On this day
March 17 in literary history
Literary history for March 17: 15 writers born, 9 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1640 to 2010. Born on this day: Mineko Nomachi, Mark Dolan, Patrick McDonnell.
Writers born on March 17
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Mineko Nomachi | Japanese mangaka and illustrator (born 1979) |
| 1974 | Mark Dolan | English comedian, writer, and presenter |
| 1956 | Patrick McDonnell | American illustrator (born 1956) |
| 1948 | William Gibson | American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist (born 1948) |
| 1943 | Andrew Brook | Canadian philosopher, author and academic (born 1943) |
| 1933 | Penelope Lively | British novelist (born 1933) |
| 1926 | Siegfried Lenz | German writer (1926–2014) |
| 1915 | Robert S. Arbib Jr. | American ornithologist and writer |
| 1894 | Paul Green (playwright) | American playwright (1894–1981) |
| 1867 | Patrice Contamine de Latour | Spanish poet, emigrant to France |
| 1832 | Joseph Skipsey | English miner, author and poet (1832–1903) |
| 1820 | Jean Ingelow | English poet and novelist (1820–1897) |
| 1781 | Ebenezer Elliott | English poet and Corn Laws opponent (1781–1849) |
| 1780 | Thomas Chalmers | Scottish clergyman, writer and historian (1780 – 1847) |
| 1777 | Patrick Brontë | Irish clergyman and writer (1777–1861) |
Writers who died on March 17
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Sid Fleischman | American writer (1920–2010) |
| 2005 | Andre Norton | American science fiction and fantasy writer (1912–2005) |
| 2001 | Anthony Storr | English psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author (1920–2001) |
| 1996 | René Clément | French film director and screenwriter (1913–1996) |
| 1990 | Dinkar G. Kelkar | Indian writer, curator and historian (1896–1990) |
| 1871 | Robert Chambers (publisher, born 1802) | Scottish publisher and writer |
| 1741 | Jean-Baptiste Rousseau | French playwright and poet (1671–1741) |
| 1680 | François de La Rochefoucauld (writer) | 17th-century French moralist and author of "Maximes" |
| 1640 | Philip Massinger | English playwright (1583–1640) |
Literary events on March 17
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1962 | A Clockwork Orange, a British dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess, is published. |
Featured
Mineko Nomachi (1979) — Mineko Nomachi is a Japanese essayist, columnist, illustrator, and radio and television personality. She is best known for her blog I'm Queer but I'm an Office Lady , which was published as a book by Bungeishunjū in 2006, and for multiple radio and television programs co-hosted with writer Mitsurou Kubo.
Mark Dolan (1974) — Mark Dolan is an English presenter and comedian. He has hosted various shows on UK television, including Balls of Steel for Channel 4 2005 until 2008 and Mark Dolan Tonight and Friday Night Live with Mark Dolan for GB News between 2021 and 2024. In 2025, he joined TalkTV.
Patrick McDonnell (1956) — Patrick McDonnell is a cartoonist, author, and playwright. He is the creator of the daily comic strip Mutts, which follows the adventures of a dog and a cat, that has been syndicated since 1994.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.