On this day
December 20 in literary history
Literary history for December 20: 15 writers born, 11 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1768 to 2011. Born on this day: Alain de Botton, Nalo Hopkinson, Sandra Cisneros.
Writers born on December 20
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Alain de Botton | British author (born 1969) |
| 1960 | Nalo Hopkinson | Jamaican Canadian writer (born 1960) |
| 1954 | Sandra Cisneros | American writer (born 1954) |
| 1924 | Judy LaMarsh | Canadian broadcaster, writer, lawyer and politician (1924–1980) |
| 1920 | Väinö Linna | Finnish author (1920–1992) |
| 1917 | Cahit Külebi | Turkish poet and author (1917–1997) |
| 1915 | Aziz Nesin | Turkish writer, humorist and author (1915–1995) |
| 1911 | Hortense Calisher | American novelist (1911–2009) |
| 1907 | Paul Francis Webster | American lyricist (1907–1984) |
| 1904 | Yevgenia Ginzburg | Soviet writer who served an 18-year sentence in the Kolyma Gulag |
| 1899 | Martyn Lloyd-Jones | Welsh pastor, author, and physician (1899–1981) |
| 1873 | Mehmet Akif Ersoy | Turkish poet, writer, academic, politician (1873–1936) |
| 1865 | Elsie de Wolfe | American interior decorator, author, and actress |
| 1838 | Edwin Abbott Abbott | British theologian and author (1838–1926) |
| 1812 | Laura M. Thurston | American poet |
Writers who died on December 20
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Barry Reckord | Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (1926–2011) |
| 2008 | Adrian Mitchell | English poet, novelist, and playwright (1932–2008) |
| 2001 | Léopold Sédar Senghor | First president of Senegal, poet, and cultural theorist (1906–2001) |
| 1997 | Denise Levertov | American poet (1923–1997) |
| 1991 | Simone Beck | French cooking author and teacher (1904–1991) |
| 1968 | John Steinbeck | American writer and novelist (1902–1968) |
| 1961 | Moss Hart | American playwright, librettist and theater director |
| 1954 | James Hilton (novelist) | British novelist and screenwriter (1900–1954) |
| 1941 | Igor Severyanin | Russian poet |
| 1915 | Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury | Bengali writer and illustrator |
| 1768 | Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni | Italian poet (1692–1768) |
Literary events on December 20
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1940 | Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published. |
| 1940 | The superhero Captain America made his first published appearance in the comic book Captain America Comics #1. |
Featured
Alain de Botton (1969) — Alain de Botton is a British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies.
Nalo Hopkinson (1960) — Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor.
Sandra Cisneros (1954) — Sandra Cisneros is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), and her subsequent short story collection, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991).
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.