On this day
December 31 in literary history
Literary history for December 31: 24 writers born, 17 writers who died and 3 literary events from 1514 to 2018. Born on this day: ND Stevenson, Junot Díaz, Julie Doucet.
Writers born on December 31
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | ND Stevenson | American cartoonist and producer (born 1991) |
| 1968 | Junot Díaz | Dominican-American writer and academic (born 1968) |
| 1965 | Julie Doucet | Canadian comic artist and writer (born 1965) |
| 1961 | Fabian Nicieza | Argentine-American comic book writer and editor (born 1961) |
| 1949 | Susan Shwartz | American author (born 1949) |
| 1947 | Rita Lee | Brazilian musician, author, actress and television host (1947–2023) |
| 1945 | Connie Willis | American science fiction writer |
| 1933 | Edward Bunker | American novelist, screenwriter, and actor |
| 1932 | Felix Rexhausen | German journalist, editor, and author |
| 1931 | Bob Shaw | Science fiction author from Northern Ireland |
| 1928 | Veijo Meri | Finnish writer |
| 1928 | Siné | French cartoonist |
| 1925 | Irina Korschunow | German writer (1925–2013) |
| 1925 | Shrilal Shukla | Hindi writer (1925–2011) |
| 1924 | Taylor Mead | American writer (1924–2013) |
| 1911 | Dal Stivens | Australian writer |
| 1884 | Mihály Fekete | Hungarian actor, screenwriter and film director |
| 1878 | Horacio Quiroga | Uruguayan writer (1878–1937) |
| 1855 | Giovanni Pascoli | Italian poet and classical scholar (1855–1912) |
| 1830 | Alexander Smith (poet) | Scottish poet and essayist |
| 1805 | Marie d'Agoult | Franco-German romantic author and historian (1805–1876) |
| 1798 | Friedrich Robert Faehlmann | Estonian writer |
| 1741 | Gottfried August Bürger | German poet (1747–1794) |
| 1514 | Andreas Vesalius | Anatomist, physician and author (1514–1564) |
Writers who died on December 31
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kader Khan | Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer (1937–2018) |
| 2014 | Abdullah Hussain | Malaysian novelist and writer |
| 2013 | Irina Korschunow | German writer (1925–2013) |
| 2012 | Jovette Marchessault | Canadian writer and artist (1938–2012) |
| 2008 | Donald E. Westlake | American novelist (1933–2008) |
| 2005 | Phillip Whitehead | Phillip Whitehead, English screenwriter, producer, and politician (born 1937) |
| 1988 | Nicolas Calas | Greek-American poet and art critic |
| 1983 | Sevim Burak | Turkish writer |
| 1978 | Basil Wolverton | American cartoonist |
| 1970 | Cyril Scott | English composer and writer (1879–1970) |
| 1949 | Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı | Turkish poet and philosopher, one of the signatories of armistice of Mondros (1869-1949) |
| 1936 | Miguel de Unamuno | Spanish writer, philosopher and academic (1864–1936) |
| 1889 | Ion Creangă | Moldavian - born writer, raconteur and school teacher (1837–1889) |
| 1872 | Aleksis Kivi | National writer of Finland (1834–1872) |
| 1799 | Jean-François Marmontel | French historian and writer (1723–1799) |
| 1730 | Carlo Gimach | Maltese architect, engineer and poet (1651–1730) |
| 1691 | Dudley North (economist) | English merchant, politician, economist and writer |
Literary events on December 31
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1995 | The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published. |
| 1983 | Two Australian biologists published an article titled "A Synopsis of the Class Reptilia in Australia", initiating the Wells and Wellington affair. |
| 1790 | Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time. |
Featured
ND Stevenson (1991) — Nate Diana "Indy" Stevenson, known professionally as ND Stevenson, is an American cartoonist and animation producer. He is the developer, showrunner, and executive producer of the animated television series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, which ran from 2018 to 2020.
Junot Díaz (1968) — Junot Díaz is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at Boston Review. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience, particularly the Latino immigrant experience.
Julie Doucet (1965) — Julie Doucet is a Canadian underground cartoonist and artist, best known for her autobiographical works such as Dirty Plotte and My New York Diary. Her work is concerned with such topics as "sex, violence, menstruation and male/female issues."
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.