On this day
October 17 in literary history
Literary history for October 17: 38 writers born, 15 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1586 to 2017. Born on this day: Randall Munroe, Ariel Levy (writer), Mark Gatiss.
38writers born
15writers died
1literary events
Writers born on October 17
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Randall Munroe | American cartoonist and author (born 1984) |
| 1974 | Ariel Levy (writer) | American writer (born 1974) |
| 1966 | Mark Gatiss | British actor and writer (born 1966) |
| 1965 | Rhys Muldoon | Australian actor, writer and director (born 1965) |
| 1964 | Gregg Wallace | English broadcaster and writer (born 1964) |
| 1961 | David Means | American short story writer and novelist |
| 1960 | Philippe Sands | British/French lawyer, legal academic and author (born 1960) |
| 1959 | Ron Drummond | American novelist |
| 1959 | Richard Roeper | American writer and film critic (born 1959) |
| 1958 | Craig Murray | Scottish diplomat, author, human rights activist and journalist |
| 1950 | Wally Lamb | American novelist (born 1950) |
| 1948 | Robert Jordan | American fantasy writer (1948–2007) |
| 1946 | Drusilla Modjeska | Australian writer and editor |
| 1938 | António Calvário | Portuguese singer, actor, and writer (born 1938) |
| 1938 | Les Murray (poet) | Australian poet and critic (1938–2019) |
| 1934 | Alan Garner | English novelist (born 1934) |
| 1931 | Ernst Hinterberger | Austrian writer |
| 1931 | Anatoly Pristavkin | Russian writer and public figure |
| 1928 | Jimmy Breslin | American journalist and author (1928–2017) |
| 1921 | Priscilla Buckley | American journalist and author (1921–2012) |
| 1921 | George Mackay Brown | Scottish poet (1921–1996) |
| 1920 | Miguel Delibes | Spanish writer, journalist and novelist |
| 1917 | Sumner Locke Elliott | Novelist and playwright |
| 1915 | Arthur Miller | American playwright and essayist (1915–2005) |
| 1914 | Jerry Siegel | American comic book writer (1914–1996) |
| 1910 | Ester Wier | American writer (1910–2000) |
| 1909 | Leopoldo Panero | Spanish poet |
| 1903 | Nathanael West | American novelist (1903–1940) |
| 1900 | Yvor Winters | American poet (1900–1968) |
| 1898 | Simon Vestdijk | Dutch author (1898–1971) |
| 1894 | Pablo de Rokha | Chilean poet (1894–1968) |
| 1889 | Mikhail Naimy | Lebanese writer and philosopher (1889–1988) |
| 1871 | Segundo de Chomón | Spanish film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and animator |
| 1864 | Elinor Glyn | British novelist and scriptwriter (1864–1943) |
| 1813 | Georg Büchner | German dramatist (1813–1837) |
| 1719 | Jacques Cazotte | French writer (1719–1792) |
| 1711 | Jupiter Hammon | American writer (1711–c. 1806) |
| 1587 | Nathan Field | English actor and dramatist (1587–1620) |
Writers who died on October 17
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Gord Downie | Canadian musician and writer (1964–2017) |
| 2009 | Norma Fox Mazer | American author and teacher (1931-2009) |
| 2000 | Joachim Nielsen | Norwegian rock musician and poet |
| 1981 | Kannadasan | Tamil poet and lyricist (1927–1981) |
| 1981 | Albert Cohen (novelist) | Greek-born Swiss novelist (1895–1981) |
| 1979 | S. J. Perelman | American screenwriter (1904–1979) |
| 1973 | Ingeborg Bachmann | Austrian poet and author (1926–1973) |
| 1928 | Frank Dicksee | English Victorian painter and illustrator (1853–1928) |
| 1910 | Julia Ward Howe | American abolitionist, social activist, and poet (1819–1910) |
| 1910 | Kurd Lasswitz | German author, scientist and philosopher |
| 1889 | Nikolay Chernyshevsky | Russian writer and philosopher (1828–1889) |
| 1776 | Pierre François le Courayer | French Catholic theological writer |
| 1757 | René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur | French entomologist and writer (1683–1757) |
| 1616 | John Pitts (Catholic scholar) | English Roman Catholic scholar and writer |
| 1586 | Philip Sidney | English poet, courtier, and diplomat (1554–1586) |
Literary events on October 17
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 'Salem's Lot, an American vampire novel by Stephen King, is published. |
Featured
Randall Munroe (1984) — Randall Patrick Munroe is an American cartoonist, author, and engineer best known as the creator of the webcomic xkcd. Munroe has worked full-time on the comic since late 2006.
Ariel Levy (writer) (1974) — Ariel Levy is an American journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. She's the author of the books The Rules Do Not Apply and Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, and The New York Times.
Mark Gatiss (1966) — Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.