“All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.” —Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wave in the Mind, 2004. Ursula Le Guin… Read More October 21st – Ursula Le Guin
“She believes in girls, studies them, and depicts them with pen both skilled and sympathetic.” Advertisement in Polly and Eleanor, Lillian Elizabeth Roy. Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1922. Lilian C. McNamara was born in 1872 in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was an avid writer, penning a popular “Women’s Page” for… Read More October 20th – Lilian Garis
“…we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.” John le Carré Best-selling spy novelist John le Carré was born David John Moore Cornwell, on October 19th, 1931, in Poole, Dorset, England. His father was in and out of jail for fraud, and his mother left the family when he… Read More October 19th – John le Carré
“Creation is everything you do. Make something.” Ntozake Shange Playwright and poet Ntozake Shange was born Paulette Linda Williams on October 18th, 1948, in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was a surgeon, and her mother an educator and psychiatric social worker. Her parents had a strong interest in the arts, and guests at their home… Read More October 18th – Ntozake Shange
“If the emotions are free the intellect will look after itself” A.S, Neill On October 17th, 1883, educator and author Alexander Sutherland Neill was born in Scotland. He taught at multiple schools before attending the University of Edinburgh from 1908 to 1912, where he graduated with an MA degree. His first book A Dominie’s Log (1915), is… Read More October 17th – A.S. Neill
“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, the poet and playwright, was born on the 16th of October, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. His father, William R.W. Wilde, was one of Ireland’s leading ear and eye surgeons. His mother was a poet who published… Read More October 16th – Oscar Wilde
“Dig in and get it done” Evan Hunter, aka Ed McBain Born Salvatore Albert Lombino on October 15th, 1926, he became better known as Ed McBain, a pseudonym he used in his crime fiction from 1956 on. Among others, he also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, and Richard… Read More October 15th – Ed McBain
And so my advice to all young people who wish to become poets is: do something easy, like learning how to blow up the world-unless you’re not only willing, but glad, to feel and work and fight till you die.- “A Poet’s Advice to Students” – republished in E.E. Cummings: A Miscellany Revised Edward Estlin Cummings… Read More October 14th – E.E. Cummings
“What American literature needs at this moment is color, music, gusto….” Arna Bontemps – Harlem Renaissance Remembered The noted novelist, poet, and librarian, and celebrated member of the Harlem Renaissance, Arna Bontemps, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, on October 13, 1902. When he was three, his family moved as part of the Great Migration out… Read More October 13th – Arna Bontemps
“Because you are alive, everything is possible.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh, a spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, was born October 11th, 1926, in central Vietnam. At the age of 16, he entered Tu Hieu Temple as a novice monk. During the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh opted to not… Read More October 11th – Thich Nhat Hanh
Daily Inspirations for Writers and Readers 