On this day
January 8 in literary history
Literary history for January 8: 21 writers born, 7 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1037 to 1979. Born on this day: Sarah Polley, Gillies MacKinnon, Nancy Bond.
Writers born on January 8
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Sarah Polley | Canadian actress, film director, and screenwriter (born 1979) |
| 1948 | Gillies MacKinnon | Scottish screenwriter and film director (born 1948) |
| 1945 | Nancy Bond | American author of children's literature |
| 1944 | Terry Brooks | American fantasy fiction writer (born 1944) |
| 1941 | Graham Chapman | English actor, comedian and writer (1941–1989) |
| 1927 | Charles Tomlinson | English poet, translator, and illustrator (1927–2015) |
| 1925 | Mohan Rakesh | Indian writer (1925–1972) |
| 1917 | Peter Taylor (writer) | American author (1917–1994) |
| 1911 | Gypsy Rose Lee | American burlesque performer, actress and writer (1911–1970) |
| 1909 | Ashapurna Devi | Indian writer (8 January 1909) |
| 1905 | Carl Gustav Hempel | German writer and philosopher (1905–1997) |
| 1897 | Dennis Wheatley | British writer (1897–1977) |
| 1891 | Storm Jameson | English journalist and author |
| 1862 | Frank Nelson Doubleday | American publisher (1862–1934) |
| 1852 | James Milton Carroll | American historian, writer and pastor (1852–1931) |
| 1824 | Wilkie Collins | English novelist and playwright (1824–1889) |
| 1824 | Francisco González Bocanegra | Mexican poet (1824–1861) |
| 1601 | Baltasar Gracián | Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher (1601-1658) |
| 1589 | Ivan Gundulić | Poet from Ragusa, in modern Croatia (1589–1638) |
| 1345 | Kadi Burhan al-Din | Poet and statesman (1345–1398) |
| 1037 | Su Shi | Chinese writer and politician (1037–1101) |
Writers who died on January 8
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Kay Sage | American Surrealist artist, poet (1898–1963) |
| 1938 | Johnny Gruelle | American cartoonist (December 24 1880 – January 9 1938) |
| 1934 | Andrei Bely | Russian poet, writer and critic (1880–1934) |
| 1896 | Paul Verlaine | French poet (1844–1896) |
| 1883 | Miska Magyarics | Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet (born 1825) |
| 1878 | Nikolay Nekrasov | Russian poet, critic, publisher (1821–1878) |
| 1570 | Philibert de l'Orme | French architect and writer |
Literary events on January 8
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1904 | Blackstone Library (pictured), the first branch of the Chicago Public Library system, was dedicated. |
| 1547 | The first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, is published in Königsberg. |
Featured
Sarah Polley (1979) — Sarah Ellen Polley is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and actress. She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books.
Gillies MacKinnon (1948) — Gillies MacKinnon is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He was born in Glasgow and attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this time he traveled with a nomadic tribe in the Sahara for six months.
Nancy Bond (1945) — Nancy Barbara Bond is an American author of children's literature. In 1977 her first book, A String in the Harp, was fantasy novel with an element of folklore, set in West Wales. It received a Newbery honor and the Welsh Tir na n-Og Award, and remains in print.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.