On this day
May 22 in literary history
Literary history for May 22: 34 writers born and 14 writers who died from 1009 to 2022. Born on this day: Canek Sánchez Guevara, Max Brooks, Graham Linehan.
Writers born on May 22
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Canek Sánchez Guevara | Cuban author and dissident (1974–2015) |
| 1972 | Max Brooks | American writer (born 1972) |
| 1968 | Graham Linehan | Irish writer and anti-transgender activist (born 1968) |
| 1966 | Wang Xiaoshuai | Chinese film director and screenwriter (born 1966) |
| 1956 | Lucie Brock-Broido | American writer (1956–2018) |
| 1954 | Barbara May Cameron | Native American author, artist, and activist (1954–2002) |
| 1953 | François Bon | French writer and translator |
| 1950 | Bernie Taupin | British lyricist (born 1950) |
| 1948 | Nedumudi Venu | Indian actor and screenwriter (1944–2021) |
| 1944 | John Flanagan (author) | Australian fantasy author (1944–2026) |
| 1938 | Susan Strasberg | American actress and author (1938–1999) |
| 1937 | Tomáš Janovic | Slovak writer (1937–2023) |
| 1934 | Garry Wills | American author, political philosopher and historian (born 1934) |
| 1929 | Ahmed Fouad Negm | Egyptian poet |
| 1928 | Serge Doubrovsky | French writer (1928–2017) |
| 1928 | You Sano | Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (died 2013) |
| 1927 | Peter Matthiessen | American novelist (1927–2014) |
| 1917 | Jean-Louis Curtis | French novelist |
| 1913 | Rafael Gil | Spanish film director and screenwriter |
| 1913 | Dominique Rolin | Belgian novelist |
| 1907 | Hergé | Belgian cartoonist (1907–1983) |
| 1897 | Robert Neumann (writer) | Austrian writer (1897–1975) |
| 1891 | Johannes R. Becher | German politician, novelist and poet (1891–1958) |
| 1887 | A. W. Sandberg | Danish film director and screenwriter |
| 1880 | Francis de Miomandre | French novelist (1880-1959) |
| 1859 | Arthur Conan Doyle | British writer and physician (1859–1930) |
| 1859 | Tsubouchi Shōyō | Japanese author and playwright (1859–1935) |
| 1846 | Rita Cetina Gutiérrez | Mexican teacher, poet and feminist (1846–1908) |
| 1841 | Catulle Mendès | French poet and man of letters (1841–1909) |
| 1831 | Henry Vandyke Carter | English anatomist, illustrator of Gray's Anatomy |
| 1808 | Gérard de Nerval | French writer, poet, essayist and translator (1808–1855) |
| 1782 | Hirose Tansō | Neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and writer |
| 1772 | Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Indian reformer and writer (1772–1833) |
| 1009 | Su Xun | Song dynasty writer (1009–1066) |
Writers who died on May 22
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Dervla Murphy | Irish writer and touring cyclist (1931–2022) |
| 2019 | Judith Kerr | British writer and illustrator (1923–2019) |
| 2010 | Martin Gardner | American mathematics and science writer (1914–2010) |
| 2008 | Robert Asprin | American science fiction and fantasy author (1946–2008) |
| 1972 | Cecil Day-Lewis | Irish-born British poet (1904–1972) |
| 1967 | Langston Hughes | American writer and social activist (1901–1967) |
| 1948 | Claude McKay | Jamaican American writer and poet (1890–1948) |
| 1939 | Ernst Toller | German author and revolutionary (1893–1939) |
| 1939 | Jiří Mahen | Czech writer (1882–1939) |
| 1932 | Lady Gregory | Irish playwright, poet and folklorist (1852–1932) |
| 1910 | Jules Renard | French author (1864–1910) |
| 1885 | Victor Hugo | French writer and politician (1802–1885) |
| 1851 | Mordecai Manuel Noah | American diplomat and utopian writer (1785–1851) |
| 1540 | Francesco Guicciardini | Italian writer, historian, and politician (1483–1540) |
Featured
Canek Sánchez Guevara (1974) — Canek Sánchez Guevara (1974–2015) was a Cuban author, photographer, musician and dissident. The grandson of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara, he grew up in the upper crust of post-revolutionary Cuban society, but soon became disillusioned with the government of Fidel Castro.
Max Brooks (1972) — Maximilian Michael Brooks is an American writer and actor. He is the son of actors Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Much of Brooks' writing focuses on zombie stories. He was a senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, New York.
Graham Linehan (1968) — Graham George Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004), The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and Count Arthur Strong (2013–2017), and the sketch comedy show Big Train (1998–2002).
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.