On this day
December 18 in literary history
Literary history for December 18: 15 writers born, 14 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1499 to 2024. Born on this day: Barkha Dutt, Leila Steinberg, Leonid Yuzefovich.
Writers born on December 18
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Barkha Dutt | Indian television journalist and author |
| 1961 | Leila Steinberg | American poet (born 1961) |
| 1947 | Leonid Yuzefovich | Russian writer (born 1947) |
| 1943 | Alan Rudolph | American film director and screenwriter |
| 1939 | Michael Moorcock | English writer, editor, critic (born 1939) |
| 1932 | Roger Smith (actor) | American actor, film producer and screenwriter (1932–2017) |
| 1931 | Alison Plowden | English historian and biographer |
| 1920 | Robert Leckie (author) | United States Marine and author (1920–2001) |
| 1917 | Ossie Davis | American actor, director, writer, and activist (1917–2005) |
| 1913 | Alfred Bester | American science fiction author (1913–1987) |
| 1910 | Abe Burrows | American writer, director and humorist (1910–1985) |
| 1870 | Saki | British writer (1870–1916) |
| 1835 | Lyman Abbott | Theologian, editor, author (1835–1922) |
| 1707 | Charles Wesley | English Methodist and hymn writer (1707–1788) |
| 1499 | Sebald Heyden | German musicologist, cantor, theologian, hymn-writer and religious poet |
Writers who died on December 18
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | John Marsden (writer) | Australian writer and educator (1950–2024) |
| 2010 | Jacqueline de Romilly | French philologist, classical scholar and writer (1913–2010) |
| 2007 | William Strauss | American author (1947–2007) |
| 2006 | Joseph Barbera | American animator and cartoonist (1911–2006) |
| 2006 | Shaukat Siddiqui | Pakistani writer |
| 2004 | Anthony Sampson | British writer and journalist (1926–2004) |
| 2002 | Lucy Grealy | American poet |
| 1996 | Irving Caesar | American composer and lyricist (1895–1996) |
| 1995 | Ross Thomas (author) | American writer (1926–1995) |
| 1985 | Xuân Diệu | Vietnamese poet, journalist, and literary critic |
| 1980 | Dobriša Cesarić | Croatian poet and translator (1902–1980) |
| 1977 | Louis Untermeyer | American poet (1885–1977) |
| 1803 | Johann Gottfried Herder | German philosopher, theologian, poet (1744–1803) |
| 1787 | Soame Jenyns | English writer (1704–1787) |
Literary events on December 18
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1792 | Thomas Paine (depicted) was found guilty of seditious libel for the publication of the second part of his book Rights of Man. |
Featured
Barkha Dutt (1971) — Barkha Dutt is an Indian television journalist and author. She has been a reporter and news anchor at NDTV and Tiranga TV. She currently runs her own digital news channel called 'MoJo Story'.
Leila Steinberg (1961) — Leila Steinberg is an American manager, business woman, educator, writer, poet, and founder of AIM4TheHeART, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth find their voice using an emotional literacy curriculum and writing workshops.
Leonid Yuzefovich (1947) — Leonid Abramovich Yuzefovich is a Russian writer known for the series of crime fiction stories taking place in pre-Revolution Russian Empire. He also writes non-fiction books about history, and currently adapts his stories for TV serials.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.