Bookish birthdays for the week of October 9, 2022

Here are the literary birthdays to celebrate over the week of October 9, 2022. 

Belva Plain (October 9, 1919): Plain began writing novels — twenty-one of which landed on the New York Times bestseller list — at the age of sixty to counteract Jewish stereotypes, including strong, well-rounded characters in such books as Evergreen and Crescent City. 

James Clavell (October 10, 1925): Clavell’s first novel, King Rat, was based on his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, and his later novel Shogun was a hit both on the page and the screen as one of the most popular miniseries ever made.

Harold Pinter (October 10, 1930): Pinter’s complex, challenging plays including The Homecoming, The Dumb Waiter, and The Birthday Party led him to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925): Leonard began his career writing westerns, several of which inspired movies, but hit his popular and critical stride with crime novels like Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and several others that also hit the big screen.

Katherine Mansfield (October 14, 1888): Mansfield is considered a master of the short story, with her collection The Garden Party being the pinnacle of her production.

Virgil (October 15, 70 BCE): Virgil, author of the epic Aeneid, is considered the greatest Roman poet.

P.G. Wodehouse (October 15, 1881): Wodehouse wrote more than ninety books, many of them starring the butler Jeeves, but also wrote film scripts and collaborated on plays and musical comedies.

Italo Calvino (October 15, 1923): Calvino gained international fame for his fantastic tales The Nonexistent Knight & the Cloven Viscount and The Baron in the Trees.

Mario Puzo (October 15, 1920): Puzo’s breakthrough novel, The Godfather, is one of the most successful of all time, selling 21 million copies, becoming a hit movie (both in terms of reviews and box-office receipts), and inspiring two sequels.

Roxane Gay (October 15, 1974): Gay is a prominent social commentator in addition to being a writer who has seen three books (Bad Feminist, Difficult Women, and Hunger) earn bestseller status.