On this day
November 21 in literary history
Literary history for November 21: 18 writers born, 16 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1566 to 2024. Born on this day: Rich Johnston, Fiona Pitt-Kethley, Laurence Luckinbill.
Writers born on November 21
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Rich Johnston | Comic comics columnist and author |
| 1954 | Fiona Pitt-Kethley | British poet, novelist, travel writer and journalist |
| 1934 | Laurence Luckinbill | American actor, playwright and director (born 1934) |
| 1932 | Beryl Bainbridge | English writer (1932–2010) |
| 1930 | Marjan Rožanc | Slovenian writer |
| 1929 | Marilyn French | American feminist author (1929–2009) |
| 1914 | Henri Laborit | French surgeon, neurobiologist, writer and philosopher (1914-95) |
| 1908 | Elizabeth George Speare | American novelist (1908–1994) |
| 1905 | Georgina Battiscombe | British biographer (1905–2006) |
| 1903 | Isaac Bashevis Singer | Jewish American author (1903–1991) |
| 1886 | Harold Nicolson | British diplomat, author, diarist and politician (1886–1968) |
| 1876 | Olav Duun | Norwegian writer (1876–1939) |
| 1870 | Alexander Berkman | Russian-American anarchist and writer (1870–1936) |
| 1866 | Sigbjørn Obstfelder | Norwegian writer and poet |
| 1760 | Joseph Plumb Martin | American soldier and memoir writer (1760–1850) |
| 1694 | Voltaire | French writer and philosopher (1694–1778) |
| 1692 | Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni | Italian poet (1692–1768) |
| 1631 | Catharina Questiers | Dutch poet and dramatist |
Writers who died on November 21
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Alice Brock | American artist, author and restaurateur (1941–2024) |
| 2015 | Anthony Read | English television producer, screenwriter, script editor and author |
| 2013 | John Egerton (journalist) | American writer (1935–2013) |
| 2011 | Anne McCaffrey | Irish science fiction writer (1926–2011) |
| 2010 | Norris Church Mailer | American writer; widow of Norman Mailer (1949–2010) |
| 2010 | Margaret Taylor-Burroughs | American writer, artist and educator (1915–2010) |
| 1989 | Margot Zemach | American children's illustrator and writer (1931 – 1989) |
| 1975 | Gunnar Gunnarsson | Icelandic author (1889–1975) |
| 1967 | C. M. Eddy Jr. | American writer (1896–1967) |
| 1945 | Robert Benchley | American writer and actor (1889–1945) |
| 1945 | Ellen Glasgow | American novelist (1873–1945) |
| 1870 | Karel Jaromír Erben | Czech poet and folklorist (1811–1870) |
| 1844 | Ivan Krylov | Russian writer (1769–1844) |
| 1811 | Heinrich von Kleist | German Romantic writer (1777–1811) |
| 1775 | John Hill (botanist) | English author and botanist (1716–1775) |
| 1566 | Annibale Caro | Italian poet and Knight of Malta |
Literary events on November 21
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1905 | Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik. |
Featured
Rich Johnston (1972) — Richard "Rich" Johnston is a British comics creator, columnist, and founder of the comics news site Bleeding Cool.
Fiona Pitt-Kethley (1954) — Fiona Pitt-Kethley is a British poet, novelist, travel writer and journalist, who is the author of more than 20 books of poetry and prose. She lived for many years in Hastings, East Sussex and moved to Spain in 2002 with her husband James Plaskett and their son, Alexander.
Laurence Luckinbill (1934) — Laurence George Luckinbill is an American actor, playwright and director. He has worked in film, television and theatre, doing triple duty in the theatre by writing, directing and starring in stage productions. He is known for penning and starring in one-man shows based upon the lives of U.S.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.