On this day
April 8 in literary history
Literary history for April 8: 17 writers born and 11 writers who died from 1798 to 2015. Born on this day: Amit Trivedi, Nnedi Okorafor, Barbara Kingsolver.
Writers born on April 8
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Amit Trivedi | Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist (born 1979) |
| 1974 | Nnedi Okorafor | Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy (born 1974) |
| 1955 | Barbara Kingsolver | American author, poet, and essayist (born 1955) |
| 1943 | James Herbert | English horror writer (1943–2013) |
| 1939 | Trina Schart Hyman | American children's book illustrator |
| 1937 | Momo Kapor | Serbian novelist and painter |
| 1936 | Ghassan Kanafani | Palestinian author and militant (1936–1972) |
| 1935 | Oscar Zeta Acosta | American attorney, politician and novelist |
| 1928 | Fred Ebb | American lyricist (1928–2004) |
| 1927 | Tilly Armstrong | British novelist (1927–2010) |
| 1923 | George Fisher (cartoonist) | American cartoonist |
| 1918 | Glendon Swarthout | American writer (1918–1992) |
| 1911 | Emil Cioran | Romanian philosopher, aphorist, and essayist (1911–1995) |
| 1909 | John Fante | American writer (1909–1983) |
| 1896 | Yip Harburg | American lyricist (1896–1981) |
| 1886 | Margaret Ayer Barnes | American dramatist |
| 1798 | Dionysios Solomos | Greek national poet (1798–1857) |
Writers who died on April 8
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Jayakanthan | Indian writer, journalist, filmmaker |
| 2015 | David Laventhol | American newspaper editor and publisher (1933–2015) |
| 2014 | Karlheinz Deschner | German writer and activist (1924–2014) |
| 2013 | José Luis Sampedro | Spanish economist and writer (1917–2013) |
| 2009 | Richard de Mille | American author (1922–2009) |
| 2006 | Gerard Reve | Dutch writer (1923–2006) |
| 1979 | Breece D'J Pancake | American short story writer |
| 1941 | Marcel Prévost | French novelist and dramatist (1862–1941) |
| 1936 | Božena Benešová | Czech author and poet |
| 1931 | Erik Axel Karlfeldt | Swedish poet |
| 1894 | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | Indian Bengali writer, poet and journalist (1838–1894) |
Featured
Amit Trivedi (1979) — Amit Trivedi is an Indian composer, singer and lyricist. He began his career composing music for theatre productions, advertising jingles and independent music projects before making his film debut with the Hindi-language film Aamir (2008).
Nnedi Okorafor (1974) — Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her Binti Series and her novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control. She has also written for comics and film.
Barbara Kingsolver (1955) — Barbara Ellen Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo; and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.