On this day
October 16 in literary history
Literary history for October 16: 22 writers born, 18 writers who died and 3 literary events from 1605 to 2017. Born on this day: Adrianne Frost, James Thompson (crime writer), Marc Levy.
Writers born on October 16
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Adrianne Frost | American comedian, author, and actress (born 1978) |
| 1964 | James Thompson (crime writer) | American-Finnish crime writer (1964–2014) |
| 1961 | Marc Levy | French writer |
| 1961 | Scott O'Hara | American poet |
| 1957 | Priidu Beier | Estonian poet and teacher |
| 1956 | Meg Rosoff | American novelist (born 1956) |
| 1956 | Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah | Bangladeshi poet (1956–1991) |
| 1954 | Lorenzo Carcaterra | American writer |
| 1945 | Paul Monette | American author, poet, and activist (1945 – 1995) |
| 1938 | Allan Massie | Scottish journalist and novelist (1938–2026) |
| 1931 | Charles Colson | American attorney and author (1931–2012) |
| 1927 | Günter Grass | German author and artist (1927–2015) |
| 1926 | Ed Valigursky | Ed Valigursky, American illustrator (died 2009) |
| 1921 | Sita Ram Goel | Hindu nationalist writer and publisher (1921–2003) |
| 1919 | Kathleen Winsor | American novelist (1915–2003) |
| 1908 | Olivia Coolidge | British American historical writer |
| 1900 | Edward Ardizzone | British artist, children's illustrator and writer |
| 1900 | Primo Conti | Primo Conti, Italian painter and poet (died 1988) |
| 1888 | Eugene O'Neill | American playwright (1888–1953) |
| 1854 | Oscar Wilde | Irish writer (1854–1900) |
| 1758 | Noah Webster | American lexicographer and author (1758–1843) |
| 1605 | Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy | French musician and poet |
Writers who died on October 16
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Sean Hughes (comedian) | Irish-British comedian, writer and actor (1965–2017) |
| 2015 | Vera Williams | American writer |
| 2013 | Govind Purushottam Deshpande | Indian playwright and academic (1938–2013) |
| 2008 | Dagmar Normet | Estonian writer (1921–2008) |
| 1999 | Jean Shepherd | American writer and radio host (1921–1999) |
| 1997 | James A. Michener | American author (1907–1997) |
| 1996 | Eric Malpass | English novelist (1910–1996) |
| 1989 | Walter Farley | American writer |
| 1989 | Scott O'Dell | American writer (1898–1989) |
| 1979 | Johan Borgen | Norwegian author, journalist and critic |
| 1971 | Robin Boyd (architect) | Australian architect and writer (1919–1971) |
| 1966 | George O'Hara (actor) | American actor and screenwriter |
| 1937 | Jean de Brunhoff | French artist and writer |
| 1936 | Effie Adelaide Rowlands | British novelist |
| 1909 | Jakub Bart-Ćišinski | Sorbian writer (1856–1909) |
| 1877 | Théodore Barrière | French playwright |
| 1774 | Robert Fergusson | Scottish poet and writer |
| 1628 | François de Malherbe | French poet, critic, and translator (1555–1628) |
Literary events on October 16
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2002 | The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opens in Egypt, commemorating the ancient library of Alexandria. |
| 1968 | Yasunari Kawabata becomes the first Japanese person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. |
| 1950 | The first novel of the The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published in the United Kingdom. |
Featured
Adrianne Frost (1972) — Adrianne Frost is an American comedian, author, and actress. She is best known for her work on Comedy Central's The Daily Show and VH1's Best Week Ever.
James Thompson (crime writer) (1964) — James Thompson was an American-Finnish crime writer based in Helsinki. He had a master's degree in English philology from The University of Helsinki, where he also studied Finnish, in which he was fluent. He studied six languages. He published four crime novels with the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara as the protagonist.
Marc Levy (1961) — Marc Levy is a French novelist.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.