On this day
August 17 in literary history
Literary history for August 17: 24 writers born, 16 writers who died and 4 literary events from 1488 to 2014. Born on this day: Andrus Kivirähk, Jonathan Franzen, Eric Schlosser.
Writers born on August 17
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Andrus Kivirähk | Estonian writer (born 1970) |
| 1959 | Jonathan Franzen | American writer (born 1959) |
| 1959 | Eric Schlosser | American journalist and author (born 1959) |
| 1957 | Laurence Overmire | American dramatist |
| 1953 | Herta Müller | German writer and Nobel Prize recipient (born 1953) |
| 1953 | Korrie Layun Rampan | Indonesian writer (1953–2015) |
| 1949 | Julian Fellowes | English actor, writer, and politician (born 1949) |
| 1945 | Rachel Pollack | American writer (1945–2023) |
| 1943 | Edward Cowie | English composer, author, natural scientist, and painter |
| 1943 | John Humphrys | Welsh broadcaster, journalist and author (born 1943) |
| 1940 | Eduardo Mignogna | Argentine film director and screenwriter |
| 1932 | V. S. Naipaul | Trinidadian writer (1932–2018) |
| 1932 | Jean-Jacques Sempé | French cartoonist (1932–2022) |
| 1930 | Harve Bennett | American screenwriter, producer (1930–2015) |
| 1930 | Ted Hughes | English poet and children's writer (1930–1998) |
| 1924 | Evan S. Connell | American writer (1924–2013) |
| 1920 | Lida Moser | American-born photographer and author |
| 1900 | Vivienne de Watteville | British travel writer and adventurer (1900–1957) |
| 1899 | Janet Lewis | American novelist, poet |
| 1888 | Pieter van der Hoog | Dutch physician and writer (1888–1957) |
| 1863 | Gene Stratton-Porter | American writer and naturalist (1863–1924) |
| 1840 | Wilfrid Scawen Blunt | English poet and essayist (1840–1922) |
| 1801 | Fredrika Bremer | Swedish writer and reformer (1801–1865) |
| 1586 | Johannes Valentinus Andreae | German writer, mathematician and theologian (rosicrucian) |
Writers who died on August 17
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Wolfgang Leonhard | German political author and historian |
| 2014 | Miodrag Pavlović | Serbian writer (1928–2014) |
| 2013 | John Hollander | American poet and literary critic (1929–2013) |
| 2006 | Shamsur Rahman (poet) | Bangladeshi poet, writer, journalist (1929 – 2006) |
| 2004 | Thea Astley | Australian novelist and short story writer (1925 – 2004) |
| 1995 | Howard Koch (screenwriter) | American screenwriter and playwright (1901-1995) |
| 1987 | Gary Chester | American studio drummer, author, and teacher |
| 1983 | Ira Gershwin | American lyricist (1896–1983) |
| 1977 | Delmer Daves | American film director, producer, and screenwriter (1904–1977) |
| 1973 | Conrad Aiken | American novelist and poet |
| 1935 | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | American feminist, writer, artist, and lecturer (1860–1935) |
| 1925 | Ioan Slavici | Romanian writer and journalist (1848 - 1925) |
| 1908 | Radoje Domanović | Serbian journalist, writer and teacher (1873–1908) |
| 1838 | Lorenzo Da Ponte | Italian librettist, professor, and Roman Catholic priest (1749–1838) |
| 1768 | Vasily Trediakovsky | Russian poet, translator and philologist (1703–1769) |
| 1676 | Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen | German novelist (1621/2–1676) |
Literary events on August 17
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1945 | The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published. |
| 1945 | Animal Farm, George Orwell's satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published. |
| 1549 | Battle of Sampford Courtenay: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England. |
| 1488 | Konrad Bitz, the Bishop of Turku, marks the date of his preface to Missale Aboense, the oldest known book of Finland. |
Featured
Andrus Kivirähk (1970) — Andrus Kivirähk is an Estonian author, playwright, screenwriter, and satirist. He writes across genres for both adults and children, including satirical columns and screenplays. Many of his stories have been adapted into films. A number of his works have also been translated into multiple languages.
Jonathan Franzen (1959) — Jonathan Earl Franzen is an American novelist, essayist and short-story writer.
Eric Schlosser (1959) — Eric Matthew Schlosser is an American journalist and food writer. He is known for his books Fast Food Nation (2001), Reefer Madness (2003), and Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013).
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.