January
2016 is filled with anniversaries for the births or deaths of great writers. Here’s a look at some to celebrate:
January
1 – J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, born 1919
January
3 – J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit, born 1892
January
6 – E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime, born 1931
January
8 – Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, born 1942
January
9 – Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, died 1324
January
11 – Thomas Hardy, Tess Of The d’Urbevilles, died 1928
January
14 – Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, died 1898
January
16 – Mary Karr, The Liars’ Club, born 1955
January
18 – Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book, died 1936
January
19 – Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven, born 1809
January
21 – George Orwell, 1984, died 1950
January
22 – Lord Byron, Don Juan, born 1788
January
24 – Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, born 1862
January
25 – Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, born 1832
January
28 – WB Yeats, The Tower, died 1939
January
29 – Robert Frost, North of Boston, died 1963
January
30 – Sidney Sheldon, The Other Side of Midnight, died 2007
The
source of my information is A Reader’s Book of Days by Tom Nissley. The eight-time jeopardy champion, who owns a
bookstore, penned the book for WW Norton.
Not only does he note the births and deaths of significant writers for
an entire calendar year, he sprinkles in nearly 2,000 stories regarding key
dates in literary history.
You begin to realize, as you thumb through the 448-page book, that every single day has ten or more writers of note with a history tied to it. Over the years thousands of great writers have left their mark on us. With the mass publishing of today, we’ll no doubt soon double and triple the number of big books, great writers, and important literary moments in time.
After
a while you realize there’s little significance in any specific calendar
day. Every single day connects to
moments and people in time that are worth noting, remembering, and
discussing. We don’t need for a certain
date to roll around to discuss an author or a specific book, but we tend to
look at birthdays and anniversaries as a springboard to discussing things.
Calendars
have changed over the years and perhaps one day they will change again. Maybe the way we record time will change as
well. But for now, when we hear
something happened on February 26 (Victor Hugo of Les Miserables was born in
1802), we instantly relate and attach other things of significance to that
date. But Hugo could’ve been born on any
date, and what’s important is not a date, but the person and more importantly,
his or her works.
What lives beyond you matters more than any date, but if knowing Walt Whitman celebrated May 31 as his birthday helps you appreciate his works, then so be it.
What lives beyond you matters more than any date, but if knowing Walt Whitman celebrated May 31 as his birthday helps you appreciate his works, then so be it.
Recent Posts
12 Things Writers Fear But Can Overcome
It is happy holidays at the bookstores
Is there a scarcity of knowledge with an abundance of books?
Would book debates draw a crowd like the presidential ones?
Can books counter terrorism, gangs, crime, or war?
The Best Reference Books For Writers
Writers Need A Breakthrough, Not A Breakdown
10 Things Writers Are Doing To Achieve Success
The 7 Tenets of Author Branding
How we can improve the world with books by 2030
How to make a blog post go viral – or at least get opened
How to connect your book to the news
Explore a guided tour through the English language
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.