007: | Kurt Vonnegut, novelist, died in New York, USA, at the age of 84. | |
| Apr 17 2007: | Publication of The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien, as compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. | |
| May 22 2007: | Publication of Khaled Hosseini's second novel of Afghanistan, A Thousand Spendid Suns. | |
| May 29 2007: | Publication of Raven Black, a mystery novel by Ann Cleeves. | |
| Jul 10 2007: | Publication of The World Without Us, an examination by journalist Alan Weisman. | |
| Jul 21 2007: | Publication of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final volume in the series. | |
| Jul 25 2007: | Posthumous publication of Michael Dibdin's novel End Games, the eleventh Aurelio Zen mystery. | |
| Aug 18 2007: | Magdalen Nabb, writer of crime novels featuring Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, died in Florence, Italy, at the age of 60. | |
| Aug 21 2007: | Publication of The Assassin's Song, a novel by M. G. Vassanji. | |
| Sep 04 2007: | Publication of The Twice Born, a novel of ancient Egypt by Pauline Gedge. | |
| Sep 11 2007: | Publication of Friend of the Devil, the 17th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Oct 01 2007: | Publication of Malcolm Hughes's sci-fi novel The Commons. | |
| Oct 16 2007: | Publication of The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin, the second historical mystery novel featuring Investigator Yashim. | |
| Nov 10 2007: | Norman Mailer, novelist and writer, died in New York, USA, at the age of 84. | |
| Nov 27 2007: | Jane Rule, novelist best known for Desert of the Heart, died on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 76. | |
| Dec 10 2007: | Doris Lessing, novelist, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Jan 15 2008: | Publication of Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion- Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin. | |
| Jan 31 2008: | Publication of The Serpent's Tale, a historical mystery by Ariana Franklin, Book 2 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. | |
| Feb 28 2008: | Julian Rathbone, novelist, died in Thorney Hill, Hampshire, England, at the age of 73. | |
| Mar 04 2008: | Publication of Terra Incognita, the second Giaus Petreius Ruso mystery by Ruth Downie. | |
| Mar 18 2008: | Arthur C. Clarke, scifi author best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. | |
| Apr 01 2008: | Publication of Winter Study, the fourteenth Anna Pigeon mystery by Nevada Barr. | |
| Apr 28 2008: | Publication of Writers in Paris: Literary Lives in the City of Light, an examination by David Burke. | |
| Jul 21 2008: | Publication of Cockroach, poems by Rawi Hage. | |
| Jul 31 2008: | Publication of King Driftwood, poems by Robert Minhinnick. | |
| Aug 03 2008: | Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist and writer, died at his home near Moscow, Russia, at the age of 89. | |
| Sep 01 2008: | Publication of the English-language version of Muriel Barbery's novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog. | |
| Sep 09 2008: | Publication of Neal Stephenson's novel Anathem. | |
| Sep 16 2008: | Publication of Ian Rankin's crime novel Doors Open. | |
| Sep 30 2008: | Publication of Nino Ricci's novel The Origin of Species. | |
| Sep 30 2008: | Publication of All the Colours of Darkness, the 18th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Oct 14 2008: | Publication of Sea of Poppies, a historical novel and the first volume in the Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. | |
| Oct 26 2008: | Tony Hillerman, writer best known for mystery novels set in Navajo country, died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the age of 83. | |
| Jan 16 2009: | John Mortimer, writer and creator of Horace Rumpole, died in London, England, at the age of 85. | |
| Jan 27 2009: | John Updike, writer and novelist probably best known for the Rabbit series, died in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, USA, at the age of 76. | |
| Jan 27 2009: | Publication of Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life, a lengthy essay by Adam Gopnik. | |
| Feb 21 2009: | Publication of The Cello Suites, a book about J. S. Bach and Pablo Casals by Eric Siblin. | |
| Mar 03 2009: | Publication of Paths of Glory, Jeffery Archer's biographical novel about mountain climber George Mallory. | |
| Mar 19 2009: | Publication of Grave Goods, a historical mystery by Ariana Franklin, Book 3 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. | |
| Mar 28 2009: | Publication of Who Killed Jackie Bates? Murder and Mercy During the Great Depression, an examination by historian Bill Waiser of a 1933 murder in central Saskatchewan. | |
| Apr 19 2009: | Death of J. G. Ballard, sci-fi writer, in London, England, at the age of 78. | |
| May 14 2009: | Publication of Lords of the Sea by John Hale, a history of Athenian naval power between the battle of Salamis (480 BC) and the take-over of the port of Piraeus by the Macedonians in 322 BC. | |
| Jul 07 2009: | Publication of Persona Non Grata, the third Giaus Petreius Ruso mystery by Ruth Downie. | |
| Aug 24 2009: | Publication of Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier's historical novel about Mary Anning. | |
| Sep 04 2009: | Publication of The Players, an historical novel by Margaret Sweatman. | |
| Oct 20 2009: | Publication of The Vintage Caper, a frothy mystery novel by Peter Mayle. | |
| Dec 01 2009: | Publication of Greg Mortensen's account of his work in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Stones into Schools | |
| Jan 18 2010: | Robert B. Parker, best known for crime novels featuring Spenser, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, at the age of 77. | |
| Jan 21 2010: | Author Paul Quarrington died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 56. | |
| Feb 14 2010: | Dick Francis, writer of crime novels, died in Grand Cayman at the age of 89. | |
| Mar 02 2010: | Publication of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, a delightful novel by Helen Simonson. | |
| Mar 30 2010: | Publication of Curiosity, Joan Thomas's fine historical novel about Mary Anning. | |
| Apr 01 2010: | Publication of A Murderous Procession, a historical mystery by Ariana Franklin, Book 4 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. | |
| Apr 06 2010: | Publication of A River in the Sky, the 19th Amelia Peabody mystery by Elizabeth Peters. | |
| May 04 2010: | Publication of Jane Smiley's novel Private Life. | |
| Jun 18 2010: | Writer José Saramago died in Tías, Las Palmas, Spain, at the age of 87. | |
| Jul 15 2010: | Publication of Andrew Fowles's historical novel Necessary Things. | |
| Jul 27 2010: | Publication of Carl Hiaasen's crime novel Star Island. | |
| Jul 27 2010: | Publication of J. A. Jance's crime novel Queen of the Night. | |
| Aug 10 2010: | Publication of Crime Machine, the fifth John Cardinal crime novel by Giles Blunt. | |
| Aug 17 2010: | Publication of Frederick Forysth's thriller The Cobra. | |
| Aug 26 2010: | Publication of Saskatchewan writer Byrna Barclay's novel The Forest Horses. | |
| Sep 01 2010: | Publication of Eric Wright's eighteenth mystery novel A Likely Story. | |
| Sep 01 2010: | Publication of Ann Birch's historical novel Settlement. | |
| Sep 07 2010: | Publication of William Gibson's novel Zero History. | |
| Sep 07 2010: | Publication of Frederick Ruess's novel The Geography of Secrets. | |
| Sep 08 2010: | Posthumous publication of José Saramago's novel The Elephant's Journey. | |
| Sep 13 2010: | Publication of Room, a novel of captivity by Emma Donoghue. | |
| Sep 14 2010: | Publication of Robert Cording's book of poetry entitled Walking with Ruskin. | |
| Sep 14 2010: | Publication of Snakewoman of Little Egypt, a novel by Robert Hellenga. | |
| Sep 14 2010: | Publication of Bad Boy, the 19th Insepector Banks novel by Peter Robinson. | |
| Sep 28 2010: | Publication of Years of Red Dust, short stories set in Shanghai, China, by Qiu Xiaolong. | |
| Oct 01 2010: | Publication of Brian Doyle's novel of the Oregon coast, Mink River. | |
| Oct 01 2010: | Publication of Two O'Clock Creek: Poems New and Selected by Brian Hunter. | |
| Nov 02 2010: | Publication of Simon Winchester's non-fiction book Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. | |
| Dec 10 2010: | Mario Vargas Llosa, novelist, presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
| Dec 21 2010: | Publication of Caveat Emptor, the fourth Giaus Petreius Ruso mystery by Ruth Downie. | |
| Jan 27 2011: | Death of journalist Diana Norman in England, at the age of 77. She wrote historical mysteries under the pen-name of Ariana Franklin. | |
| Mar 27 2011: | H. R. F. Keating, prolific writer of crime fiction and creator of Inspector Ghote, died in England, at the age of 84. | |
| Mar 29 2011: | Publication of the English language version of The Troubled Man, the 13th Kurt Wallander detective novel by Henning Mankell. | |
| Apr 19 2011: | Posthumous publication of The Monkey's Wedding and Other Stories, a collection of quirky short stories by Joan Aiken. | |
| Apr 19 2011: | Publication of Leaving Van Gogh, a novel by Carol Wallace about the last months of the artist's life as seen through the eyes of Dr Gachet. | |
| May 31 2011: | Publication of Dreams of Joy, a novel of China by Lisa See. | |
| Jun 21 2011: | Robert Kroetsch, novelist, poet and teacher, died near Leduc, Alberta, Canada, at the age of 83. | |
| Aug 02 2011: | Publication of Season of Darkness, a mystery novel by Maureen Jennings which is set in WWII Shropshire. | |
| Nov 03 2011: | Publication of Death Comes to Pemberley, P. D. James's crime novel featuring the characters and locale from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejuice. | |
| Dec 14 2011: | George Whitman, owner of the famous bookshop Shakespeare and Company, died in his home above the shop in Paris, France, at the age of 98. | |
| Dec 30 2011: | Ronald Searle, artist, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for 'St Trinians', died in Draguignan, Provence, France, at the age of 91. | |
| Jan 03 2012: | Death of Josef Škvorecký, novelist, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 87. |
This is a purely idiosyncratic list. It includes information, factoids really, about writers, essayists, and poets
whose work I have, mostly, enjoyed through the years.
This presentation has been compiled and is © 1998-2011
by
Alwynne B. Beaudoin (bluebulrush@gmail.com)
Last updated July 30, 2011
You are visitor #874
Alwynne B. Beaudoin (bluebulrush@gmail.com)
Last updated July 30, 2011
You are visitor #874
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