December 29 Writer Birthdays

1792 – Sir Archibald Alison, Scottish author who wrote the first scholarly English-language study of the French Revolution.

1813 – Karel Sabina, Czech poet, author, theater reviewer, playwright, essayist, philosopher, librettist, literature historian, literary critic, publicist, and translator.

1823 – Augusta Theodosia Drane, English writer, poet, theologian, andd Roman Catholic nun.

1843 – Elisabeth of Wied, Queen Consort of Romania, who under the pen name Carmen Sylva wrote many poems, plays, novels, short stories, and essays in German, Romanian, French, and English.

1868 – Kitamura Tokoku, pen name of Kitamura Montaro, a Japanese poet and essayist who was one of the founders of the modern Japanese romantic literary movement.

1890 – Bettiola Heloise Fortson, African-American writer, poet, suffragist, and civil-right activist; she was one of the first African-Americans in the Midwestern United States to write and publish a book.

1893 – Vera Brittain, British writer, feminist, and pacifist who is remembered for her bestselling memoir Testament of Youth, which recounts her experiences during World War I and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism.

1898 – Elsa Gidlow, English-born Canadian-American poet, writer, journalist, philosopher, and memoirist best known for On A Grey Thread, the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry published in North America and her autobiography, Elsa, I Come with My Songs, the first lesbian autobiography published by an author under her own name; she also helped found Druid Heights, a bohemian community in Marin County, California.

1900 – Rigoberto Fontao Meza, Paraguayan poet who has been called one of the greatest poets of the Paraguayan native canon; he wrote highly descriptive poems in Spanish, Guarani and Jopara.

1901 – Pingali Nagendrarao, Indian poet, author, playwright, screenwriter, songwriter, and lyricist; he is famous for coining of new and funny words and phrases in Telugu.

1915 – Charles Leonard Harness, science-fiction author who has been named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

1915 – Robert Ruark, American author, sports journalist, columnist, and big game hunter.

1921 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian writer and political theorist who was the first president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

1922 – William Gaddis, American author and essayist who has won three National Book Awards and is considered one of the first and most important American postmodern writers.

1926 – Nabakanta Barua, prominent Indian Assamese novelist and poet who was also known as Ekhud Kokaideu.

1934 – Forugh Farrokhzad, influential Iranian poet and film director; she was a controversial modernist poet and an iconoclast who wrote from a female point of view.

1936 – Angelina Muñiz-Huberman, award-winning French-born Mexican writer.

1943 – Molly Bang, three-time Caldecott Honor-winning American author and illustrator of children’s books.

1944 – Gilbert Adair, award-winning British film critic, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and nonfiction author.

1947 – Solfrid Sivertsen, Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, poet, librarian, and children’s writer

1956 – Jim Shepard, American novelist and short-story writer who teaches creative writing and film.

1957 – Paul Rudnick, American playwright, novelist, young-adult author, screenwriter, satirical film critic, and essayist.

1960 – Dave Pelzer, controversial American memoirist and self-help author.

1963 – Marija Knežević, Serbian writer, poet, short-story writer, translator, essayist, radio journalist, and professor.

1966 – Sean Chercover, American-Canadian crime writer best known for The Trinity Game (part of The Daniel Byrne Trilogy).

1968 – Gospel Kazako, Malawian poet, engineer, and entrepreneur who founded the Zodiak Broadcasting Station, the most popular radio station in Malawi.

1973 – Jenny Lawson, American journalist, author, and blogger who is the creator of The Bloggess website.