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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 23, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 23, 2022

On this date in 1305, William Wallace was executed for treason in London. A Scottish national hero of about 35 years old, his traitors death was written about in “The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I .”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 22, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 22, 2022

Today is the birthday of American novelist Annie Proulx (1935), who won the Pulitzer Prize for her second novel, “The Shipping News.” And, of the prolific science fiction and fantasy writer Ray Bradbury (1920).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 21, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 21, 2022

It’s the birthday of novelist Robert Stone. “”Writing is lonely. […] So, it’s a bad life for a person because it’s so lonely and because it consists of such highs and lows, and there’s not always anywhere to take these emotional states. […] It’s a life that’s tough to sustain without falling prey to some kind of beguiling diversion that’s not good for you.”

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

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

“I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.” –H.P. Lovecraft, born on this day in (1890).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, August 18, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, August 18, 2022

On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote. It is also the birthday of Australian poet, essayist, and literary critic Nettie Palmer (1885), and on this date in 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” was published in the United States.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 17, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Today is the birthday of Ted Hughes, a poet, translator, and children’s writer born in 1930. Hughes said: “The inmost spirit of poetry, in other words, is at bottom, in every recorded case, the voice of pain — and the physical body, so to speak, of poetry, is the treatment by which the poet tries to reconcile that pain with the world.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 16, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 16, 2022

T.E. Lawrence, better known as “Lawrence of Arabia” was born this day in 1888 in Tremadoc, Wales. His book “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” (1926) was an account of his exploits as a military advisor to Arabs in their revolt against the Turks.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 15, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 15, 2022

Poet, playwright, and essayist Mary Jo Salter was born on this day in 1954. She counts Emily Dickinson as one of her poetic models, and considers herself a formalist, working with meter and rhyme rather than free verse, crafting quatrains and sonnets and villanelles.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 14, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 14, 2022

The English novelist John Galsworthy was born on this day in 1867. His series “The Forsyte Saga” was turned into a successful BBC adaptation. 18 million people watched it’s 1968 finale.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, August 13, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, August 13, 2022

Novelist Tom Perrotta celebrates his 61th birthday today. Best known for his 2011 novel “The Leftovers” about life on earth after an event takes some, and leaves billions behind.

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