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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Posted on July 22, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the painter Edward Hopper, born in Nyack, New York (1882). By the time he was 12, he was already six feet tall. He was skinny, gangly, made fun of by his classmates, painfully shy, and spent much of his time alone drawing.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, July 21, 2025

Posted on July 21, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Ernest Hemingway, born in Oak Park, Illinois (1899). In July of 1925, he visited Pamplona, Spain, for the Festival of San Fermín, a weeklong celebration that included bullfighting and the famous Running of the Bulls. Hemingway and his wife arrived a few days early to get tickets, and he needed a way to spend the time; so on this day in 1925, on his 26th birthday, he began his first novel.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, July 20, 2025

Posted on July 20, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the Italian humanist, scholar, and poet Francesco Petrarca, better known as Petrarch, born in Arezzo, Italy (1304). He’s usually considered to have lived just before the Italian Renaissance movement in art and literature began, but he was one of the most important influences on Renaissance artists and writers.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, July 19, 2025

Posted on July 19, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day 60 years ago, the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out, The Fellowship of the Ring. It was the sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which came out in 1937. Tolkien had written The Hobbit for his own amusement and didn’t expect it to sell well. It’s the story of Bilbo Baggins — a small, human-like creature with hairy feet — who goes on an adventure through Middle Earth and comes back with a magical ring.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, July 18, 2025

Posted on July 18, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Rolihlahla “Nelson” Mandela, born in Mvezo, South Africa (1918). He was the first member of his family to attend school, and that’s where his British teachers gave him a new name: Nelson. Since childhood, Mandela had heard stories of his ancestors’ courage.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, July 17, 2025

Posted on July 17, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of fiction writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon, who wrote under S.Y. Agnon, born in Galicia in what is now Ukraine (1888). He spoke Yiddish at home, and read Hebrew and German.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Posted on July 16, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of religious leader and writer Mary Baker Eddy, born in Bow, New Hampshire (1821). As a child, she suffered from a spinal ailment and spent much of her life preoccupied by issues of health. She entered a sanitarium in 1862, where she met Phineas P. Quimby, a man who believed in a “science of health” achieved by direct mental healing that had religious overtones. Baker was seemingly cured, but her suffering recurred after Quimby’s death.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Posted on July 15, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today marks the kickoff of the Hemingway Days festival in the Florida Keys. Ernest Hemingway first visited the Keys on his way home from Paris. He fell in love with the little island of Key West, and he spent much of the 1930s there, first renting a place and then buying a house with the help of his in-laws.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, July 14, 2025

Posted on July 14, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Woodrow Wilson — aka “Woody” — Guthrie, born in Okemah, Oklahoma (1912). Woody Guthrie never finished high school, but he spent his spare time reading books at the local public library. He took occasional jobs as a sign painter and started playing music on a guitar he found in the street.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, July 13, 2025

Posted on July 13, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1863 that the New York City Draft Riots began, the bloodiest riot in American history. The rioters were working-class white men, mostly Irish-Americans. They were rioting against a new draft law put into place by President Lincoln, but they were angry about much more than that, and the draft law was just the final straw.

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