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

Posted on April 21, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Charlotte Brontë, born in Thornton, England (1816). A fellow writer described her as “a tiny, delicate, serious, little lady, with fair straight hair and steady eyes.” Her father was an Anglican clergyman, and she grew up in the small village of Haworth in the moors of West Yorkshire, a place she later described to her publisher as “a strange uncivilized little place.”

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

Posted on April 20, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1841 that the first “detective story” was published: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” by Edgar Allan Poe. In the story, C. August Dupin reads about the murder of a mother and daughter in a Paris street. The police are baffled, and Dupin decides to offer up his services.

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

Posted on April 19, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1927 that actress Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in prison for her starring role in the play Sex, which she also wrote and directed. It was her first Broadway show. Sex got terrible reviews but attracted huge audiences. It had been running for 41 weeks when the police showed up and arrested the cast and crew — although only West was sent to jail.

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

Posted on April 18, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1958 that the U.S. Government dropped its treason charges against the poet Ezra Pound. Pound had been arrested in 1945 because of speeches he had been delivering on Italian radio, in which he praised Mussolini and fascism, and criticized American policy. He was extremely anti-Semitic, blaming the world’s problems on the Jews.

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

Posted on April 17, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the writer who said, “My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.” Thornton Wilder, born in Madison, Wisconsin (1897). His father was a diplomat, so Wilder and his four brothers and sisters moved back and forth between Asia and the United States. His parents were supportive, but sometimes overbearing.

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

Posted on April 16, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Anatole France, born Jacques Anatole Thibault in Paris (1844). His father ran a bookstore called Librairie de France, so when Thibault started publishing, he signed his works “Anatole France” in tribute to his father’s store.

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

Posted on April 15, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Henry James, author of 20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays, and several books of travel and criticism, born in New York City (1843). His father was a friend of Thoreau, Emerson, and Hawthorne, and the family traveled throughout Europe. When James was in his 20s and writing short stories, he moved to Europe because he could live cheaply there and felt at home as an outsider.

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

Posted on April 14, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1912 the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on its way from Southampton, England, to New York City. The ship, on its maiden voyage and carrying more than 2,000 people, was designed with watertight compartments to withstand a head-on or side-impact collision.

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

Posted on April 13, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who invented the game Scrabble. Alfred M. Butts was born in Poughkeepsie, New York (1899). He was an architect, but during the Depression he was out of a job and decided he’d invent an adult game. He classified games into three groups — chance, skill, and a combination of both — and decided that the last was the most promising.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 12, 2025

Posted on April 12, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Gustave Flaubert’s first novel Madame Bovary was published on this day in 1857. The book was almost an instant sensation, in part because of Flaubert’s new painstaking style of Realism, but also due to the sensational trial the book had already starred in. First serialized in a magazine, Madame Bovary — about a woman who has multiple affairs to stave off the boredom of her empty existence — had caught the attention of the law, who charged Flaubert, the magazine’s editor, and the printer with corrupting public morals. They were all acquitted, but the publicity from the trial guaranteed that readers would flock to the book.

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