On this day
April 20 in literary history
Literary history for April 20: 15 writers born and 8 writers who died from 1703 to 2008. Born on this day: Harris Wittels, Julie Powell, Peter Chelsom.
Writers born on April 20
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Harris Wittels | American actor, comedian, writer, and musician (1984–2015) |
| 1973 | Julie Powell | American author (1973–2022) |
| 1956 | Peter Chelsom | British film director, writer, and actor |
| 1953 | Sebastian Faulks | British novelist, journalist and broadcaster |
| 1947 | Viktor Suvorov | Russian author, former GRU officer (born 1947) |
| 1939 | Peter S. Beagle | American novelist and screenwriter (born 1939) |
| 1937 | George Takei | American actor, author and activist (born 1937) |
| 1930 | Antony Jay | English writer, broadcaster, and director |
| 1916 | Yoko Matsuoka (writer) | Japanese critic and translator (1916–1979) |
| 1913 | Mimis Fotopoulos | Greek actor, writer, poet and academic |
| 1895 | Henry de Montherlant | French writer (1895–1972) |
| 1884 | Daniel Varoujan | Armenian poet |
| 1875 | Vladimir Vidrić | Croatian poet |
| 1848 | Kurd Lasswitz | German author, scientist and philosopher |
| 1826 | Dinah Craik | English novelist and poet (1826–1887) |
Writers who died on April 20
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Monica Lovinescu | Romanian essayist |
| 2005 | Fumio Niwa | Japanese writer (1904–2005) |
| 1982 | Archibald MacLeish | American poet and 9th Librarian of Congress (1892–1982) |
| 1968 | Rudolph Dirks | American cartoonist (1877–1968) |
| 1967 | Léo-Paul Desrosiers | Canadian writer and journalist (1896–1967) |
| 1912 | Bram Stoker | Irish author (1847–1912) |
| 1902 | Joaquim de Sousa Andrade | Brazilian poet (1833–1902) |
| 1703 | Lancelot Addison | English writer and clergyman (1632–1703) |
Featured
Harris Wittels (1984) — Harris Lee Wittels was an American comedian. He was a writer for The Sarah Silverman Program, a writer and executive producer for Parks and Recreation, and a recurring guest on Comedy Bang! Bang! He coined the word humblebrag in 2010.
Julie Powell (1973) — Julie Anne Powell was an American author known for her 2005 book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen which was based on her blog, the Julie/Julia Project. A film adaptation based on her book called Julie & Julia was released in 2009.
Peter Chelsom (1956) — Peter Chelsom is a British film director, writer, and actor. He has directed such films as Hector and the Search for Happiness, Serendipity, and Shall We Dance? Peter Chelsom is a member of the British Academy, the American Academy, The Directors Guild of America, and The Writers Guild of America.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.