1821 – Gustave Flaubert, influential French author of literary realism best known for the classic novel Madame Bovary.
1905 – Mulk Raj Anand, Indian writer who wrote in English about the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society; a pioneer of Indo-Anglian fiction, he was one of the first India-based writers in English to gain an international readership.
1914 – Patrick O’Brian, English novelist, famous for writing about his series of books about the sea, set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.
1920 – Elena Garro, Mexican screenwriter, journalist, playwright, short-story writer, and novelist, commonly affiliated with the Magical Realism movement (though she rejected this affiliation). She was married to poet Octavio Paz.
1946 – Josepha Sherman, American author, folklorist, and anthologist, known for her own fantasy novels as well as work within the Star Trek universe.
1969 – Madeleine Wickham (born Madeleine Townley), English author of chick lit who is best known for work written under the pen name Sophie Kinsella.
