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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Posted on August 14, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Nobel laureate John Galsworthy, born in Surrey, England (1867). He’s the author of the Forsyte Saga, a series of novels that satirically portray British upper-middle-class families. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932, and he used the prize money to help establish an international organization for writers, PEN. It’s an acronym they chose for the group after someone pointed out that the words for “Poet,” for “Essayist,” and for “Novelist” in most European languages have the same initial letters (P-E-N).

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Posted on August 13, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, born in London (1899). He directed many films, including Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), and Psycho (1960), which earned him the title of “Master of Suspense.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 12, 2024

Posted on August 12, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1851, Isaac Merritt Singer patented his first commercial sewing machine. Elias Howe had first gotten the American patent for his machine in 1846. Singer had improved on the design and made it much more practical and efficient. His was the first to use an up-and-down needle movement that was powered by a foot treadle, but his machine used a lockstitch pattern that Howe had patented, so Howe sued him for infringement.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 11, 2024

Posted on August 11, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of playwright Fernando Arrabal, born in Melilla, Spanish Morocco (1932). He became known writing plays of “theater of the absurd” style, and also for ones of an abstract style he developed and called “panic art” — the most famous example of which is his play The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria (1967), in which the characters on stage exchange personalities as the performance progresses.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, August 10, 2024

Posted on August 10, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this date in 1519 that the explorer Ferdinand Magellan set off to sail around the world. Although he was Portuguese, Magellan had sworn allegiance to Spain, and he began the journey with a fleet of five ships and 270 men to see if he could accomplish what Columbus had failed to: find a navigable route to Asia that didn’t involve going around Africa.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, August 9, 2024

Posted on August 9, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1974, Richard Nixon officially resigned from the presidency. At 11:35 a.m., his resignation letter was delivered to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Gerald Ford took the oath of office. Then, at 12:05 p.m., Gerald Ford gave his first speech as president of the United States. He was the only president in U.S. history who was never elected president or vice president.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, August 8, 2024

Posted on August 8, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, born in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1896. She’s best known for her book The Yearling (1938), which was the best-selling novel in America in 1938 and won the Pulitzer Prize the following year.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Posted on August 7, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1934, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the novel Ulysses, by James Joyce, was not obscene. It had been banned in the United States in 1920, and though it was a big-seller on the black market, and Joyce knew he was losing a lot of money to pirate publishers, the only way to fight the ban was to provoke the government into a new obscenity trial.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Posted on August 6, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, born in Lincolnshire, England (1809). Tennyson gave us some of the most familiar lines in English poetry, including “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” and “Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 5, 2024

Posted on August 5, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Today in 1884, the cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid. It was largely funded by an auction of contributed art and literary works. Emma Lazarus, 34 years old at the time, donated a poem for the occasion, which she titled “The New Colossus.”

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