1613 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author of maxims and memoirs who was was one of the leading exponents of the ‘maxime, a French literary form of epigram that expresses a harsh or paradoxical truth with brevity. 1789 – James Fenimore Cooper, American writer of historical romantic fiction dealing with frontier and Indian life,Continue reading “September 15 Writer Birthdays”
Author Archives: petrini1
After 9/11
I wrote a few days ago about my memories of 9/11/2001 here in Northern Virginia, where I live just a few miles from the Pentagon. I did not write about the events of the rest of that month, which were just as sad and unsettling, on a more personal scale, as that terrible day. AsContinue reading “After 9/11”
September 14 Writer Birthdays
1728 – Mercy Otis Warren, poet, playwright, and political writer and propagandist of the American Revolution; in 1790, she published a collection of poems and plays under her own name, which was highly unusual for a woman at the time; in 1805, she published one of the earliest histories of the American Revolution, the three-volumeContinue reading “September 14 Writer Birthdays”
September 13 Writer Birthdays
1756 – Benedikt Naubert (born Christiana Benedicta Hebenstreit), prolific German writer who published anonymously more than 50 historical novels; she is considered a pioneer of the genre. 1830 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian countess, novelist, and playwright who is known for her psychological novels and is considered one of the most important German-language writers ofContinue reading “September 13 Writer Birthdays”
Negative Is Good
I posted recently about having to pick up our college freshman from his dorm room at James Madison University and bring him home to take classes online for at least the rest of the month. I also posted about getting all three of us tested for Covid-19 before we left Harrisonburg to come home. TheContinue reading “Negative Is Good”
September 12 Writer Birthdays
1590 – María de Zayas y Sotomayor, Spanish baroque author who was a pioneer of modern literary feminism. 1829 – Charles Dudley Warner, American essayist and novelist who co-authored the novel The Gilded Age with his friend Mark Twain. 1831 – Álvares de Azevedo, Brazilian Romantic poet, essayist, short-story writer, and playwright who was aContinue reading “September 12 Writer Birthdays”
Nineteen Years
I was five months pregnant and in bed that morning nineteen years ago, thinking about getting up to pack to begin a 12-hour drive to a conference in Indianapolis that day. The phone rang, and my mother urged, “Turn on the TV!” We watched together while the second plane crashed into the World Trade CenterContinue reading “Nineteen Years”
September 11 Writer Birthdays
1885 – D.H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic, and painter who wrote such classic novels as Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover but was controversial in his time. 1889 – Ann Bridge (pseudonym for Mary Dolling Saunders O’Malley), prolific British author who wrote books based on her experiences in Peking, whereContinue reading “September 11 Writer Birthdays”
September 9 Writer Birthdays
1828 – Leo Tolstoy (Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy), Russian novelist, poet, and essayist who is considered one of the greatest writers of all time; his work is known for its high degree of detail and its psychological complexity, including his most famous novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He has been called “the conscienceContinue reading “September 9 Writer Birthdays”
September 8 Writer Birthdays
1474 – Luovico Ariosto, Italian Renaissance poet best remembered for his romantic epic and satire of the chivalric tradition, Orlando Furioso, which describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens, with diversions into many subplots. 1830 – Frédéric Mistra, Nobel Prize-winning French author, poet, and lexicographer in theContinue reading “September 8 Writer Birthdays”
