On this day
May 9 in literary history
Literary history for May 9: 10 writers born and 18 writers who died from 1763 to 2022. Born on this day: Joy Harjo, Charles Simic, Alan Bennett.
Writers born on May 9
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Joy Harjo | American poet laureate (born 1951) |
| 1938 | Charles Simic | Serbian-born American poet (1938–2023) |
| 1934 | Alan Bennett | English actor and playwright (born 1934) |
| 1895 | Lucian Blaga | Romanian philosopher and writer (1895–1961) |
| 1893 | William Moulton Marston | American psychologist and writer |
| 1883 | José Ortega y Gasset | Spanish philosopher and essayist (1883–1955) |
| 1860 | J. M. Barrie | Scottish novelist and playwright (1860–1937) |
| 1824 | Jacob ben Moses Bachrach | Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (died 1896) |
| 1814 | John Brougham | Irish-American actor and dramatist (1814–1880) |
| 1763 | János Batsányi | Hungarian poet |
Writers who died on May 9
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | John Leo | American writer and journalist (1935–2022) |
| 2018 | Per Kirkeby | Danish painter and poet (1938–2018) |
| 2014 | Mary Stewart (novelist) | British novelist (1916–2014) |
| 2008 | Nuala O'Faolain | Irish journalist and writer (1940–2008) |
| 1997 | Marco Ferreri | Italian film director, screenwriter and actor (1928–1997) |
| 1993 | Penelope Gilliatt | English writer and film critic (1932–1993) |
| 1981 | Nelson Algren | American writer (1909–1981) |
| 1979 | Eddie Jefferson | American jazz vocalist and lyricist (1918–1979) |
| 1977 | James Jones (author) | American author (1921–1977) |
| 1976 | Jens Bjørneboe | Norwegian writer (1920–1976) |
| 1976 | Ulrike Meinhof | German left-wing militant, journalist and author (1934–1976) |
| 1968 | Mercedes de Acosta | American poet, playwright, and novelist (1892–1968) |
| 1968 | Harold Gray | American cartoonist (1894–1968) |
| 1944 | Han Yong-un | Korean writer (1879–1944) |
| 1918 | George Coșbuc | Romanian poet, translator, teacher and journalist (1866–1918) |
| 1911 | Thomas Wentworth Higginson | American soldier, minister and author (1823–1911) |
| 1850 | Garlieb Merkel | Baltic German writer and publicist |
| 1805 | Friedrich Schiller | German playwright (1759–1805) |
Featured
Joy Harjo (1951) — Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States poet laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms.
Charles Simic (1938) — Dušan Simić, known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of The Paris Review. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for The World Doesn't End and was a finalist of the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Selected Poems, 1963–1983 and in 1987 for Unending Blues.
Alan Bennett (1934) — Alan Bennett is an English actor, author, playwright, and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005, he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.