May 2024 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of May for writers and readers

American Cheese Month

Arthritis Awareness Month

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (U.S.)

Be Kind to Animals Month

Better Sleep Month

Get Caught Reading Month

Indian Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month

Labor History Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

Military Appreciation Month

National Allergy and Asthma Awareness Month

National Anxiety Month

National Meditation Month

National Pet Month

Short Story Month

May 1 – Couple Appreciation Day; Global Love Day; May Day; Mother Goose Day; Phone In Sick Day
May 2 – International Harry Potter Day
May 3 – National Space Day; World Press Freedom Day
May 4 – Free Comic Book Day (N. America); Greenery Day (Japan); National Day of Reason (U.S.)
May 4-10 – Red Cross Week
May 5 – Nellie Bly’s Birthday; Cinco de Mayo (México); National Cartoonists Day; National Silence the Shame About Mental Illness) Day; World Laughter Day
May 5-11 – Hurricane Preparedness Week (U.S.); National Pet Week (U.S.)
May 6 – Sigmund Freud’s Birthday
May 6-12 – Children’s Book Week; National Nurses Week (U.S.)
May 7 – Tchaikovsky’s Birthday; Poem on Your Pillow Day
May 8 – Peter Benchley’s Birthday
May 9 – J.M. Barrie’s Birthday; Europe Day; National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (U.S.); Peter Pan Day
May 11 – Irving Berlin’s Birthday; Martha Graham’s Birthday; Salvador Dali’s Birthday
May 12 – Limerick Day; Mother’s Day (U.S.)
May 13-19 – Dementia Awareness Week (U.K.)
May 16 – Love a Tree Day
May 19 – Nora Ephron’s Birthday
May 20 – Flower Day
May 22 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday; Sherlock Holmes Day
May 25 – Robert Ludlum’s Birthday
May 27 – Dashiell Hammett’s Birthday; Ian Fleming’s Birthday; Memorial Day (U.S.)
May 30 – National Creativity Day
May 31 – Walt Whitman’s Birthday