August 23 Writer Birthdays

1849 – William Ernest Henley, English, poet, critic, and editor.

1868 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, biographer, and dramatist, best known for his poetry collection Spoon River Anthology.

1884 – Will Cuppy, American humorist and literary critic who wrote satirical books about nature and historical figures.

1897 – Henry F. Pringle, Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, journalist, and Theodore Roosevelt biographer.

1911 – James Vincent Cunningham, American poet, literary critic, and teacher.

1922 – Nazik al-Mala’ika, Iraqi poet and essayist who is one of the most influential contemporary poets; she is credited with being the first Arabic poet to use free verse.

1924 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli humorist, screenwriter, playwright, and columnist.

1935 – Norbert Blei, American writer of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry who established Cross+Roads Press, dedicated to the publication of first chapbooks by poets, short-story writers, novelists, and artists.

1943 – Nelson DeMille, American author of suspense novels, some of them written under pseudonyms including Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, Ellen Kay, and Brad Matthews.

1946 – Robert Irwin, British novelist, historian, and writer on Arabic literature; he is best known for the comic novel The Limits of Vision, in which a London housewife holds imaginary conversations with Da Vinci, Dickens, and Darwin on the subject of dust balls and dirt.

1947 – Willy Russell, English playwright who wrote Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita, among others.

1957 – Melaine Rae Thon, American novelist and short-story writer.

1966 – Charley Boorman, English travel writer, adventurer, and television presenter, known for his motorcycle journeys with his friend, actor Ewan McGregor.