Writer's Almanac Archives - Garrison Keillor

Albums APHC Clips Audio Events Prairie Home Archives Songs Writer's Almanac

Writer's Almanac

To subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episode email, which includes the unedited text and audio from one daily anniversary episode selected from the archive, click here >>>

To browse archived episodes of The Writer’s Almanac from before 2017, click here >>>

• • • • •

To support The Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episodes newsletter, please consider “buying” a donation here >>>

You can also buy a paid subscription to the Anniversary Episode newsletter here >>>

Checks may be made out to Prairie Home Productions, LLC and mailed to:

Prairie Home Productions
P.O. Box 2090
Minneapolis, MN 55402

(Note: donations to LLCs are not tax-deductible)

• • • • •

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, December 1, 2022

Posted on December 1, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (1835), born in Florida, Missouri. One of the most quotable of authors, Mark Twain said: “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races.”
And “Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain’t so.”
And “Familiarity breeds contempt — and children.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Posted on November 30, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Posted on November 29, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of British novelist, scholar, and poet C.S. Lewis (1898), best known for the Chronicles of Narnia series, seven volumes of stories about young children who find entry to another world through an old wardrobe. They meet a magisterial lion named Aslan who asks for their help in battling evil. Aslan says, “I never tell anyone any story except his own.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 28, 2022

Posted on November 28, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Jon Stewart, born in 1962. He made a name for himself as the host of The Daily Show. He said: “If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values — they’re hobbies. You know, one of the genius moves of The Founders was not writing The Bill of Rights on the back window of a dusty van.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 27, 2022

Posted on November 27, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1786 that Scottish poet Robert Burns borrowed a pony and made his way from his home in Ayrshire to the city of Edinburgh. He had recently published “Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” to raise money to travel to Jamaica. It was an astonishing success and he eventually became one of the most famous poets in the world.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 26, 2022

Posted on November 26, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Author Marilynne Robinson celebrates her 79th birthday today. Robinson is author of the novels “Housekeeping,” “Gilead,” and “Home.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 25, 2022

Posted on November 25, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was born on this day in Scotland in the year 1835. He used his wealth to endow 2811 libraries and charitable foundations, and in purchasing organs for churches “To lessen the pain of the sermons.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 24, 2022

Posted on November 24, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is Thanksgiving day, for which we celebrate words of gratitude from Ralph Waldo Emmerson, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jonathan Safrain Foer.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Posted on November 23, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the 57th birthday of poet, historian, and philosopher Jennifer Michael Hecht. Author of “The Happiness Myth,” “Doubt,” and “Who Said.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Posted on November 22, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist George Eliot, born Mary Anne Evans in Warwickshire, England (1819). Her first novel, “Adam Bede”, published in 1859, was a huge, surprising success. She said: “I’m proof against that word failure. I’ve seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.”

Load next posts