March 13 Writer Birthdays

1742 – Anne Hunter, Irish-born British poet, lyricists, and saloniere who is mostly remembered now for writing the texts to at least nine of Joseph Haydn’s 14 songs in English.

1822 – Moritz Grave von Strachwitz, German lyric poet.

1848 – Patrocinio de Biedma y la Moneda, Spanish poet, novelist, and journalist; in addition to her novels and poems, she founded the journal Cádiz and wrote for many publications of the time.

1872 – Oswald Garrison Villard, American journalist, John Brown biographer & founder of the Anti-Imperialism League; his mother was suffragist Fanny Garrison Villard; his grandfather was abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

1873 – Maryla Wolska, Polish writer and poet of the Young Poland movement; her pen name was Iwo Plomienczyk.

1875 – Lizzy Ansingh, Dutch writer, poet, children’s author, and Post-Impressionist painter.

1884 – Oskar Loerke, German poet of the Expressionist and Magic Realist movements.

1884 – Emanuel Stickelberger, Swiss novelist, playwright, poet, and biographer.

1884 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-born English novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and lecturer, wildly popular in his lifetime but neglected recently.

1892 – Janet Flanner, American journalist and writer; under the pen name “Genêt,” she was the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker for 50 years.

1896 – Dorothy Aldis, children’s book author and poet.

1897 – Marcel Thiry, French-speaking Belgian poet.

1900 – Giorgos Seferis, Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet and diplomat whose poetry is characterized by “eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture.”

1901 – Margaret Craven, American novelist, short-story writer, and historian who often wrote on Native American themes; she is best known for her book I Heard the Owl Call My Name.

1907 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian writer, professor, philosopher, fiction writer, and historian of religion, best known for his Encyclopedia of Religion.

1911 – L. Ron Hubbard (Lafayette Ronald Hubbard), American founder of the Church of Scientology, author of pulp science-fiction and fantasy stories, and author of the debunked Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

1911 – Marie Rudisill, author, biographer, and television personality whose book, Fruitcake: Memories of Truman Capote & Sook, led to her fame as The Fruitcake Lady on The Tonight Show; Capote was her nephew.

1912 – Félix Morisseau-Leroy, Haitian writer, poet, playwright, and journalist who raised status of Haitian Creole.

1914 – W.O. Mitchell, Canadian novelist and broadcaster, known for his 1947 book Who Has Seen the Wind.

1921 – Al Jaffee, cartoonist & comic strip writer for MAD magazine.

1925 – Inge Müller, German poet, writer, and children’s author; she married East German playwright Heiner Müller.

1928 – Ellen Raskin, Newbery Medal-winning American writer, illustrator, and fashion designer who also designed the cover for the first edition of Madeline L’Engle’s classic novel A Wrinkle In Time.

1933 – Diane Dillon, American illustrator of children’s books; she worked closely with her husband Leo.

1934 – Barry Hughart, World Fantasy Award-winning American author of fantasy novels, most of whose works take place in “an Asia that never was.”

1935 – Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian poet, novelist, professor, politician, and diplomat whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization; he also used the pseudonyms George Awoonor-Williams and Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor. He was among those killed in the September 2013 attack at Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

1941 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and political activist.

1943 – André Téchiné, French screenwriter and filmmaker who is among the most accomplished post-New Wave French film directors.

1946 – Poojya Maate Mahadevi, Indian author, poet, mystic, spiritual leader, and scholar who was the first female Jagadguru, spiritual head of the Indian Lingayat community.

1948 – Krishna Bhusan Bal, Nepali poet who was celebrated for his ability to simplify poetry for its readers at a time when poets were inclined to grandiloquence.

1950 – Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, columnist, and physician.

1951 – Marit Tusvik, Norwegian writer, poet, playwright, and children’s author.

1952 – Ágnes Rapai, Hungarian poet, writer, and translator.

1952 – Khalid Iqbal Yasir, Pakistani writer, journalist, poet, linguist, literary critic, songwriter, and lyricist.

1953 – Ridley Pearson, bestselling American author of thrillers for adults and adventure books for children.

1960 – Yurii Andrukhovych, Ukrainian writer, poet, essayist, and translator.

1961 – Masahiko Shimada, Japanese writer, poet, novelist, and university teacher.

1962 – Seyhan Erözçelik, Turkish poet, publisher, essayist, and translator who brought a modern approach to classical Ottoman rhyme.

1963 – Ashraf Dali, award-winning Egyptian poet, journalist, novelist, travel writer, and children’s writer.

1970 – Lisa Lutz, award-winning American novelist, screenwriter, and detective fiction author.

1978 – Gaute Heivoll, award-winning Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, children’s author, and short-story writer.