writersalmanac
Wednesday's Poem: "Boston Ancestors" by Susan Minot, from Poems 4 A.M. Wednesday's Literary Notes: It's the birthday of the woman who said: "It is a solemn and terrible thing to write a novel." That's the novelist Willa Cather, born in the …
Tuesday's Poem: "Used Book" by Julie Kane, from Jazz Funeral. Tuesday's Literary Notes: On this day, two major publications were first released: the Encyclopedia Britannica and The Washington Post. The Britannica was a product of the Scotti…
Monday's Poem: "Domestic" by Mark Irwin, from Quick, Now, Always. Monday's Literary Notes: It's the birthday of Pre-Raphaelite poet Christina Rossetti, born in London in 1830. She grew up in a large, boisterous household. She had three brot…
Sunday's Poem: "Men Untrained to Comfort" by Wendell Berry, from Leavings. Sunday's Literary Notes: It was on this date in 1674 that Father Jacques Marquette built a log cabin on the shore of Lake Michigan, near the mouth of the Chicago Riv…
Saturday's Poem: Shrinking as they rise, the..." by Len Roberts, from Counting the Black Angels. Saturday's Literary Notes: Today is the birthday of Bosnian writer Zlata Filipovic, born in Sarajevo in 1980. Someone gave her a journal when s…
Friday's Poem: "Gin" by Jacqueline Berger, from The Gift that Arrives Broken. Friday's Literary Notes: It's the birthday of Ann Patchett (1963). She was born in Los Angeles, but raised in Nashville, Tennessee, by her single mom. Her first p…
Thursday's Poem: "The Bull Moose" by Alden Nowlan, from What Happened When He Went to the Store for Bread. Thursday's Literary Notes: On this date in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. The Montgomery…
Wednesday's Poem: "Deciding on the Day" by Hal Sirowitz, from Before, During and After. Wednesday's Literary Notes: It's the birthday of Irish author Jonathan Swift (1667), born in Dublin. Swift's masterpiece was Gulliver's Travels (1726), …
Tuesday's Poem: "Learning Animals and Insects in Third Grade" by Len Roberts, from Counting the Black Angels. Tuesday's Literary Notes: Today is the birthday of Amos Bronson Alcott (1799), born in Wolcott, Connecticut, and also the birthday…