On this day
January 12 in literary history
Literary history for January 12: 23 writers born and 10 writers who died from 1576 to 2017. Born on this day: Issa Rae, David Mitchell (author), François Girard.
Writers born on January 12
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Issa Rae | American actress and writer (born 1985) |
| 1969 | David Mitchell (author) | English novelist and screenwriter (born 1969) |
| 1963 | François Girard | French Canadian director and screenwriter |
| 1962 | Joe Quesada | American comic book artist and writer (born 1962) |
| 1957 | Jeremy Sams | British theatre director, composer, & lyricist (born 1957) |
| 1952 | Walter Mosley | American novelist (born 1952) |
| 1949 | Haruki Murakami | Japanese writer (born 1949) |
| 1948 | William Nicholson (writer) | British screenwriter, playwright and novelist |
| 1936 | Brajanath Ratha | Indian poet (1936–2014) |
| 1934 | Alan Sharp | Scottish novelist and screenwriter |
| 1933 | Pavlos Matesis | Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (died 2013) |
| 1930 | Jennifer Johnston (novelist) | Irish writer (1930–2025) |
| 1916 | Mary Wilson, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx | English poet (1916–2018) |
| 1915 | Paul Jarrico | American screenwriter (1915–1997) |
| 1905 | Nihal Atsız | Turkish ultranationalist writer, novelist, and poet (1905–1975) |
| 1890 | Johannes Vares | Estonian writer and politician (1890–1946) |
| 1878 | Ferenc Molnár | Hungarian-born dramatist and novelist |
| 1876 | Jack London | American author, journalist, and social activist (1876–1916) |
| 1874 | Laura Adams Armer | American artist and writer |
| 1797 | Gideon Brecher | Austrian writer and physician |
| 1724 | Frances Brooke | English author of first Canadian novel (1724–1789) |
| 1628 | Charles Perrault | French author (1628–1703) |
| 1576 | Petrus Scriverius | Dutch writer and scholar (1576–1660) |
Writers who died on January 12
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | William Peter Blatty | American writer and filmmaker (1928–2017) |
| 2015 | Robert Gover | American novelist |
| 1997 | Jean-Edern Hallier | French writer, critic and editor |
| 1976 | Agatha Christie | English mystery and detective writer (1890–1976) |
| 1965 | Lorraine Hansberry | African-American playwright and author (1930–1965) |
| 1960 | Nevil Shute | English novelist (1899–1960) |
| 1943 | Jan Campert | Dutch journalist, theater critic and writer |
| 1856 | Ľudovít Štúr | Slovak revolutionary, philosopher, politician and writer (1815–1856) |
| 1829 | Friedrich Schlegel | German poet, critic, philosopher, and Indologist (1772–1829) |
| 1781 | Richard Challoner | Roman Catholic priest and writer (1691–1781) |
Featured
Issa Rae (1985) — Jo-Issa Rae Diop, known professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. She achieved recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO comedy series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for multiple Golden Globes Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.
David Mitchell (author) (1969) — David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist and screenwriter, who has also translated two children's books.
François Girard (1963) — François Girard is a French Canadian director and screenwriter from Montreal. Born in Saint-Félicien, Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.