On this day
July 16 in literary history
Literary history for July 16: 16 writers born, 17 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1664 to 2012. Born on this day: Tony Kushner, Susan Wheeler, Gary Indiana (writer).
Writers born on July 16
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Tony Kushner | American playwright and screenwriter (born 1956) |
| 1955 | Susan Wheeler | American poet |
| 1950 | Gary Indiana (writer) | American writer, playwright and poet (1950–2024) |
| 1947 | Don Burke | Australian television presenter, author, and horticulturist (born 1947) |
| 1943 | Reinaldo Arenas | Cuban writer (1943–1990) |
| 1941 | Dag Solstad | Norwegian writer (1941–2025) |
| 1938 | Cynthia Enloe | American feminist writer, theorist, and professor (born 1938) |
| 1934 | Tomás Eloy Martínez | Argentine journalist and writer (1934 – 2010) |
| 1932 | John Chilton | British jazz trumpeter and writer (1932–2016) |
| 1929 | Sheri S. Tepper | American science fiction, horror and mystery novelist (1929–2016) |
| 1928 | Anita Brookner | English novelist and art historian (1928–2016) |
| 1928 | Robert Sheckley | American writer |
| 1927 | Shirley Hughes | English illustrator and author (1927–2022) |
| 1920 | Anatole Broyard | American writer (1920–1990) |
| 1880 | Kathleen Norris | American writer (1880–1966) |
| 1714 | Marc René, marquis de Montalembert | French Royal Army officer and writer |
Writers who died on July 16
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | William Asher | American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter (1921–2012) |
| 2012 | Stephen Covey | American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker |
| 2003 | Carol Shields | Canadian writer |
| 1999 | John F. Kennedy Jr. | American attorney and magazine publisher (1960–1999) |
| 1995 | May Sarton | Belgian and American writer (1912–1995) |
| 1995 | Stephen Spender | English poet and man of letters (1909–1995) |
| 1991 | Meindert De Jong | American writer (1906–1991) |
| 1985 | Heinrich Böll | German writer (1917–1985) |
| 1960 | John P. Marquand | American novelist (1893–1960) |
| 1953 | Hilaire Belloc | French-English author (1870–1953) |
| 1949 | Vyacheslav Ivanov (poet) | Russian poet and playwright (1866–1949) |
| 1915 | Ellen G. White | American author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1827–1915) |
| 1896 | Edmond de Goncourt | French writer and critic (1822–1896) |
| 1886 | Ned Buntline | American novelist |
| 1885 | Rosalía de Castro | Spanish Galician poet, writer (1837–1885) |
| 1868 | Dmitry Pisarev | Russian writer and nihilist philosopher (1840–1868) |
| 1664 | Andreas Gryphius | German poet and dramatist |
Literary events on July 16
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1951 | J. D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye. |
| 1951 | The Catcher in the Rye (cover pictured), an American coming-of-age novel by J. D. Salinger, was published by Little, Brown. |
Featured
Tony Kushner (1956) — Anthony Robert Kushner is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for Angels in America, which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaimed HBO miniseries of the same name.
Susan Wheeler (1955) — Susan Wheeler is an educator and poet. She is professor emeritus at Princeton University. She has also taught at the University of Iowa, New York University, Rutgers University, Columbia University and The New School.
Gary Indiana (writer) (1950) — Gary Hoisington, known as Gary Indiana, was an American writer, actor, artist, and cultural critic. He served as the art critic for the Village Voice weekly newspaper from 1985 to 1988.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.