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Writer's Almanac

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Today the birthday of fiction author Andrea Barrett (1954). She said: “I’ve never known a writer who didn’t feel ill at ease in the world. … We all feel unhoused in some sense. That’s part of why we write. We feel we don’t fit in, that this world is not our world, that though we may move in it, we’re not of it. … You don’t need to write a novel if you feel at home in the world.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 15, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Today is the birthday of both artist Georgia O’Keeffe and poet Marianne Moore. Two American women who excelled in their artistic fields. both born in the year 1887.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 14, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 14, 2022

Today is the birthday of Claude Monet. He was born in Paris (1840) and was among the first European painters to take their canvases outside to paint directly from nature. “I am following Nature without being able to grasp her. I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 13, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, November 13, 2022

Writer Robert Louis Stevenson was born on this day in Edinburgh (1850). His books include “Treasure Island,” “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and “Kidnapped.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 12, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, November 12, 2022

Today is the birthday of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815), the American feminist, women’s rights pioneer, and abolitionist who, with fellow suffragist Susan B. Anthony, worked tirelessly to convince the world that women had the right to vote, purchase property, and divorce their husbands if they so chose.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 11, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, November 11, 2022

It’s the birthday of writer Kurt Vonnegut (1922) author of “Cat’s Cradle” and “Slaughterhouse-Five.” It’s also the birthday of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821) author of “Crime and Punishment” and “The Brothers Karamazov.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 10, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, November 10, 2022

Today is the birthday of Martin Luther, born in Eisleben, Saxony, in what is now Germany (1483). He was a theologian, a prolific writer, and a religious reformer that sparked the Protestant Reformation.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 9, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, November 9, 2022

“I wonder if the artist ever lives his life — he is so busy recreating it. Only as I write do I realize myself. I don’t know what that does to life.” –poet Anne Sexton, born on this day in 1928.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 8, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Today is Election Day in the United States. It is also the birth date of American social activist and journalist Dorothy Day (1897), Indian novelist Raja Rao (1908), and American novelist Margaret Mitchell (1936).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 7, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, November 7, 2022

Today is the 79th birthday of Canadian singer songwriter and painter Joni Mitchell. Despite contracting polio at age 9 she’s had a legendary career as an artist and continues to perform music to this day.

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