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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Posted on February 5, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1936, Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times opened in New York City. It was the last film in which his beloved and iconic character “the Little Tramp” appeared, and it was the only film to include Chaplin’s voice.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Posted on February 4, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, born in Breslau, Prussia (1906). He came from a family of Lutheran theologians and pastors and decided when he was 16 that he wanted to study for the ministry. He chose to study at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, February 3, 2025

Posted on February 3, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the artist who said: “I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” That’s Norman Rockwell, born in New York City (1894). He was an awkward, clumsy boy, with pigeon toes and bad eyesight even behind thick glasses. He did push-ups every morning, but remained skinny and weak. He had trouble reading and writing, too.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, February 2, 2025

Posted on February 2, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist James Joyce, born in a suburb of Dublin (1882). He was a cheerful boy called “Sunny Jim” by his family. He spent several years at an expensive Jesuit boarding school, but was forced to leave after his father spent the family’s money on drinking and lost his job. For the remainder of Joyce’s childhood, the family was poor, moving to stay ahead of rent collectors.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, February 1, 2025

Posted on February 1, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet and novelist Langston Hughes, born in Joplin, Missouri (1902). He went to Columbia University for a year, but then he decided that he wanted to learn from traveling instead of books, so he traveled to West Africa and Europe. He moved back to the United States and got a job working as a busboy in a Washington, D.C., hotel, and one day he left three poems he had written next to the plate of the poet Vachel Lindsay.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, January 31, 2025

Posted on January 31, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Norman Mailer, born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1923. He’s the author of more than 30 books, as well as stage plays, screenplays, poems, essays, and reportage. He’s one of the founders of the “New Journalism” movement: nonfiction reporting that reads like fiction. He courted attention, engaging in public feuds and dropping controversial and inflammatory statements at every opportunity.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, January 30, 2025

Posted on January 30, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

And it is birthday of the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born in Hyde Park, New York (1882). His mother, Sara, was in labor with him for more than 24 hours, and the doctor was beginning to fear the worst. He gave Mrs. Roosevelt some chloroform to calm her, and 45 minutes later, young Franklin made his entrance into the world: blue, unmoving, and weighing nearly 10 pounds.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Posted on January 29, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of playwright Anton Chekhov, born in Taganrog, Ukraine (1860). Before he became a playwright and a master of the modern short story, he planned to become a doctor; in fact, he started writing as a way to make extra money to support his family while he was in medical school. He sold some comic sketches to a variety of newspapers in St. Petersburg, and gained a reputation as a good “lowbrow” writer — a skill he inherited from his mother Yevgeniya, who was a gifted storyteller.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Posted on January 28, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was published on this date in 1813. Austen had completed the first draft of the book — which was originally titled First Impressions — by August 1797, when she was 21. Her father queried a London bookseller about publishing the novel.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, January 27, 2025

Posted on January 27, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born in Salzburg, Austria (1756). By the age of five, he was proficient at the violin and piano and had begun composing. In his short lifetime, he composed more than 600 works in almost every genre of the day.

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