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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.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 21, 2022

Posted on November 21, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet in Paris (1694). He was one of history’s great thinkers and satirists. He spent much of his time annoying people in power. He took the name Voltaire after being imprisoned in the Bastille for almost a year.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 20, 2022

Posted on November 20, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1820, a sperm whale attacked a whaling ship off the coast of South America. The Essex hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, and was captained by George Pollard Jr. Pollard was only 29, the youngest man to ever command a whaling ship. First Mate Owen Chase survived and wrote an count of the event, called “The Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex” the book that eventually inspired “Moby Dick.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 19, 2022

Posted on November 19, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of poet Sharon Olds (1942). She loved writing, and for a while she wrote fiction. She said: “But then when I moved to New York, I realized that I wasn’t comfortable making stuff up. I had had it with angels and demons who (if your faith was strong enough) you believed were in the room with you. I’d had enough of fiction.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 18, 2022

Posted on November 18, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the 82nd birthday of Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood (1939). Her novels, like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Cat’s Eye”, frequently question or criticize social institutions. “I grew up in the woods outside of any social structures apart from those of my family. So I didn’t absorb social structures through my skin the way many children do. If you grow up in a small town you instinctively know who is who and what is what and whom you can safely be contemptuous of.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 17, 2022

Posted on November 17, 2022 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1800, the United States Congress met in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., for the first time. Members of Congress were less than pleased with their new accommodations. Although richly appointed, the building leaked and had no heat.

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