It’s the birthday of author and illustrator Art Spiegelman (b. 1948), whose work Maus (1986) was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, thus establishing that graphic novels could be a serious literary genre. Maus tells the story of Spiegelman’s father, a Holocaust survivor, using cats as Nazis and mice as Jews. Spiegelman [...]
It’s the date on which human rights activist and author Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) used to celebrate his birthday, since his actual birth date was not known and his mother called him “my valentine.” Douglass wrote three autobiographies in his life, including the acclaimed Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1845, revised 1882). Douglass was [...]
It’s the birthday of one of Germany’s most important novelists, Friedrich Christian Delius (b. 1943), who in 2011 won the Georg-Büchner Prize (Germany’s most prestigious literary award) and who should have more novels translated into English because they sound compelling. (But why am I writing about a German novelist you’ve never heard of, you ask? [...]
It’s the birthday of Victorian author George Meredith (1828-1909), known for some brilliant works no one reads anymore, such as The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) and The Egoist (1879), for helping pioneer the psychological novel, and for creating strong female characters treated by their author as true equals. Meredith was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, [...]
It’s the birthday of Jane Yolen (b. 1939), best known for her picture book Owl Moon (1987), which won illustrator John Schoenherr the Caldecott Medal in 1988. Yolen has written over 300 books for both children and adults, which is, you know, more than everybody else combined. Yolen was born in New York City. Her [...]
It’s the birthday of John Grisham (b. 1955), whose legal thrillers have sold about 300 million copies and who is the tenth richest author in the world, worth about $300 million (nice symmetry there). Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and grew up in Southaven, Mississippi. His mother encouraged reading, and he loved Mark Twain; [...]
It’s the birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957, #nicelonglife), whose Little House books based on her memories of life as a pioneer girl have had a huge influence on American ideas about the frontier, contributing to what amounts to a mythology of the West. Wilder was born in Lake Pepin, Wisconsin, where for fun she and [...]
It’s the birthday (possibly) of Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593, #diedtooyoung), who would be considered the greatest Elizabethan poet and dramatist if William Shakespeare hadn’t gotten all grabby about it. Marlowe’s great contribution was his creation of Shakespearean blank verse drama, known as Shakespearean blank verse drama because, well, you know. Marlowe was born in Canterbury, Kent, [...]
It’s the birthday of William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), a writer of the Beat Generation and every bit as much fun as your average Beat Generation author or maybe even a little more so, so let’s get this over with. Burroughs was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His father owned a plate glass company and his [...]
It’s the birthday of Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga (b. 1959), whose 1988 debut novel Nervous Conditions was included in the BBC’s 2018 list of the top 100 books that have shaped the world. (The WORLD, people. So pay attention.) The novel tells the story of Tambu, a teenager in war-torn Rhodesia determined to escape poverty [...]
It’s the birthday of Muriel Spark (1918-2006), best known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) and for writing novels “as slim as stiletto blades—and as deadly” (“The Guardian view on Muriel Spark: gauzy wit and philosophical depth,” editorial, The Guardian, Feb. 1, 2018). Spark was born Muriel Camberg in a suburb of Edinburgh, [...]
It’s the birthday of one of Japan’s most important authors, Kenzaburo Oe (b. 1935), who won Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa Prize for his short story “The Catch” (1957) and who won the Nobel in 1994. His work reflects the disillusionment and ambiguities of his post-WWII generation as well as the difficulties of his own life, including [...]