On this day

September 15 in literary history

Literary history for September 15: 25 writers born, 16 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1254 to 2026. Born on this day: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sophie Dahl, Rajiv Malhotra.

25writers born
16writers died
2literary events

Writers born on September 15

BornWriterKnown as
1977Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieNigerian writer (born 1977)
1977Sophie DahlBritish author
1950Rajiv MalhotraIndian-American author (born 1950)
1947Diane LevinAmerican author, educator, and advocate (born 1947)
1945Ron SheltonAmerican film director and screenwriter
1936Sara HendersonAustralian writer and pastoralist (1936–2005)
1922Mary SoamesEnglish author (1922–2014)
1921Richard Gordon (English author)English author (1921–2017)
1919Heda Margolius KovályCzech writer and translator (1919-2010)
1915Fawn M. BrodieAmerican historian and biographer (1915–1981)
1914Adolfo Bioy CasaresArgentine novelist (1914–1999)
1914Orhan KemalTurkish novelist (1914–1970)
1910Betty NeelsBritish writer
1907Gunnar EkelöfSwedish poet and writer (1907–1968)
1898J. SlauerhoffDutch poet, writer and doctor (1898–1936)
1890Agatha ChristieEnglish mystery and detective writer (1890–1976)
1889Robert BenchleyAmerican writer and actor (1889–1945)
1889Claude McKayJamaican American writer and poet (1890–1948)
1877Yente SerdatzkyRussian-born American Yiddish-language writer (1877–1962)
1876Sarat Chandra ChattopadhyayIndian Bengali writer (1876–1938)
1795James Gates PercivalAmerican poet
1789James Fenimore CooperAmerican writer (1789–1851)
1765Manuel Maria Barbosa du BocagePortuguese Neoclassic poet (1765–1805)
1613François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)17th-century French moralist and author of "Maximes"
1254Marco PoloVenetian merchant, explorer, and writer (1254–1324)

Writers who died on September 15

DiedWriterKnown as
2026Annie DillardAmerican author (1945–2026)
2026Bonnie GreerAmerican-British playwright, novelist and broadcaster (1948–2026)
2024Elias KhouryLebanese intellectual, playwright and novelist (1948–2024)
2014Jürg SchubigerSwiss psychotherapist and writer (1936–2014)
2014Wayne TefsCanadian novelist, writer, editor, critic, and anthologist (1947 – 2014)
2012Hajra MasroorPakistani writer (1930–2012)
2009Troy Kennedy MartinBritish screenwriter
2006Oriana FallaciItalian journalist and author (1929–2006)
1989Robert Penn WarrenAmerican poet, novelist, and literary critic (1905–1989)
1978Edmund CrispinBritish composer and crime novelist (1921–1978)
1972Baki Süha EdiboğluBaki Süha Ediboğlu, Turkish poet and author (born 1915)
1952Hugo RaudseppEstonian writer and politician
1938Thomas WolfeAmerican novelist (1900–1938)
1707George StepneyEnglish poet and diplomat
1701Edmé BoursaultFrench dramatist (1638–1701)
1613Thomas OverburyEnglish poet and essayist (1581–1613)

Literary events on September 15

YearEvent
1915New Culture Movement: Chen Duxiu establishes the New Youth magazine in Shanghai.
1791French playwright Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, hoping to expose the failures of the French Revolution in the recognition of gender equality.

Featured

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977) — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer, whose works include fiction, nonfiction, and lectures. She is widely recognised as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature.

Sophie Dahl (1977) — Sophie Dahl is an English writer and former fashion model. Her first book, a novella, The Man With The Dancing Eyes, was published in 2003, followed by a novel, Playing With The Grown-Ups, in 2007.

Rajiv Malhotra (1950) — Rajiv Malhotra is an Indian-American author, public intellectual, and a public proponent of Hindutva. He is the founder of Infinity Foundation, an organisation known to focus on Indic studies, and financially aid Columbia University's project to translate the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur.

Sources & data

  • Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.