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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 9, 2023

Posted on March 9, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1892 the English poet, novelist, and gardener Vita Sackville-West was born in Kent, England. Sackville-West had a decade-long affair with fellow writer Virginia Woolf. Woolf used her as the inspiration for the androgynous title character of her famous novel “Orlando: A Biography”:. Sackville-West’s son Nigel once referred to the novel as “the longest and most charming love-letter in literature.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Posted on March 8, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

The German astronomer Johannes Kepler discovered the third law of planetary motion on this date in 1618. Known as the Law of Harmonies it compares the motion of different planets. Kepler discovered that the square of a planet’s orbital period is directly proportional to the cube of its average distance from the sun, and the ratio is almost exactly the same for every planet in our solar system.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Posted on March 7, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” was published in The New Republic magazine on this day in 1923. He called it, “My best bid for remembrance.” It is one of the best known and loved poems in all of American literature.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” ends:
“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep./But I have promises to keep,/And miles to go before I sleep,/And miles to go before I sleep.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 6, 2023

Posted on March 6, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on this day in 1806. After Robert Browning, read her poems he sent her an admiring letter as a fellow poet. They eloped when he 40 and he was 34 and ran away to Italy. Over the next few years, Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote her most famous volume of poetry, “Sonnets from the Portuguese”, which included the lines: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 5, 2023

Posted on March 5, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Frank Norris (1870). He is best known for his novels “McTeague” and “The Octopus.” Norris died at the age of 32 of a ruptured appendix, just when he was becoming successful. He’s a favorite son of San Francisco, with an alleyway named for him. Frank Norris Street runs from Polk Street to Larkin Street and is located parallel to and in between Pine Street and Bush Street in the city’s Lower Nob Hill district.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 4, 2023

Posted on March 4, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

John Adams was inaugurated on this date in 1797. He became the second president of the United States, succeeding George Washington in the first peaceful transfer of power between elected officials in modern times.
“A solemn scene it was indeed,” Adams later wrote. “Methought I heard [Washington] think, ‘Ay! I am fairly out and you are fairly in! See which of us will be the happiest!'”

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, March 3, 2023

Posted on March 3, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata was published on this date in 1802. Its real name is the slightly less evocative “Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Opus 27, No. 2,” and its Italian subtitle is translated as “almost a fantasy.” In 1832, five years after Beethoven’s death, a German critic compared the sonata to the effect of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne, and the interpretation became so popular that, by the end of the century, the piece was universally known as the “Moonlight Sonata.” Beethoven himself had attributed the emotion of the piece to sitting at the bedside of a friend who had suffered an untimely death.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 2, 2023

Posted on March 2, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

This day in 1904 of the children’s book author who wrote under the name Dr. Seuss was born. Theodor Geisel published his first book for children, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street”, in 1937. Soon after followed “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Posted on March 1, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation making Yellowstone this country’s first national park on this date in 1872. Yellowstone covers nearly 3,500 square miles, and is home to one of the world’s 30 active super volcanoes. The volcano lies underneath Yellowstone Lake, and it’s responsible for some of the more dramatic of the park’s features, including hot springs, mud pots, and the famous Old Faithful and Steamboat Geysers.

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

Posted on February 28, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the 58th birthday of author Colum McCann, who once said “I think a good novel can be a doorstop to despair. I also think the real bravery comes with those who prepared to go through that door and look at the world in all its grime and torment, and still find something of value, no matter how small.”

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