On this day
April 12 in literary history
Literary history for April 12: 24 writers born, 12 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1713 to 2014. Born on this day: Nicholas Brendon, Tama Janowitz, Tanino Liberatore.
Writers born on April 12
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Nicholas Brendon | American actor, artist and writer (1971–2026) |
| 1957 | Tama Janowitz | American novelist (born 1956) |
| 1953 | Tanino Liberatore | Italian comics author and illustrator |
| 1952 | Gary Soto | American poet and writer (born 1952) |
| 1949 | Scott Turow | American writer and lawyer (born 1949) |
| 1948 | Jeremy Beadle | English television presenter, writer and producer (1948–2008) |
| 1947 | Tom Clancy | American author (1947–2013) |
| 1942 | Bill Bryden | Scottish stage and film director and screenwriter (1942–2022) |
| 1939 | Alan Ayckbourn | English playwright (born 1939) |
| 1931 | Leonid Derbenyov | Russian poet and lyricist (1931–1995) |
| 1930 | Pythagoras Papastamatiou | Greek lyricist and playwright |
| 1929 | Mukhran Machavariani | Georgian poet |
| 1928 | Hardy Krüger | German actor and author (1928–2022) |
| 1927 | Alvin Sargent | American screenwriter (1927–2019) |
| 1925 | Oliver Postgate | British animator, puppeteer and writer |
| 1916 | Beverly Cleary | American writer (1916–2021) |
| 1908 | Ida Pollock | British writer (1908–2013) |
| 1907 | Zawgyi (writer) | Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic |
| 1892 | Henry Darger | American artist and writer (1892–1973) |
| 1863 | Raul Pompeia | Brazilian writer (1863–1895) |
| 1851 | José Gautier Benítez | Puerto Rican writer |
| 1823 | Alexander Ostrovsky | Russian playwright (1823–1886) |
| 1816 | Charles Gavan Duffy | Irish poet, politician and journalist |
| 1713 | Guillaume Thomas François Raynal | French writer (1713–1796) |
Writers who died on April 12
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Pierre Autin-Grenier | French writer |
| 2013 | Michael France | American screenwriter |
| 2013 | Brennan Manning | American author, laicized priest, and public speaker (1934 – 2013) |
| 2012 | Mohit Chattopadhyay | Indian Bengali playwright and poet (1934–2012) |
| 2011 | Karim Fakhrawi | Bahraini publisher (1960s–2011) |
| 2010 | Werner Schroeter | German film director and screenwriter (1945–2010) |
| 1998 | Robert Ford (Canadian diplomat) | Canadian poet, translator and diplomat (1915–1998) |
| 1988 | Alan Paton | South African author (1903–1988) |
| 1986 | Valentin Kataev | Soviet writer and editor (1897–1986) |
| 1983 | Jørgen Juve | Norwegian footballer, jurist, and writer (1906–1983) |
| 1937 | Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan | Turkish playwright, poet and politician (1852–1937) |
| 1782 | Pietro Metastasio | Italian poet and librettist (1698–1782) |
Literary events on April 12
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1807 | The Froberg mutiny on Malta ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli. |
| 1807 | The Froberg mutiny of Greek and Albanian troops in British service ended with the explosion of the gunpowder magazine at Fort Ricasoli, Malta. |
Featured
Nicholas Brendon (1971) — Nicholas Brendon Schultz was an American actor, artist, and writer. He was best known for playing Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and Kevin Lynch in Criminal Minds (2007–2014).
Tama Janowitz (1957) — Tama Janowitz is an American novelist and a short story writer. She is especially known for her novel-in-stories Slaves of New York (1986), which was adapted into the movie of the same name by Merchant Ivory in 1989.
Tanino Liberatore (1953) — Gaetano Liberatore, better known as Tanino Liberatore, is an Italian comics creator. His best known fictional character is RanXerox.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.