On this day
April 17 in literary history
Literary history for April 17: 19 writers born and 11 writers who died from 1586 to 2014. Born on this day: Nick Hornby, Clare Francis, Chuck Menville.
Writers born on April 17
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Nick Hornby | English writer (born 1957) |
| 1946 | Clare Francis | British sailor and novelist (born 1946) |
| 1940 | Chuck Menville | American screenwriter (1940–1992) |
| 1938 | Ronald H. Miller | Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (died 2011) |
| 1938 | Kerry Wendell Thornley | American author (1938–1998) |
| 1934 | Don Kirshner | American songwriter, publisher, music producer, manager (1934–2011) |
| 1931 | John Barrett (tennis) | Former tennis player, TV commentator and author |
| 1928 | Cynthia Ozick | American writer (born 1928) |
| 1924 | Donald Richie | American writer and film historian (1924–2013) |
| 1920 | Edmonde Charles-Roux | French writer (1920–2016) |
| 1914 | Mac Raboy | American cartoonist, 1914-1967 |
| 1911 | Hervé Bazin | French writer (1911-1996) |
| 1910 | Evangelos Averoff | Greek politician and author |
| 1910 | Ivan Goff | Australian screenwriter (1910–1999) |
| 1897 | Thornton Wilder | American playwright and novelist (1897–1975) |
| 1895 | Robert Dean Frisbie | American novelist |
| 1885 | Karen Blixen | Danish writer (1885–1962) |
| 1799 | Eliza Acton | English food writer and poet (1799-1859) |
| 1586 | John Ford (dramatist) | English poet and playwright (1586 – c. 1639) |
Writers who died on April 17
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombian writer and Nobel laureate (1927–2014) |
| 2012 | Leila Berg | English children's author, 1917–2012 |
| 2012 | J. Quinn Brisben | American poet (1934–2012) |
| 2012 | Jonathan Plaut | American writer and rabbi (1942–2012) |
| 2008 | Aimé Césaire | Martinican writer, poet and politician (1913–2008) |
| 2004 | Edmond Pidoux | Swiss author |
| 1987 | Cecil Harmsworth King | British publisher |
| 1923 | Laurence Ginnell | Irish nationalist politician and writer (1852–1923) |
| 1919 | Svetozar Ćorović | Serbian novelist |
| 1840 | Hannah Webster Foster | 18th and 19th-century American novelist |
| 1695 | Juana Inés de la Cruz | Mexican Catholic nun, philosopher, composer and poet (1648–1695) |
Featured
Nick Hornby (1957) — Nicholas Peter John Hornby is an English writer. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity (1995) and About a Boy (1998), all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.
Clare Francis (1946) — Clare Mary Francis MBE is a British novelist who in her first career as a yachtswoman has twice sailed across the Atlantic on her own. She was the first woman to skipper a successful boat on the Whitbread Around the World race.
Chuck Menville (1940) — Charles David Menville was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included Batman: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, The Real Ghostbusters, The Smurfs, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Tiny Toon Adventures.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.