Bookish birthdays for the week of October 25, 2020

Here are the literary birthdays to celebrate over the week of October 25, 2020.

Anne Tyler (October 25, 1941): Tyler’s most popular novels include Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and Breathing Lessons, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize.

Dylan Thomas (October 27, 1914): Thomas, whose most celebrated poems include “Poem in October,” “The Hunchback in the Park,” and “Fern Hill,” is considered to be one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time.

Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932): Plath’s talent in both poetry (“Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus”) and prose (The Bell Jar) were evident from her earliest days; she sold her first poem and short story while still in high school.

Evelyn Waugh (October 28, 1903): Waugh’s best-known novel, Brideshead Revisited, is an earnest family drama, though he’s considered the best satirical novelist of his era.

James Boswell (October 29, 1740): Boswell gained fame during his lifetime for his biography of author Samuel Johnson and then again, many years after his death, when his own extensive, exquisitely written journals were uncovered and published.

Paul Valéry (October 30, 1871): Valéry became famous early in his career and quickly for his poetry, with “The Graveyard by the Sea” and “The Young Fate,” though he spent most of his career as an essayist, lecturer, and professor.

John Keats (October 31, 1795): Keats’s greatest achievement as a poet are his odes, including “On Indolence,” “On a Grecian Urn,” “To Psyche,” and “To a Nightingale.”

Birthdays sourced from Calendar of Literary Facts; biographical information sourced from Encyclopedia Britannica, Poetry Foundation, and author websites. Did we miss someone? Email and let us know!