On this day
March 21 in literary history
Literary history for March 21: 18 writers born and 11 writers who died from 1557 to 2025. Born on this day: Moa Matthis, Thomas Frank (political commentator), Mark Waid.
Writers born on March 21
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Moa Matthis | Swedish literature critic and author |
| 1965 | Thomas Frank (political commentator) | American political analyst, historian, and writer |
| 1962 | Mark Waid | American comic book writer, born 1962 |
| 1953 | Paul Martin Lester | Paul Martin Lester, American photographer, author, and educator (died 2023) |
| 1953 | David Wisniewski | American writer |
| 1943 | Vivian Stanshall | English musician and author (1943–1995) |
| 1938 | Michael Foreman (illustrator) | British author (born 1938) |
| 1937 | Pierre-Jean Rémy | French writer and diplomat |
| 1931 | Al Williamson | American cartoonist (1931–2010) |
| 1923 | Louis-Edmond Hamelin | Canadian geographer, professor, and author (1923–2020) |
| 1923 | Nizar Qabbani | Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher (1923–1998) |
| 1917 | Frank Hardy | Australian writer (1917–1994) |
| 1905 | Phyllis McGinley | American poet (1905–1978) |
| 1887 | Lajos Kassák | Hungarian writer and artist |
| 1880 | Broncho Billy Anderson | American actor, writer, film director, and producer (1880–1971) |
| 1763 | Jean Paul | German Romantic writer (1763–1825) |
| 1672 | Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino | Italian poet and opera librettist (1672–1742) |
| 1557 | Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel | English noblewoman and poet (1557–1630) |
Writers who died on March 21
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kitty Dukakis | American author (1936–2025) |
| 2021 | Nawal El Saadawi | Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist (1931–2021) |
| 2017 | Colin Dexter | English writer (1930–2017) |
| 2013 | Chinua Achebe | Nigerian author and literary critic (1930–2013) |
| 2013 | Rick Hautala | American novelist (1949–2013) |
| 2012 | Tonino Guerra | Italian concentration camp survivor, poet, writer and screenwriter (1920–2012) |
| 2003 | Shivani | Indian writer |
| 1997 | Wilbert Awdry | British author and vicar (1911–1997) |
| 1958 | Cyril M. Kornbluth | American science fiction author (1923–1958) |
| 1843 | Robert Southey | English romantic poet (1774–1843) |
| 1751 | Johann Heinrich Zedler | Bookseller and publisher |
Featured
Moa Matthis (1966) — Moa Matthis is a Swedish literature critic and author. She writes for Dagens Nyheter, and she writes articles and books mostly for a feminist angle.
Thomas Frank (political commentator) (1965) — Thomas Carr Frank is an American political analyst, and historian. He co-founded and edited The Baffler magazine. Frank is the author of the books What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004) and Listen, Liberal (2016), among others. From 2008 to 2010 he wrote "The Tilting Yard", a column in The Wall Street Journal.
Mark Waid (1962) — Mark Waid is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles The Flash, Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright as well as his work on Captain America, Fantastic Four and Daredevil for Marvel.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.