On this day
January 20 in literary history
Literary history for January 20: 20 writers born and 15 writers who died from 1500 to 2016. Born on this day: Kazushige Nojima, Fareed Zakaria, Janey Godley.
Writers born on January 20
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Kazushige Nojima | Japanese video game writer (born 1964) |
| 1964 | Fareed Zakaria | American journalist and author (born 1964) |
| 1961 | Janey Godley | Scottish actress, writer and comedian (1961–2024) |
| 1959 | Tami Hoag | American novelist (born 1959) |
| 1952 | Nikos Sideris | Greek psychiatrist, translator, poet and writer |
| 1948 | Nancy Kress | American science fiction writer (born 1948) |
| 1944 | Pat Parker | American poet and activist |
| 1934 | Hennie Aucamp | Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (died 2014) |
| 1934 | Tom Baker | English actor and writer (born 1934) |
| 1927 | Qurratulain Hyder | Indian Urdu writer (1928-2007) |
| 1925 | Jamiluddin Aali | Pakistani poet, writer, and scholar (1926–2015) |
| 1925 | Ernesto Cardenal | Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician (1925-2020) |
| 1922 | Don Mankiewicz | American screenwriter (1922–2015) |
| 1910 | Joy Adamson | Naturalist, artist and author (1910–1980) |
| 1894 | Harold Gray | American cartoonist (1894–1968) |
| 1873 | Johannes V. Jensen | Danish author (1873–1950) |
| 1856 | Harriot Stanton Blatch | American writer and suffragist |
| 1716 | Jean-Jacques Barthélemy | French writer and numismatist (1716–1795) |
| 1664 | Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina | Italian writer and jurist (1664–1718) |
| 1500 | Jean Quintin | French priest, knight of the Order of St John and writer |
Writers who died on January 20
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Edmonde Charles-Roux | French writer (1920–2016) |
| 2013 | Pavlos Matesis | Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (born 1933) |
| 2013 | Toyo Shibata | Japanese poet (1911–2013) |
| 2005 | Jan Nowak-Jeziorański | Polish journalist and writer (1914–2005) |
| 2005 | Miriam Rothschild | British natural scientist and author |
| 2004 | T. Nadaraja | Sri Lankan academic, lawyer and author |
| 2002 | Carrie Hamilton | American dramatist (1963–2002) |
| 1971 | Broncho Billy Anderson | American actor, writer, film director, and producer (1880–1971) |
| 1962 | Robinson Jeffers | American poet (1887–1962) |
| 1955 | Robert P. T. Coffin | American poet |
| 1931 | Margrethe Munthe | Norwegian children's writer and songwriter (1860–1931) |
| 1907 | Agnes Mary Clerke | Irish astronomer and writer (1842–1907) |
| 1859 | Bettina von Arnim | German writer (1785–1859) |
| 1850 | Adam Oehlenschläger | Danish poet & playwright (1779–1850) |
| 1779 | David Garrick | English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer (1716-1779) |
Featured
Kazushige Nojima (1964) — Kazushige Nojima is a Japanese video game writer.
Fareed Zakaria (1964) — Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.
Janey Godley (1961) — Jane Godley Currie, known professionally as Janey Godley, was a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress, writer and political activist. She began her stand-up career in 1994, and won various awards for her comedy in the 2000s.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.