On this day
March 12 in literary history
Literary history for March 12: 23 writers born and 10 writers who died from 1607 to 2016. Born on this day: Dave Eggers, Anne Summers, Virginia Hamilton.
Writers born on March 12
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Dave Eggers | American writer, editor, and publisher (born 1970) |
| 1945 | Anne Summers | Australian writer and journalist |
| 1936 | Virginia Hamilton | American writer of children's books (1936–2002) |
| 1929 | Win Tin | Burmese writer and political prisoner (12 March 1929 – 21 April 2014) |
| 1928 | Edward Albee | American playwright (1928–2016) |
| 1926 | John Clellon Holmes | American novelist |
| 1925 | Harry Harrison (writer) | American science fiction author (1925–2012) |
| 1922 | Jack Kerouac | American writer (1922–1969) |
| 1917 | Millard Kaufman | American screenwriter and novelist (1917–2009) |
| 1915 | Jiří Mucha | Czech writer (1915–1991) |
| 1912 | Irving Layton | Romanian-born Canadian poet (1912–2006) |
| 1909 | Petras Cvirka | Lithuanian writer |
| 1900 | Sylvi Kekkonen | Finnish writer and First Lady of Finland from 1956 to 1974 |
| 1898 | Tian Han | Chinese playwright and writer (1898–1968) |
| 1868 | Mary Karadja | Swedish writer and spiritualist (1868–1943) |
| 1864 | Alice Tegnér | Swedish music teacher, poet and composer (1864–1943) |
| 1863 | Gabriele D'Annunzio | Italian writer (1863–1938) |
| 1860 | Eric Stenbock | Baltic Swedish poet and novelist (1860–1895) |
| 1858 | Adolph Ochs | American newspaper publisher (1858–1935) |
| 1821 | Medo Pucić | Ragusan writer |
| 1672 | Richard Steele | Anglo-Irish writer and politician (1671–1729) |
| 1626 | John Aubrey | English writer and antiquarian (1626–1697) |
| 1607 | Paul Gerhardt | German Lutheran theologian and hymn writer (1607–1676) |
Writers who died on March 12
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rafiq Azad | Bangladeshi poet, editor and writer |
| 2015 | Ada Jafri | Pakistani poet (1924–2015) |
| 2015 | Terry Pratchett | English fantasy author (1948–2015) |
| 2010 | Miguel Delibes | Spanish writer, journalist and novelist |
| 2003 | Howard Fast | American writer |
| 2001 | Robert Ludlum | American novelist (1927–2001) |
| 1991 | William Heinesen | Faroese author, composer and painter |
| 1955 | Theodor Plievier | German writer (1892–1955) |
| 1916 | Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach | Austrian writer (1830–1916) |
| 1898 | Zachris Topelius | Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector (1818–1898) |
Featured
Dave Eggers (1970) — Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. As an author, he has written fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. His 2000 memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Anne Summers (1945) — Anne Summers is an Australian writer and columnist, best known as a leading feminist, editor and publisher. She was formerly First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Virginia Hamilton (1936) — Virginia Esther Hamilton was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the Newbery Medal in 1975.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.