On this day
April 1 in literary history
Literary history for April 1: 24 writers born, 6 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1610 to 2024. Born on this day: Taran Killam, Brad Meltzer, José Rodrigues dos Santos.
Writers born on April 1
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Taran Killam | American actor, comedian, and writer (born 1982) |
| 1970 | Brad Meltzer | American writer (born 1970) |
| 1964 | José Rodrigues dos Santos | Portuguese journalist and novelist |
| 1962 | Mark Shulman (author) | American children's author |
| 1949 | Gil Scott-Heron | American soul and jazz poet, musician and author (1949–2011) |
| 1942 | Samuel R. Delany | American author, critic, and academic (born 1942) |
| 1931 | George Baker (British actor) | English actor and writer (1931–2011) |
| 1931 | Rolf Hochhuth | German author and playwright (1931–2020) |
| 1930 | Ásta Sigurðardóttir | Icelandic writer and visual artist |
| 1929 | Milan Kundera | Czech and French novelist (1929–2023) |
| 1929 | Payut Ngaokrachang | Thai cartoonist and animator |
| 1926 | Anne McCaffrey | Irish science fiction writer (1926–2011) |
| 1922 | William Manchester | American author, journalist and historian (1922–2004) |
| 1917 | Melville Shavelson | American screenwriter |
| 1909 | Abner Biberman | American actor, director, and screenwriter (1909–1977) |
| 1902 | Maria Polydouri | Greek poet |
| 1901 | Whittaker Chambers | American defected communist spy, writer, editor (1901–1961) |
| 1881 | Octavian Goga | Romanian politician and poet (1881–1938) |
| 1875 | Edgar Wallace | British writer (1875–1932) |
| 1868 | Edmond Rostand | French poet and dramatist (1868–1918) |
| 1866 | William Blomfield | New Zealand cartoonist and local politician |
| 1697 | Abbé Prévost | French novelist (1697–1763) |
| 1647 | John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester | English poet and courtier (1647–1680) |
| 1610 | Charles de Saint-Évremond | French soldier, hedonist, essayist and literary critic |
Writers who died on April 1
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sami Michael | Iraqi-born Israeli author and human rights activist (1926–2024) |
| 2019 | Vonda N. McIntyre | American science fiction writer (1948–2019) |
| 2018 | Steven Bochco | American television writer and producer (1943–2018) |
| 2017 | Yevgeny Yevtushenko | Soviet and Russian poet (1933–2017) |
| 1984 | Elizabeth Goudge | English novelist and children's writer (1900–1984) |
| 1966 | Flann O'Brien | Irish writer (1911–1966) |
Literary events on April 1
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1963 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the tenth novel of Ian Fleming's James Bond series, was released in the United Kingdom. |
Featured
Taran Killam (1982) — Taran Hourie Killam is an American actor and comedian. He first garnered attention for his brief stint on the Fox comedy series MADtv during its seventh season between 2001 and 2002, followed by his wider success as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2016.
Brad Meltzer (1970) — Brad Meltzer is an American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author.
José Rodrigues dos Santos (1964) — José António Afonso Rodrigues dos Santos is a Portuguese journalist, novelist and university lecturer. He has been one of the presenters of Telejornal, the evening news program on the Portuguese public television channel RTP1, since 1991.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.