Writer's Almanac Archives - Page 9 of 285 - Garrison Keillor

Albums APHC Clips Audio Events Prairie Home Archives Songs Writer's Almanac

Writer's Almanac

To subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episode email, which includes the unedited text and audio from one daily anniversary episode selected from the archive, click here >>>

To browse archived episodes of The Writer’s Almanac from before 2017, click here >>>

• • • • •

To support The Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episodes newsletter, please consider “buying” a donation here >>>

You can also buy a paid subscription to the Anniversary Episode newsletter here >>>

Checks may be made out to Prairie Home Productions, LLC and mailed to:

Prairie Home Productions
P.O. Box 2090
Minneapolis, MN 55402

(Note: donations to LLCs are not tax-deductible)

• • • • •

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Posted on December 17, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of New York Times political columnist William Safire, born in New York City (1929). He once wrote a list called “William Safire’s Rules for Writers.” The rules included: “Remember to never split an infinitive,” “The passive voice should never be used,” and, “Last, but not least, avoid clichés like the plague.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Posted on December 16, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Jane Austen, born in Hampshire, England (1775). Today, members of Jane Austen Societies all over the world are celebrating her birthday with a tea or luncheon.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 15, 2025

Posted on December 15, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Muriel Rukeyser, born in New York City (1913). In 1931, when she was still a teenager, she drove from New York to Scottsboro, Alabama, to cover a controversial trial of nine young black men accused of raping two white girls. She devoted the rest of her life to activism and writing. Over five decades, she wrote more than 15 collections of poetry.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, December 14, 2025

Posted on December 14, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of short-story writer Amy Hempel, born in Chicago, Illinois (1951). As a young woman, she had a series of traumatic experiences: Her mother committed suicide, and she got into a motorcycle accident and a car accident, all within a short space of time.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, December 13, 2025

Posted on December 13, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the mystery novelist who wrote under the name Ross Macdonald, born Kenneth Millar in Los Gatos, California (1915). His father abandoned the family, and his mother struggled to support him, occasionally begging for money on the street.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, December 12, 2025

Posted on December 12, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of French novelist Gustave Flaubert, born in Rouen, France (1821). He’s best known for the novel Madame Bovary (1857). He grew up in a middle-class family. His father convinced him to go to law school, but he dropped out. So his father bought him a house on the Seine, and Flaubert devoted the rest of his life to writing. After his father died, he moved back in with his mother, where he lived until he was 50 years old.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, December 11, 2025

Posted on December 11, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man called the “Father of Modern Arabic Literature,” Naguib Mahfouz, born in Cairo (1911). He wrote about the lives of ordinary people in the densely urban districts of Cairo. In 1988, he won the Nobel Prize, recognized for a work he had written decades earlier.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Posted on December 10, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the poet Emily Dickinson, born in Amherst, Massachusetts (1830). She spent most of her adult life in her corner bedroom in her father’s house. The room contained a writing table, a dresser, a Franklin stove, a clock, a ruby decanter, and pictures on the wall of three writers: George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Thomas Carlyle.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Posted on December 9, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the poet John Milton, born in London (1608). He was well-known in his own time for his political essays. He wrote a pamphlet arguing for the right to get a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. He had married a woman named Mary Powell, and she left him almost immediately after their honeymoon.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 8, 2025

Posted on December 8, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Mary Gordon, born in Far Rockaway, New York (1949). Her Irish-Catholic mother was the family’s breadwinner. Her father dreamed of being a writer, and he stayed home and looked after Mary. She said, “He bred me to be a lady and a scholar.

Load next posts