On this day
February 20 in literary history
Literary history for February 20: 15 writers born, 9 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1523 to 2015. Born on this day: Sally Rooney, Dwayne McDuffie, Ellen Gilchrist.
Writers born on February 20
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Sally Rooney | Irish author |
| 1962 | Dwayne McDuffie | American comic book and television writer (1962–2011) |
| 1935 | Ellen Gilchrist | American writer (1935–2024) |
| 1932 | Adrian Cristobal | Filipino writer (1932–2007) |
| 1927 | Sidney Poitier | Bahamian-American actor, filmmaker, diplomat and author (1927–2022) |
| 1926 | Richard Matheson | American author and screenwriter (1926–2013) |
| 1912 | Pierre Boulle | French novelist (1912–1994) |
| 1898 | Ante Ciliga | Croatian politician, writer and publisher (1898–1992) |
| 1888 | Georges Bernanos | French writer (1888–1948) |
| 1880 | Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen | French writer and poet (1880–1923) |
| 1794 | William Carleton | Irish author (1794–1869 |
| 1784 | Judith Montefiore | British travel writer |
| 1751 | Johann Heinrich Voss | German classicist, poet, translator (1751–1826) |
| 1745 | Henry James Pye | English Poet Laureate (1745–1813) |
| 1523 | Jan Blahoslav | Czech linguist and writer (1523–1571) |
Writers who died on February 20
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Govind Pansare | Indian political activist and writer (1933–2015) |
| 2006 | Lucjan Wolanowski | Polish writer |
| 2005 | Hunter S. Thompson | American journalist and author (1937–2005) |
| 2003 | Maurice Blanchot | French writer (1907–2003) |
| 2001 | Donella Meadows | American environmental scientist, teacher, and writer |
| 1999 | Sarah Kane | English playwright (1971–1999) |
| 1996 | Tōru Takemitsu | Japanese composer and writer (1930–1996) |
| 1933 | Takiji Kobayashi | Japanese writer |
| 1916 | Klas Pontus Arnoldson | Swedish author, journalist, politician and committed pacifist |
Literary events on February 20
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1943 | The Saturday Evening Post published the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms, among the most widely distributed paintings ever produced, in support of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. |
| 1909 | Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro. |
Featured
Sally Rooney (1991) — Sally Rooney is an Irish author. She is best known for her novels Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and Intermezzo (2024). The first two works were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022).
Dwayne McDuffie (1962) — Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware.
Ellen Gilchrist (1935) — Ellen Louise Gilchrist was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.