1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster and theologian, best known for the satirical novella Flatland.
1902 – Vasil Iljoski, Macedonian writer, dramatist, professor, and an important figure in the Macedonian literature.
1920 – Väinö Linna, Finnish author best known for his novel, Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier).
1951 – Kate Atkinson, postmodern British novelist and playwright whose work has been described as “Kurt Vonnegut meets Jane Austen.”
1951 – Peter May, Scottish novelist known for his crime fiction.
1954 – Sandra Cisneros, Mexican-American novelist, acclaimed for her first novel The House on Mango Street.
1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, Jamaican-born Canadian science-fiction and fantasy author of novels and short stories whose work often draws on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.
1969 – Alain de Botton, bestselling British-based Swiss writer, philosopher, essayist, television presenter, and entrepreneur whose books and television shows emphasize philosophy’s relevance to everyday life.
