Literary Fact of the Day
Thursday 1st May.
Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22 was born on this day in 1923. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. His book, Catch-22 was published by Simon & Schuster in 1961.
by 
Henry Fielding
22nd April.
Henry Fielding was born on this day in 1707. Born in Somerset, England, he was educated at Eton College. He was an english novelist and his works included Tom Jones and Amelia.
His sister Sarah was also a successful writer and John, his brother, was a magistrate.
by Friday 7th February
On this day in…
1812, Charles Dickens was born to John and Elizabeth in Landport, Portsmouth. He was an English writer and social critic and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
He has created some of the most memorable and beloved characters in fiction including, Oliver Twist, Fagan, The Artful Dodger, Pip and Ebenezer Scrooge. After publishing a series of sketches under the pseudonym, Boz, Continue reading
by First Impressions
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813
In January 1813…
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published on in 1813. She first started writing in 1796 and had originally titled, First Impressions it’s now one of the most popular classics in literature and has one of the most famous opening lines, ‘“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” It has also been the basis of many adaptations including the BBC version with Colin Firth, Bridget Jones’ Diary and it was even given the Bollywood treatment with Bride and Prejudice.
by Monday 27th January 2014
Lewis Carroll
On this day in…
Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was born on this day in 1832 in Cheshire, England. Alice Liddell, the daughter of a friend, asked Carroll to complete a story he’d started telling her on a boat trip. These eventually became, Alice Adventures Underground which was then renamed Wonderland.
by Wednesday 22nd January 2014
On this day in 1788…
George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron was born on this day in 1788.
He was an English Poet and a leading figure in the romantic movement. His works included Don Juan and She Walks in Beauty.
by Tuesday 21st January
George Orwell
George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair, died on this day in 1950. He died in London at aged forty-six. He was known for works like Animal Farm (1945) and 1984, which was published in 1949.
by 14th November 2013
Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking was born on this day in 1907. Pippi was named by Lindgren’s nine year odl daughter, Karin who had requested a get well soon story from her mother.
by Literary Fact: Stephen King
In 2007, Stephen King started signing some of his own books in an Alice Springs bookstore. The staff thought he was a vandal as they didn’t initially realise that he was signing his own books.
by 25th October 2013
Geoffrey Chaucer died on this day in 1400. He is widely considered to be the father of English Literature. Some of his works were adapted by the BBC. The series was called The Canterbury Tales.
by Monday 14th October 2013
American writer, EE Cummings was born on this day in 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of his most famous poems was ‘I Carry Your Heart With Me.’
by 26th September 2013
T.S Eliot (Thomas Stearns Eliot) was born on this day in 1888. He was born in the United States but became a British citizen in 1927.
by 25th September 2013
William Faulkner was born on this day in 1987. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
by 23rd September 2013
J.R.R Tolkien was marking students papers when he got inspired to write the first line of one of his famous books.
‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.’
by 20th September 2013
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Author, George. R. R. Martin was born in this day in 1948. He wrote the Fire & Ice series which was adapted for HBO’s Game of Thrones.
by 17th September 2013
American author, Ken Kesey was born on this day in 1935. His most famous novel was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
by 16th September 2013
At the time of it’s release, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown had a printing of 6.5 million (the largest in Doubleday’s history up to that point,) and it was also the fastest selling adult novel, selling one million on its first day.
by 11th September 2013
David Herbert Lawrence, known as D.H Lawrence was born on this day in 1885 in the town of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.
He was a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter. His novels include The Rainbow, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
by 6th September 2013
5th September 2013
Viking Press, 1957
Jack Kerouac’s novel, On The Road was published by Viking Press on this day in 1957. Kerouac originally finished it 1951 but it took until 1957 to find a publisher.
by 3rd September 2013
John Steinbeck wrote the novel, Of Mice and Men. Apparently, an early draft of this book was eaten by Steinbeck’s dog, Max. Oh dear!
by 30th August 2013.
Mary Shelly, whose most famous novel was Frankenstein, was born on this day in 1797. Her most famous work was originally published anonymously.
by 29th August 2013
Tuesday 27th August 2013
The protagonist in C.S Lewis’ Science Fiction novel were very loosely based on his friend and fellow author, J.R.R Tolkien.
by 16th August 2013
15th August 2013
On this day in 1939, the film adaptation of L Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wizard of Oz had its Hollywood Premiere at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
by 13th August
On this day in 1931, Novelist and screenwriter William Goldman is born. He wrote the novel and screenplay for one of my favourite films, The Princess Bride.
by 12th August 2013
Ian Fleming, the creator of 007 Spy James Bond, died on this day in 1964.
As well as writing the Bond novels, Fleming also wrote the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang novel.
by 31st July 2013
5th July 2013
Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, author of A Doll’s House, kept a live pet scorpion in an empty beer glass on his desk while writing for inspiration. Yikes, rather him than me.
by 4th July 2013.
Tuesday 2nd July 2013
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams was originally a radio comedy which first broadcast on 1978 on BBC Radio Four.
by Friday 28th June 2013.
A.A. Milne, the author of the Winnie the Pooh series, used his son as inspiration for the character Christopher Robin. However, when Christopher Robin was born, Milne and his wife had wanted to call him Billy but then decided it would be too informal.
by Thursday 27th June 2013
Shakespeare is credited for creating many phrases.
If you use the phrases, “vanished into thin air,” be that as it may,” and “the truth will out,” then you are quoting Shakespeare.
by 26th June 2013
Harper Voyager, Special Edition, 2013.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury started off as a novella called ‘The Fireman.’
by 25th June 2013
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone was sent to a number of Publishers prior to publication. Reports say between eight to twelve Publishers rejected the manuscript.
Bloomsbury 1997. C. JK Rowling.
It took a year before Bloomsbury offered to publish it and now it’s one of the most successful book series having first been published in June 1997.
by Monday 24th June 2013.
It’s claimed that the earliest Public Library in England was the London Guildhall and was established in 1425 whereas Charleston’s St Philip’s Church Parsonage in the US had a Parish Library in 1698.
by Friday 21st June 2013.
Everyman, 1998.
Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, liked to write naked. It was said to help with writer’s block.
by Daily Fact – 20th June 2013
Daily Fact….19th June 2013
J.M Barrie (Sir James Matthew Barrie) died on this day in 1937. Great Ormond Street Hospital in London owns the copyright to Peter Pan.
by Book Club
