On this day
May 25 in literary history
Literary history for May 25: 31 writers born, 14 writers who died and 4 literary events from 1595 to 2024. Born on this day: Stacy London, Michael de Adder, Julian Clary.
31writers born
14writers died
4literary events
Writers born on May 25
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Stacy London | Television host and author from the United States |
| 1967 | Michael de Adder | Canadian cartoonist (born 1967) |
| 1959 | Julian Clary | English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter (born 1959) |
| 1958 | Dorothy Straight | American author (born 1958) |
| 1957 | Edward Lee (writer) | American novelist |
| 1953 | Eve Ensler | American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist (born 1953) |
| 1953 | Stan Sakai | Japanese-American cartoonist and comic book creator |
| 1952 | Al Sarrantonio | American novelist (1952–2025) |
| 1951 | Bob Gale | American writer and filmmaker (born 1951) |
| 1949 | Jamaica Kincaid | Antiguan-American writer (born 1949) |
| 1949 | Barry Windsor-Smith | British graphic novelist (born 1949) |
| 1938 | Raymond Carver | American story writer and poet (1938–1988) |
| 1938 | Margaret Forster | English novelist and biographer (1938–2016) |
| 1935 | W. P. Kinsella | Canadian author (1935–2016) |
| 1932 | John Gregory Dunne | American writer (1932–2003) |
| 1930 | Sonia Rykiel | French fashion designer and writer (1930 - 2016) |
| 1927 | Robert Ludlum | American novelist (1927–2001) |
| 1926 | Phyllis Gotlieb | Canadian novelist and poet |
| 1925 | Rosario Castellanos | Mexican poet and author (1925–1974) |
| 1921 | Hal David | American lyricist (1921–2012) |
| 1908 | Theodore Roethke | American poet (1908–1963) |
| 1900 | Alain Grandbois | Canadian Quebecer poet (1900–1975) |
| 1899 | Kazi Nazrul Islam | Bengali poet, writer and musician (1899–1976) |
| 1898 | Bennett Cerf | American publisher and author (1898–1971) |
| 1879 | Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook | Anglo-Canadian business tycoon, politician, and writer (1879–1964) |
| 1879 | C. C. Martindale | English Jesuit priest and author (1879-1963) |
| 1848 | Johann Baptist Singenberger | Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (died 1924) |
| 1846 | Naim Frashëri | Albanian poet, writer and activist (1846–1900) |
| 1830 | Robert Williams (Trebor Mai) | Welsh poet (1830–1877) |
| 1818 | Louise de Broglie, Countess d'Haussonville | French writer (1818–1882) |
| 1803 | Edward Bulwer-Lytton | British statesman and writer (1803–1873) |
Writers who died on May 25
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Albert S. Ruddy | American film producer and screenwriter (1930–2024) |
| 2021 | Lois Ehlert | American author and illustrator (1934–2021) |
| 2012 | William Hanley | American dramatist |
| 2012 | Peter D. Sieruta | American writer and book critic |
| 2010 | Gabriel Vargas (cartoonist) | Mexican cartoonist (1915–2010) |
| 2004 | Roger Williams Straus Jr. | American publisher (1917–2004) |
| 2003 | Sloan Wilson | American writer (1920–2003) |
| 1983 | Necip Fazıl Kısakürek | Turkish poet, novelist, playwright, Islamist ideologue (1904–1983) |
| 1981 | Fredric Warburg | British publisher and author (1898–1981) |
| 1977 | Yevgenia Ginzburg | Soviet writer who served an 18-year sentence in the Kolyma Gulag |
| 1951 | Paula von Preradović | Austrian writer and poet (1887–1951) |
| 1917 | Maksim Bahdanovich | Belarusian writer |
| 1681 | Pedro Calderón de la Barca | Spanish playwright and poet (1600–1681) |
| 1595 | Valens Acidalius | German critic and poet (1567-1595) |
Literary events on May 25
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1977 | The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966. |
| 1895 | Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison. |
| 1816 | The poems Kubla Khan and Christabel by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge were published. |
| 1763 | First issue of Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler, the first regular Norwegian newspaper (1763–1920). |
Featured
Stacy London (1969) — Stacy London is an American stylist, TV personality, author, and midlife advocate. She is best known as the co-host of the iconic TLC show What Not to Wear.
Michael de Adder (1967) — Michael de Adder is a Canadian editorial cartoonist and caricaturist.
Julian Clary (1959) — Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian, actor, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has also acted in films, on television and in stage productions, including numerous pantomimes. He was the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in 2012.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.