October 2024 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of October for writers and readers

National Book Month

National Reading Group Month

October 1 – International Coffee Day; International Day of Older Persons; International Music Day
October 2 – Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday; International Day of Non-Violence
October 3 – National Poetry Day (U.K.)
October 4 – World Animal Day; World Smile Day
October 4-10 – World Space Week
October 5 – Robert Hutchings Goddard’s Birthday; World Teachers Day
October 6 – Thor Heyerdahl’s Birthday; Mad Hatter Day
October 7 – Desmond Tutu’s Birthday
October 10 – World Against the Death Penalty; World Homeless Day; World Mental Health Day
October 11 – Myth and Legends Day
October 12 – World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
October 13 – International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
October 14 – E.E. Cummings’ Birthday; Indigenous Peoples’ Day
October 15 – Mario Puzo’s Birthday
October 15 – International Day of Rural Women
October 16 – Noah Webster’s Birthday; Dictionary Day; World Food Day
October 17 – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Day; World Trauma Day
October 20 – National Day on Writing
October 20-26 – National Friends of Libraries Week
October 21 – Alfred Nobel’s Birthday
October 23 – Michael Crichton’s Birthday
October 25 – Anne Tyler’s Birthday; International Artist Day; World Opera Day
October 27 – Dylan Thomas’ Birthday
October 28 – International Animation Day
October 29 – First Internet Message (1969); World Stroke Day
October 30 – Ezra Pound’s Birthday
October 31 – John Keats’ Birthday