Today's Page: June 7th
7 Jun 2012 9:41
Orhan Pamuk, Henry Miller, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amelia Edwards, Harry Crews, Louise Erdrich, Dorothy Parker, E.M. Forster are the acclaimed authors who were born or died on a day like today.
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk (generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk) was born on a day like this in 1952. He is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of Turkey's most prominent novelists and his work has sold over eleven million books in sixty languages, making him the country's best-selling writer. His novels include "The White Castle", "The Black Book", "The New Life", "My Name Is Red", and "Snow". As well as the Nobel Prize in Literature(the first Nobel Prize to be awarded to a Turkish citizen), Pamuk is the recipient of numerous other literary awards. "My Name Is Red" won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, 2002 Premio Grinzane Cavour and 2003 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Also the New York Times has listed "Snow" as one of its Ten Best Books of 2004.
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was born on December 26, 1891 and passed away on a day like this in 1980. He was an American writer and painter. He was best known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of "novel" that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection and mysticism. One that is distinctly always about the real-life Henry Miller and yet is also fictional. His most characteristic works of this kind are "Tropic of Cancer"(1934), "Black Spring"(1936) and "Tropic of Capricorn"(1939).
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born on a day like this in 1917. She was African-American poet. Brooks published her first poem in a children's magazine at the age of 13. By the time she was 16, she had compiled a portfolio of around 75 published poems. Brooks' first book of poetry, "A Street in Bronzeville"(1945), earned instant critical acclaim. With her second book of poetry, "Annie Allen"(1950), she became the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. She was also appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985. She passed away on December 3, 2000, at the age of 83.
Amelia Edwards
Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards, born on a day like this in 1831 was an English novelist, journalist, traveler and Egyptologist. She published her first poem at the age of 7 and her first story at age 12. She then proceeded to publish a variety of poetry, stories and articles in a large number of magazines. She also wrote for the newspapers such as the Saturday Review and the Morning Post. Edwards' first full-length novel was "My Brother's Wife"(1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was "Barbara's History"(1864), that solidly established her reputation as a novelist. Her last novel, "Lord Brackenbury"(1880), emerged as a run-away success which went to 15 editions. She also wrote several ghost stories, including the often anthologized "The Phantom Coach"(1864). She passed away on 1892 at the age of 61.
Harry Crews
Harry Eugene Crews, born on a day like this in 1935, was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer and essayist. His first published novel, "The Gospel Singer", appeared in 1968. His novels include: "A Feast of Snakes", "The Hawk is Dying", "Body", "Scar Lover", "All We Need of Hell" and "Celebration". He died on March 28 2012, from complications of neuropathy at the age of 76.
Louise Erdrich
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, was born on a day like this in 1954. She is an author of novels, poetry and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely known as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what is called the Native American Renaissance. In April 2009, her novel "The Plague of Doves" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In the period from 1978 to 1982, she has also published many poems and short stories. In 1984 she published the novel "Love Medicine". It received praise from authors and critics and was awarded the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award and has never been out of print. Her last novel to date, is called "Shadow Tag" and was published in 2010.
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was born on August 22, 1893 and passed away on a day like this on 1967. She was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks and eye for 20th century urban foibles. She rose to acclaim, both for her literary output in such venues as The New Yorker and as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. She then traveled to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her successes there, including two Academy Award nominations, were curtailed as her involvement in left-wing politics led to a place on the Hollywood blacklist.
E.M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster was born on January 1st 1879 and passed away on a day like this in 1970. He was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is best known for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th century British society. Forster had five novels published in his lifetime: "Where Angels Fear to Tread"(1905), "The Longest Journey"(1907), "A Room with a View"(1908), "Howard's End"(1910), and "A Passage to India"(1924), which he achieved his greatest success with. "Maurice"(1971), was published posthumously, but it had been written nearly sixty years ago.
