Bookish birthdays for the week of August 3, 2025

Here are the literary birthdays to celebrate over the week of August 3, 2025.

P.D. James (August 3, 1920): James is known as the “Queen of Crime” for her fourteen Adam Dalgliesh novels, many of which were adapted for TV.

Leon Uris (August 3, 1924): Uris interviewed more than 1,500 people for his bestselling novel Exodus, about the founding of Israel.

Guy de Maupassant (August 5, 1850): De Maupassant, author of three hundred short stories (most famously “The Necklace”) and several novels, is considered the greatest French short-story writer of all time.

Garrison Keillor (August 7, 1942): In addition to his Lake Wobegon stories, Keillor has written poetry, a screenplay, and fiction for all ages.  

Marjorie Rawlings (August 8, 1896): Rawlings won the O. Henry Memorial Award for short stories for “Gal Young Un” five years before The Yearling won a Pulitzer Prize.

Izaak Walton (August 9, 1593): Walton’s The Compleat Angler is one of the most frequently reprinted books in English literature.

Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927): Keyes is best known for his classic science-fiction work Flowers for Algernon; the first version of it was a novella that won the Hugo Award, and its expansion into a full-length novel then won a Nebula Award.

P. L. Travers (August 9, 1899): Travers is best known for her Mary Poppins series of novels; she also worked as a journalist and critic and wrote books about myths from various cultures.

Jonathan Kellerman (August 9, 1949): Kellerman’s first novel, When The Bough Breaks, won Edgar Allan Poe and Anthony Boucher awards, became a bestseller, and was adapted into a movie; since its publication, Kellerman has released a bestselling crime novel every year.