On this day
December 8 in literary history
Literary history for December 8: 29 writers born, 17 writers who died and 3 literary events from 65 BC to 2025. Born on this day: Conceição Lima, Aaron Allston, Mark Steyn.
29writers born
17writers died
3literary events
Writers born on December 8
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Conceição Lima | São Toméan poet (1961–2026) |
| 1960 | Aaron Allston | American science fiction writer and game designer (1960–2014) |
| 1959 | Mark Steyn | Canadian writer (born 1959) |
| 1958 | Rob Byrnes | American novelist |
| 1955 | Milenko Zablaćanski | Serbian actor, director, and screenwriter (1955-2008) |
| 1951 | Bill Bryson | American-British author (born 1951) |
| 1951 | Richard Desmond | British publisher and businessman (born 1951) |
| 1949 | Mary Gordon (writer) | American writer and scholar |
| 1947 | Kati-Claudia Fofonoff | Skolt Sámi author and translator |
| 1945 | John Banville | Irish author (born 1945) |
| 1943 | James Tate (writer) | American poet |
| 1943 | Mary Woronov | American actress and author |
| 1936 | Michael Z. Hobson | American publisher (1936–2020) |
| 1925 | Nasir Kazmi | Pakistani poet (1925–1972) |
| 1925 | Carmen Martín Gaite | Spanish writer (1925–2000) |
| 1915 | Ernest Lehman | American screenwriter (1915–2005) |
| 1913 | Delmore Schwartz | American poet (1913–1966) |
| 1911 | Nikos Gatsos | Greek poet and translator (1911–1992) |
| 1900 | Ants Oras | Estonian translator and writer |
| 1899 | Arthur Leslie | British actor and playwright |
| 1894 | E. C. Segar | American cartoonist (1894–1938) |
| 1894 | James Thurber | American cartoonist, author, journalist, and playwright (1894–1961) |
| 1887 | Elizabeth Daryush | English poet (1887–1977) |
| 1862 | Georges Feydeau | French playwright (1862–1921) |
| 1860 | Amanda McKittrick Ros | Irish writer |
| 1832 | Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson | Norwegian writer (1832–1910) |
| 1822 | Jakov Ignjatović | Novelist and writer from Austria-Hungary |
| 1538 | Miklós Istvánffy | Hungarian politician, Humanist historian and poet |
| 65 BC | Horace | Roman lyric poet (65–8 BC) |
Writers who died on December 8
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | John Trudell | Native American activist, author, and poet (1946–2015) |
| 2008 | Oliver Postgate | British animator, puppeteer and writer |
| 1999 | Péter Kuczka | Hungarian writer and poet |
| 1971 | Eleni Ourani | Greek writer |
| 1966 | Ward Morehouse | American dramatist |
| 1946 | Tex O'Reilly | American mercenary and writer (1880–1946) |
| 1938 | Friedrich Glauser | Swiss writer |
| 1932 | Gertrude Jekyll | British garden designer and writer |
| 1917 | Mendele Mocher Sforim | Belarusian-Ukrainian Jewish author |
| 1886 | Isaac Lea | American publisher, conchologist and geologist (1792-1886) |
| 1859 | Thomas De Quincey | English essayist, translator and political economist (1785–1859) |
| 1830 | Benjamin Constant | Swiss-French politician and writer (1767–1830) |
| 1709 | Thomas Corneille | French lexicographer and dramatist (1625-1709) |
| 1638 | Ivan Gundulić | Poet from Ragusa, in modern Croatia (1589–1638) |
| 1626 | John Davies (poet, born 1569) | English poet, lawyer, and politician (1569–1626) |
| 1596 | Luis de Carvajal the Younger | Crypto-Jewish writer and martyr (d. 1596) |
| 1550 | Gian Giorgio Trissino | Venetian humanist, poet, dramatist, diplomat, linguist and philosopher (1478–1550) |
Literary events on December 8
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Singapore, under the government's approval, published its now-declassified Albatross file, comprising information relating to the Proclamation of Singapore dating back six decades ago. |
| 1660 | A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello. |
| 757 | The poet Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong's court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion. |
Featured
Conceição Lima (1961) — Maria da Conceição de Deus Lima was a São Toméan poet.
Aaron Allston (1960) — Aaron Dale Allston was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels.
Mark Steyn (1959) — Mark Steyn is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times bestsellers America Alone, After America, and Broadway Babies Say Goodnight.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.