Today in literary history: June 19

Here's what happened on June 19 in literary history.

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American Gods by Neil Gaiman was published June 19, 2001.

The novel was a critical hit, winning the Hugo Award for best SF/fantasy novel, the Bram Stoker Award for best horror novel, the Locus Award for best fantasy novel, and the Nebula Award for best novel.

It was also adapted into a comic book series and a TV series.

In the years since American Gods came out, though, several women have accused Gaiman of grotesque behavior toward them, claims that Gaiman has denied but that have nevertheless affected how the public views him.

Sources: Author’s website, The Associated Press

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Joy Harjo was appointed US poet laureate on June 19, 2019.

As a member of the Muscogee/Creek Nation (also stylized as Mvskoke Nation), she was the first Native American to be chosen for the role and served three terms, which only one other poet laureate had done before her.

Harjo has released eleven poetry collections, including She Had Some Horses and the American Book Award-winning Including In Mad Love and War, and her twelfth — Cloud Runner — comes out this fall.

Additionally, she has written two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age, the former of which won the 2013 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction, as well as children’s books; her band Poetic Justice also won the Musical Artist of the Year Award, and on her own, she has received the Native American Music Award for best female artist of the year.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, in announcing Harjo's selection as poet laureate, said of her: "To her, poems are ‘carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,’ and through them she tells an American story of tradition and loss, reckoning and myth-making. Her work powerfully connects us to the earth and the spiritual world with direct, inventive lyricism that helps us reimagine who we are.”

Sources: National Women's History Museum, Poets.org, Oklahoma Historical Society, Library of Congress

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And of course, today is Juneteenth; the holiday marks the news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally made it to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, and honors the resilience of all who endured chattel slavery.

There's no shortage of reading lists themed toward the holiday, but we found the National Museum of African American History & Culture's recommendations to be especially compelling.