Posted on May 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Here are the literary birthdays to celebrate over the week of May 11, 2025.
Daphne Du Maurier (May 13, 1907): Du Maurier’s many critically and popularly acclaimed novels — including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and My Cousin Rachel — resulted in her being named a Dame Commander in the Order of the British Empire.
Armistead Maupin (May 13, 1944): Maupin launched his literary career with Tales of the City, published in serial form in the San Francisco Chronicle, and four of his five sequels to it were also first serialized.
L. Frank Baum (May 15, 1856): Baum wrote over sixty books under a variety of names, but of course is best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the thirteen follow-up books to it.
Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890): Porter had long been a critically acclaimed (though financially struggling) short-story writer, for works such as the O. Henry Award-winning “Holiday,” but the publication of her one and only novel, Ship of Fools, was what earned her a wider readership.
Adrienne Rich (May 16, 1929): Rich, best known for her feminist and lesbian poetry, turned down the National Medal of the Arts in 1997 in opposition to the Clinton administration’s politics.
Gary Paulsen (May 17, 1939): Paulsen wrote over a hundred books for adults and young readers, among them three Newberry Honor titles: Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room.
Categories: Today in Books