On this day
March 28 in literary history
Literary history for March 28: 17 writers born, 16 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1563 to 2014. Born on this day: Jennifer Weiner, Iris Chang, Mario Vargas Llosa.
Writers born on March 28
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Jennifer Weiner | American writer (born 1970) |
| 1968 | Iris Chang | American writer and activist (1968–2004) |
| 1936 | Mario Vargas Llosa | Peruvian novelist and writer (1936–2025) |
| 1914 | Edward Anhalt | American screenwriter |
| 1914 | Bohumil Hrabal | Czech writer (1914–1997) |
| 1914 | Everett Ruess | American writer, artist and explorer, missing since 1934 |
| 1912 | A. Bertram Chandler | British-Australian science fiction author |
| 1909 | Nelson Algren | American writer (1909–1981) |
| 1904 | Margaret Tucker | Aboriginal Australian activist and writer |
| 1895 | Donald Barnhouse | American pastor and author (1895–1960) |
| 1884 | Angelos Sikelianos | Greek poet and writer (1884–1951) |
| 1879 | Terence MacSwiney | Irish writer and politician (1879–1920) |
| 1868 | Maxim Gorky | Russian and Soviet writer (1868–1936) |
| 1849 | James Darmesteter | James Darmesteter, French historian and author (died 1894) |
| 1815 | Arsène Houssaye | French writer (1814–1896) |
| 1725 | Andrew Kippis | English nonconformist clergyman and biographer |
| 1592 | John Amos Comenius | Czech teacher, educator, philosopher and writer (1592–1670) |
Writers who died on March 28
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Lorenzo Semple Jr. | American writer (1923–2014) |
| 2012 | John Arden | British playwright (1930–2012) |
| 2012 | Harry Crews | American novelist |
| 2000 | Anthony Powell | English novelist (1905–2000) |
| 1994 | Eugène Ionesco | Romanian-French playwright (1909–1994) |
| 1974 | Dorothy Fields | American librettist and lyricist (1904–1974) |
| 1965 | Clemence Dane | English novelist and playwright (1888–1965) |
| 1962 | Hugo Wast | Argentine novelist and script writer |
| 1944 | Stephen Leacock | Canadian writer and economist |
| 1942 | Miguel Hernández | Spanish poet and playwright |
| 1941 | Virginia Woolf | English modernist writer (1882–1941) |
| 1929 | Katharine Lee Bates | American poet, author, and professor; writer of "America the Beautiful" (1859–1929) |
| 1903 | Magdalene Thoresen | Danish-Norwegian poet and playwright (1819–1903) |
| 1687 | Constantijn Huygens | Dutch poet and composer (1596–1687) |
| 1566 | Sigismund von Herberstein | Carniolan writer and diplomat (1486–1566) |
| 1563 | Heinrich Glarean | Swiss music theorist, poet and humanist |
Literary events on March 28
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece. |
| 1968 | Colonel Sun, written by Kingsley Amis, was published, becoming the first James Bond novel published after the death of Ian Fleming in 1964. |
Featured
Jennifer Weiner (1970) — Jennifer Weiner is an American writer, television producer, and journalist. She is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her debut novel, published in 2001, was Good in Bed. Her novel In Her Shoes (2002) was made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine.
Iris Chang (1968) — Iris Shun-Ru Chang was an American journalist, historian, and political activist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanjing Massacre, The Rape of Nanking, and in 2003, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History.
Mario Vargas Llosa (1936) — Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.