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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Posted on February 11, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1990 that Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison, outside Cape Town, South Africa. He had been imprisoned for 27 years because of his involvement with the African National Congress. The ANC was the main group resisting the apartheid government, and after decades of nonviolence, some members of the group — including Mandela — had begun advocating violence as the only way to deal with the brutal and violent tactics of the government.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, February 10, 2025

Posted on February 10, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht, born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht in Augsburg, Bavaria (1898). He studied philosophy, drama and medicine at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where he first experimented with writing poetry and plays.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, February 9, 2025

Posted on February 9, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Irish playwright and novelist Brendan Behan, born in Dublin (1923). He grew up in one of the poorest sections of Dublin. His father took part in the Irish rebellion in the early 1920s, and when Brendan was born, his father was being held in a British prison. When Brendan was nine years old, he joined a youth organization that had ties to the IRA.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, February 8, 2025

Posted on February 8, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Elizabeth Bishop, born in Worcester, Massachusetts (1911). Her father died when she was a little girl. Her mother had an emotional breakdown from grief and spent the rest of her life in various mental institutions. Elizabeth spent most of her childhood moving back and forth between her grandparents in Nova Scotia and her father’s family in Massachusetts.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, February 7, 2025

Posted on February 7, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Charles Dickens, born in Portsmouth, England (1812). When his father was thrown in debtors’ prison, 12-year-old Dickens was forced to leave school and work in a factory, repetitively labeling jars of shoe polish for 10 hours a day in miserable conditions.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, February 6, 2025

Posted on February 6, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1937 that John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men was published. Of Mice and Men was Steinbeck’s fifth novel (he had also published an excerpt from a novel and a book of short stories). His first novel, Cup of Gold (1929), was a total flop — it didn’t even earn back the $250 that Steinbeck received as an advance.

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.

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