On this day
March 8 in literary history
Literary history for March 8: 11 writers born, 8 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1010 to 2025. Born on this day: Lena Sundström, Michael S. Hart, Carole Bayer Sager.
Writers born on March 8
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Lena Sundström | Swedish journalist and author |
| 1947 | Michael S. Hart | American author, founder of Project Gutenberg (1947–2011) |
| 1944 | Carole Bayer Sager | American lyricist, singer, songwriter, and painter (born 1944) |
| 1941 | Norman Stone | British historian and author (1941–2019) |
| 1937 | Richard Fariña | American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist (1937–1966) |
| 1931 | John McPhee | American author (born 1931) |
| 1928 | Lore Segal | American writer (1928–2024) |
| 1892 | Juana de Ibarbourou | Uruguayan poet |
| 1859 | Kenneth Grahame | Scottish writer (1859–1932) |
| 1830 | João de Deus de Nogueira Ramos | Portuguese poet (1830–1896) |
| 1761 | Jan Potocki | Polish nobleman, writer (creating in French), traveler, politician and historian |
Writers who died on March 8
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Athol Fugard | South African playwright (1932–2025) |
| 2018 | Kate Wilhelm | American science fiction writer (1928–2018) |
| 2015 | Sam Simon | American television writer and producer (1955–2015) |
| 2013 | Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin | German publisher (1922–2013) |
| 2012 | Simin Daneshvar | Iranian writer (1921–2012) |
| 1999 | Adolfo Bioy Casares | Argentine novelist (1914–1999) |
| 1941 | Sherwood Anderson | American writer (1876–1941) |
| 1723 | Povel Juel | Norwegian civil servant and writer (c.1673–1723) |
Literary events on March 8
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1775 | An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slavery in America", the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery. |
| 1010 | Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh. |
Featured
Lena Sundström (1972) — Lena Amalia Kyoung Ran Sundström is a Swedish journalist and author. She writes news chronicles and writes for Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter. She has also had her own column at Aftonbladet newspaper, Metro newspaper's Swedish editions, Mersmak and Dagens Arbete.
Michael S. Hart (1947) — Michael Stern Hart was an American author credited with the invention of the e-book, and who founded Project Gutenberg (PG), the first project to make e-books freely available via the Internet. He published e-books via ARPANET years before the Internet existed, and later on BBS networks and Gopher servers.
Carole Bayer Sager (1944) — Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.