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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Posted on March 28, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

“A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery.” –Nelson Algren born on this day in 1909.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 27, 2023

Posted on March 27, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the woman who wrote “Happy Birthday to You,” Patty Smith Hill, born in Anchorage, Kentucky (1868). Most of her life was spent as a kindergarten teacher. Her song gained popularity before she copyrighted it. After copyright the song produced about $2 million in licensing revenue for years. In 2015 it finally entered the public domain.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 26, 2023

Posted on March 26, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Robert Frost. Born in 1874, his first poem, “My Butterfly: An Elegy,” was published in the New York Independent in 1894. His final work of poetry was published in 1964, the year after his death, “You Come Too.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 25, 2023

Posted on March 25, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of American short-story writer and novelist Flannery O’Connor, born in Savannah, Georgia (1925). O’Connor had a short life, dying of lupus at the age of 39, but she profoundly influenced literature in the 20th century with dark stories about religion, redemption, sin, and guilt in the American South.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, March 24, 2023

Posted on March 24, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1882, German doctor and microbiologist Robert Koch announced that he had found the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, historically one of the most dangerous and deadly diseases. Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize, in Physiology or Medicine, in 1905 for this work with tuberculosis.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 23, 2023

Posted on March 23, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today marks the first day in 1942 when the U.S. government began moving Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to internment camps. Between 110,000 and 120,000 people were forcibly relocated. Some Japanese-American men were drafted into the War even as their families remained incarcerated. The camps remained open until 1945.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Posted on March 22, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today would have been the 93rd birthday of Stephen Sondheim. The American composer and lyricist was born in 1930 to unhappy people. At 10 years old he made friends with the son of Oscar Hammerstein, and his life changed as Hammerstein took him under his wing. He taught him about lyrics, harmony, the business of the theater, and was responsible for Sondheim being involved in “West Side Story” his first Broadway show.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Posted on March 21, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

The Alabama Freedom March began on this date in 1965. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and 3,200 demonstrators set off on a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest the disenfranchisement of black voters. The marchers traveled about 12 miles a day, and slept in the fields at night. By the time they reached Montgomery on March 25, their numbers had swelled to 25,000. President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — which prohibits racial discrimination in voting — in August, less than five months after the Selma march.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 20, 2023

Posted on March 20, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Emily Dickinson said: “A little Madness in the Spring / Is wholesome even for the King.” Mark Twain said: “It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 19, 2023

Posted on March 19, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of novelist Philip Roth, born in 1933. In 1959, when he was 26 years old he published his first book, a novella and short stories titled “Goodbye, Columbus”. It won the National Book Award. In 1969 he wrote a best seller “Portnoy’s Complaint”, which is entirely made up of a monologue delivered by a patient, Alexander Portnoy, to his analyst.

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