Portal:Literature/Adil archive/January
January
- 1560 - Joachim Du Bellay, French poet died
- 1648 - Elkanah Settle, English writer born
- 1704 - Soame Jenyns, English writer born
- 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet born
- 1767 - Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish novelist born
- 1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
- 1873 - Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist born
- 1879 - E. M. Forster, English novelist born
- 1919 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist born
- 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer born
- 1933 - Joe Orton, English writer born
- 1937 - Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg, Polish author born
- 1951 - Ashfaq Hussain, Urdu poet born
- 1836 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Jewish writer born
- 1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author born
- 1938 - Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author born
- 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, British novelist died
- 1803 - Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright born
- 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer born
- 1923 - Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist died
- 1930 - Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright born
- 1944 - Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet died
- 1945 - Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer died
- 1988 - Rose Ausländer, German poet died
- 1804 - Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet died
- 1883 - Max Eastman, American writer born
- 1901 - C. L. R. James, writer and journalist born
- 1943 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer born
- 1960 - Albert Camus, Algerian-born French philosopher and writer died
- 1965 - T. S. Eliot, American-born writer died
- 1986 - Christopher Isherwood, English writer died
- 2004 - Joan Aiken, English author died
- 2004 - Jeff Nuttall, English writer died
- 2005 - Humphrey Carpenter, English author died
- 2006 - Irving Layton, Canadian poet died
- 1465 - Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet died
- 1524 - Marko Marulić, Croatian poet died
- 1902 - Stella Gibbons, English novelist born
- 1921 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer born
- 1932 - Umberto Eco, Italian writer born
- 1938 - Ngugi wa Thiongo, Kenyan writer born
- 1940 - Michael O'Donoghue, American writer born
- 1951 - Andrei Platonov, Russian writer died
- 1991 - Vasko Popa, Yugoslav poet died
- 2003 - Jean Kerr, American author died
- 1488 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet born
- 1840 - Fanny Burney, English novelist and diarist died
- 1848 - Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet born
- 1883 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese writer born
- 1885 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer died
- 1905 - Idris Davies, Welsh poet born
- 1910 - Morris Wright, American writer born
- 1915 - Alan Watts, English writer born
- 1923 - Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer born
- 1931 - E. L. Doctorow, American author born
- 1945 - Allen Appel, American novelist born
- 1981 - A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer died
- 1891 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author born
- 1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet born
- 1947 - Shobha De, Indian writer born
- 1957 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist born
- 1986 - P. D. Eastman, American children's book writer and illustrator died
- 1986 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist died
- 2005 - Pierre Daninos, French novelist died
- 1601 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer born
- 1824 - Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet born
- 1824 - Wilkie Collins, British novelist born
- 1867 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer born
- 1874 - Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian died
- 1878 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet died
- 1896 - Paul Verlaine, French poet died
- 1897 - Dennis Wheatley, British author born
- 1934 - Andrei Bely, Russian writer died
- 1934 - Alexandra Ripley, American writer born
- 1944 - Terry Brooks, American writer born
- 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet died
- 1989 - Bruce Chatwin, English novelist died
- 1993 - Eleanor Hibbert, British author died
- 1589 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet born
- 1728 - Thomas Warton, English poet born
- 1790 - Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet born
- 1811 - Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer born
- 1873 - Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian poet born
- 1881 - Lascelles Abercrombie, British poet and critic born
- 1881 - Giovanni Papini, Italian writer born
- 1890 - Karel Čapek, Czech writer born
- 1908 - Simone de Beauvoir, French author born
- 1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer died
- 1928 - Judith Krantz, American author born
- 1929 - Brian Friel, Irish dramatist born
- 1931 - Algis Budrys, American author born
- 1936 - Anne Rivers Siddons, American writer born
- 1946 - Countee Cullen, American poet died
- 1961 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer died
- 1992 - Bill Naughton, British playwright died
- 1707 - Philibert, comte de Gramont, French writer died
- 1797 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer born
- 1811 - Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet died
- 1866 - Pyotr Pletnyov, Russian poet died
- 1887 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet born
- 1928 - Philip Levine, American poet born
- 1931 - Peter Barnes, English writer born
- 1936 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian born
- 1939 - William Levy, Dutch writer born
- 1951 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer died
- 1953 - Dennis Cooper, American author born
- 1956 - Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish writer born
- 1961 - Dashiell Hammett, American writer died
- 1986 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer died
- 2004 - Alexandra Ripley, American author died
- 1641 - Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet died
- 1763 - Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet died
- 1771 - Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer died
- 1890 - Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author born
- 1903 - Alan Paton, South African writer born
- 1928 - Thomas Hardy, English writer died
- 1961 - Jasper Fforde, British author born
- 1970 - Richmal Crompton, British author died
- 1978 - Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani humorist and Urdu poet died
- 1980 - Barbara Pym, English novelist died
- 1999 - Brian Moore, Irish-born writer died
- 1576 - Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer born
- 1876 - Jack London, American author born
- 1878 - Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer born
- 1915 - Paul Jarrico, American writer born
- 1948 - William Nicholson, English writer born
- 1949 - Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist born
- 1952 - Walter Mosley, American author born
- 1960 - Nevil Shute, English writer died
- 1962 - Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian writer died
- 1965 - Lorraine Hansberry, American writer died
- 1976 - Agatha Christie, English writer died
- 1997 - Jean-Edern Hallier, French author died
- 1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English poet died
- 1562 - Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet born
- 1599 - Edmund Spenser, English poet died
- 1602 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is published.
- 1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., American author born
- 1893 - Clark Ashton Smith, American writer born
- 1903 - Irena Jurgielewiczowa, Polish writer and teacher born
- 1926 - Michael Bond, British writer born
- 1940 - Edmund White, American author born
- 1941 - James Joyce, Irish writer died
- 1955 - Jay McInerney, American writer born
- 1957 - Lorrie Moore, American writer born
- 1974 - Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet died
- 1818 - Zacharias Topelius, Finnish-Swedish writer born
- 1850 - Pierre Loti, French writer born
- 1886 - Hugh Lofting, English author born
- 1896 - John Dos Passos, American author born
- 1898 - Lewis Carroll, English writer died
- 1904 - Emily Hahn, American writer born
- 1925 - Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer born
- 1942 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian writer died
- 1949 - Mary Robison, American writer born
- 1952 - Sydney Biddle Barrows, American author born
- 1957 - Anchee Min, Chinese-born writer born
- 1977 - Anaïs Nin, French author died
- 2005 - Charlotte MacLeod, American writer died
- 1622 - Molière, French playwright born
- 1674 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer born
- 1747 - John Aikin, English doctor and writer born
- 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer born
- 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet born
- 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer born
- 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author born
- 1885 - Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer born
- 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet born
- 1923 - Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet born
- 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, American author born
- 1955 - Nigel Benson, British author born
- 2005 - Walter Ernsting, German author died
- 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway, American author died
- 1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.
- 1634 - Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet born
- 1747 - Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet died
- 1865 - Edmond François Valentin About, French writer died
- 1874 - Robert W. Service, Canadian poet born
- 1879 - Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet died
- 1885 - Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer born
- 1888 - Osip Brik, Russian writer born
- 1897 - Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet born
- 1918 - Nel Benschop, Dutch poetess born
- 1923 - Anthony Hecht, American poet born
- 1928 - William Kennedy, American author
- 1933 - Susan Sontag, American writer born
- 1686 - Archibald Bower, Scottish historian born
- 1820 - Anne Brontë, British author born
- 1871 - Nicolae Iorga, Romanian writer born
- 1899 - Nevil Shute, English author born
- 1903 - Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Assamese poet, playwright, film maker born
- 1914 - William Stafford, American poet and essayist born
- 1925 - Robert Cormier, American author born
- 1945 - Javed Akhtar, Indian lyricist, poet born
- 1964 - T. H. White, English author died
- 1967 - Paul Summers, English poet born
- 1968 - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch writer born
- 2001 - Gregory Corso, American poet died
- 2002 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer died
- 1672 - Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer born
- 1689 - Montesquieu, French writer born
- 1803 - Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet died
- 1840 - Henry Austin Dobson, English poet born
- 1848 - Ioan Slavici, Transylvanian writer born
- 1873 - Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author died
- 1882 - A. A. Milne, English author born
- 1886 - Clara Nordström, German writer and translator born
- 1914 - Arno Schmidt, German author born
- 1932 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author born
- 1936 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer died
- 1940 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish writer died
- 1966 - Kathleen Norris, American writer died
- 1978 - Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher, critic and writer died
- 2006 - Jan Twardowski, Polish poet died
- 1809 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet born
- 1879 - Boris Savinkov, Russian writer born
- 1913 - Rex Ingamells, Australian poet born
- 1921 - Patricia Highsmith, American author born
- 1924 - Jean-François Revel, French author born
- 1925 - Nina Bawden, English author born
- 2006 - Aoun Al-Sharif Qasim, Sudanese writer died
- 1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer born
- 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer born
- 1804 – Eugène Sue, French novelist born
- 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet died
- 1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish writer born
- 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet died
- 1699 - Obadiah Walker, English writer died
- 1773 - Alexis Piron, French writer died
- 1804 - Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet born
- 1825 - Imre Madách, Hungarian writer born
- 1831 - Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet died
- 1867 - Ludwig Thoma, German writer born
- 1870 - Alexander Herzen, Russian writer died
- 1872 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer died
- 1883 - Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet born
- 1932 - Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer died
- 1933 - George A. Moore, Irish novelist died
- 1950 - George Orwell, British writer died
- 1961 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer died
- 1977 - Sandro Penna, Italian poet died
- 2004 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer died
- 2005 - Theun de Vries, Dutch writer died
- 1729 - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author born
- 1788 - Lord Byron, British poet and satirist born
- 1849 - August Strindberg, Swedish writer born
- 1887 - Helen Hoyt, American poet born
- 1904 - Arkady Gaidar, Russian children's writer born
- 1906 - Robert E. Howard, American author born
- 1922 - Howard Moss, American poet, dramatist, and critic born
- 1949 - William Thomas Walsh, American author died
- 1967 - Robert Henriques, English writer died
- 1993 - Abe Kobo, Japanese writer died
- 1783 - Stendhal, French writer born
- 1789 - Frances Brooke, English writer died
- 1789 - John Cleland, English novelist died
- 1813 - Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer born
- 1875 - Charles Kingsley, English writer died
- 1923 - Walter M. Miller, Jr., American writer born
- 1930 - Derek Walcott, West Indian writer born
- 1638 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet born
- 1670 - William Congreve, English playwright born
- 1724 - Frances Brooke, English writer born
- 1732 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright born
- 1776 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer born
- 1862 - Edith Wharton, American writer born
- 1888 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer born
- 1895 - Eugen Roth, German writer born
- 1934 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet born
- 1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author died
- 2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer died
- 1759 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet born
- 1864 - Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and writer born
- 1874 - William Somerset Maugham, English writer born
- 1882 - Virginia Woolf, English writer born
- 1900 - Yojiro Ishizaka, Japanese writer born
- 1908 - Ouida, English writer died
- 1938 - Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet born
- 1949 - John Cooper Clarke, British punk-poet born
- 1541 - Florent Chrestien, French writer is born
- 1781 - Achim von Arnim, German poet is born
- 1842 - François Coppée, French poet and novelist is born
- 1918 - Philip José Farmer, American writer is born
- 1949 - Jonathan Carroll, American author is born
- 2000 - Kathleen Hale, British author dies
- 2000 - A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-born author dies
- 1720 - Samuel Foote, English dramatist is born
- 1826 - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian writer is born
- 1832 - Lewis Carroll, English author is born
- 1891 - Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer is born
- 1931 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian author is born
- 1949 - Ethan Mordden, American author is born
- 1988 - Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author died
- 1998 - Geoffrey Trease, British writer died
- 1813 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published
- 1936 - Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer born
- 1939 - William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate died
- 1860 - Anton Chekhov, Russian writer born
- 1867 - Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish writer born
- 1923 - Paddy Chayefsky, American writer born
- 1933 - Sara Teasdale, American poet died
- 1939 - Germaine Greer, Australian writer born
- 1963 - Robert Frost, American poet died
- 2004 - M. M. Kaye, British writer died
- 1661 - Charles Rollin, French historian born
- 1781 - Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer born
- 1869 - William Carleton, Irish novelist died
- 1878 - Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author born
- 1889 - Jaishankar Prasad, Hindi poet, dramatist and novelist born
- 1902 - Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born art historian born
- 1912 - Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian born
- 1924 - Lloyd Alexander, American writer born
- 1931 - Shirley Hazzard, Australian-born author born
- 1934 - Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher died
- 1935 - Richard Brautigan, American writer and poet born
- 1945 - Michael Dorris, American author born
- 1947 - Les Barker, English poet born
- 1955 - Judith Tarr, American author born
- 1994 - Pierre Boulle, French author died
- 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer born
- 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer born
- 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer born
- 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer died
- 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer born
- 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer died
- 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer died