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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 13, 2023

Posted on March 13, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

A big day for science, March 13 2003 – The journal “Nature” reported the discovery of the oldest known fossilized human footprints, 350,000 years old. And on March 13, 1781, English astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 12, 2023

Posted on March 12, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

March 12th marks the birthdays of poet Naomi Shihab Nye (1952), Playwright Edward Albee (1928), author and publisher Dave Eggers (1970), novelist and journalist Carl Hiaasen (1953), and the author of “On the Road” and 17 other novels, Jack Kerouac (1922).

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 11, 2023

Posted on March 11, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1818 “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus” was published. The novel was first published anonymously, but quickly became a sensation, and when 21-year-old Mary Shelley stepped forward as the author, many were doubtful that such a young woman could have crafted the deeply complex and intriguing story of creation, ethics, and philosophy. Frankenstein is now considered a modern classic, the very first science fiction novel, and became a popular symbol of feminist literature in the 1960s. Mary Shelley went on to write several more novels. She died at the age of 51 from a brain tumor.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, March 10, 2023

Posted on March 10, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the 82nd birthday of American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter David William Rabe. He won a Tony for Best Play in 1972 for “Sticks and Bones” and has been nominated 4 times. David Rabe said: “I get a sentence, an idea, an image, and I start. I don’t know anything beyond it. I follow it.”

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!'”

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