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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 11, 2023

Posted on December 11, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, born in Kislovodsk, Russia (1918). He grew up a committed communist, and never questioned the party line. He even brought a copy of Das Kapital along on his honeymoon for pleasure reading. He became a decorated war hero during World War II, promoted to first lieutenant and then captain. But after the end of the war, he was suddenly arrested by Russian authorities for supposedly criticizing Stalin in one of his personal letters. He was sentenced without a trial to eight years in a labor camp. He spent time at a few different camps, but eventually wound up at a hard-labor camp in Kazakhstan, where he worked as miner, bricklayer, and a foundry man.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, December 10, 2023

Posted on December 10, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Emily Dickinson, born in Amherst, Massachusetts (1830). She lived most of her 55 years in the house built by her Grandfather in Amherst. During her last 20 years she never strayed beyond the property.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, December 9, 2023

Posted on December 9, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet John Milton, born on Bread Street in Cheapside, London (1608). After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees at Cambridge, he lived outside London with his parents for 6 years, writing verse and “turning over the Latin and Greek authors.” He traveled to Italy and met Galileo, then returned to England as civil war loomed.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, December 8, 2023

Posted on December 8, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of humorist James Thurber, born in Columbus, Ohio (1894). In 1927 he met E.B. White at a party and talked his way onto the staff of The New Yorker. He created the classic daydreaming hero in his story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1947), and ridiculed psychoanalysis in a book written with E.B. White, Is Sex Necessary? (1929). Thurber, who went blind in mid-life, recalled his New Yorker career in a memoir, The Years With Ross (1959). He also wrote the children’s books The 13 Clocks (1950) and The Wonderful O (1957).

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, December 7, 2023

Posted on December 7, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s Willa Cather’s birthday, born near Winchester, Virginia (1873). She and her family moved to Nebraska when Willa was 8, and she grew up in Red Cloud. Her books include My Antonia (1918), and O Pioneers! (1913).

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Posted on December 6, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1917 that an accidental explosion destroyed a quarter of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the height of World War I, and Halifax was serving as an important port city for many of the ships carrying supplies for the battlefront in Europe. One of the ships coming into the port that day was a French munitions ship called the Mont Blanc, carrying 200 tons of TNT, 2,300 tons of other explosives, as well as 10 tons of cotton and 35 tons of highly flammable chemicals stored in vats on the ship’s upper deck.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Posted on December 5, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the essayist and novelist Joan Didion, born in Sacramento, California (1934). She grew up as a nervous, preoccupied child. She said, “I was one of those children who always thought the bridge would fall in if you walked across it. … I thought about the atomic bomb a lot … after there was one.” At one point in her childhood, she lived near a mental hospital, and she would wander around the hospital grounds with a notebook, writing down all the most interesting snippets of conversation she heard.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 4, 2023

Posted on December 4, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, born in Prague (1875). He spent most of his life traveling, never settling anywhere for more than a few months. And since he only wrote in spurts, he supported himself by getting rich noblewomen to fall in love with him and support his work. He apparently wasn’t the best-looking guy in the world, but women found irresistible because he was so romantic and poetic.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, December 3, 2023

Posted on December 3, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Joseph Conrad, born Jozef Teodor Konrad Naleca Korzeniowski, in Berdyczew, Poland (1857). He joined the French marine service when he was sixteen, and spent the next four years shipping out of Marseilles. Next he went to England, shipping out as an ordinary seaman and working his way up to master in the British Merchant Service. When the novelist John Galsworthy was one of his passengers, he showed him a manuscript he had been working on.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, December 2, 2023

Posted on December 2, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of soprano Maria Callas, born Maria Anna Sophia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos, in Brooklyn, NY (1923). Her father shortened the family name soon after Maria was born. At 11 she sang “La Paloma” on a radio contest. Her parents separated when she was 13, and her mother took her back to Greece to live, where she attended the Athens National Conservatory. Her first important role was that of Tosca, one of the many with which she would be identified. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1956, in the role of Norma. She’s the subject of two plays Terence McNally: The Lisbon Traviata and Master Class.

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