It’s the birthday of Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), one of the most important American playwrights of the 20th century and a strong political activist. She’s best known for such plays as The Children’s Hour (1934) and Toys in the Attic (1960) and for refusing to capitulate to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. Hellman [...]
It’s the birthday of Gail Godwin (b. 1937), three of whose thirteen novels have been finalists for the National Book Award. She is known for examining the roles of women in society and family and has drawn heavily on her own life when writing about relationships and religious experience. Godwin was born in Birmingham, Alabama. [...]
It’s the birthday of acclaimed author William Styron (1925-2006), whose award-winning novels often stirred controversy and who is probably best known for his final novel, Sophie’s Choice (1979). Styron was born in Newport News, Virginia, an only child; his mother suffered from metastatic breast cancer for years before dying when Styron was 14. As his [...]
It’s the birthday of poet Mona Van Duyn (1921-2004), the first woman to serve as poet laureate of the United States. Her poetry often examines domestic life and married love and is witty, precise yet warm, and full of literary references. (NB: the post of poet laureate of the U.S. was officially established in 1985; [...]
It’s the birthday of novelist Thomas Pynchon (1937), who manages to avoid more journalists by breakfast than most of us will avoid all day. Pynchon’s novels can best be characterized as “weird” (I hope I’m not being too technical). Pynchon was born in Long Island, New York, studied English at Cornell (but took a two-year [...]
It’s the birthday of fiction author Bernard Malamud (1914-1986), who often wrote about Jewish immigrant life in stories that combined fantasy and reality, though his first novel, The Natural (1952, made into a Robert Redford movie in 1984), had no Jewish characters. His stories are often considered fables or morality plays, and his friend Philip [...]