“We’re coming for the books. We ask that you do it on your own and remove these books.”
Dan Patrick, Texas Lieutenant Governor
PEN America: Banned Books List 2026
Keep writing and keep fighting!
Category Archives: News
October 2026 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; National Poetry Day (Ireland and U.K.); World Smile Day
- October 4 – World Animal Day
- October 4-10 – Banned Books Week; 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; World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
- October 11 – Myth and Legends Day; National Coming Out Day
- October 12 – Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- October 13 – International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
- October 14 – E.E. Cummings’ Birthday
- 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 18-24 – National Friends of Libraries Week
- October 20 – National Day on Writing
- 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; Halloween
Labor Day 2026
“I have pleaded (labor’s) case, not in the quavering tones of a feeble mendicant asking alms, but in the thundering voice of the captain of a mighty host, demanding the rights to which free men are entitled.”
September 2026 Literary Calendar
Events in the month of September for writers and readers
National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Suicide Prevention Month
World Alzheimer’s Month
- September 1 – World Letter Writing Day
- September 4 – Richard Wright’s Birthday; World Sexual Health Day
- September 5 – International Day of Charity
- September 6 – Fight Procrastination Day; Read a Book Day
- September 7 – Labor Day (U.S.)
- September 8 – International Literacy Day; World Physiotherapy Day
- September 9 – International Day to Protect Education from Attack
- September 10 – World Suicide Prevention Day
- September 11 – Patriot Day (U.S.)
- September 13 – Roald Dahl’s Birthday
- September 15 – Agatha Christie’s Birthday; Marco Polo’s Birthday; International Day of Democracy
- September 16 – International Day for Preservation of the Ozone; National Voter Registration Day (U.S.)
- September 18 – Read an E-book Day
- September 19 – International Coastal Cleanup Day
- September 19-October 4 – Oktoberfest
- September 20 – Upton Sinclair’s Birthday
- September 21 – Stephen King’s Birthday; International Day of Peace; World Gratitude Day
- September 22 – Dear Diary Day; International Hobbit Day; World Car-Free Day; World Rose Day
- September 23 – International Sign Language Day
- September 24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Birthday; National Punctuation Day; World Maritime Day
- September 25 – National Comic Book Day; World Dream Day
- September 26 – T.S. Eliot’s Birthday; National Ghost Hunting Day
- September 28 – World Rivers Day
- September 29 – Miguel de Cervantes’ Birthday; International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste; National Coffee Day (U.S.); World Heart Day
- September 30 – Truman Capote’s Birthday; International Translation Day
Filed under News
In Memoriam – Dolly Parton, 1946-2026
“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.”
Filed under News
August 2026 Literary Calendar
Events in the month of August for writers and readers
Family Fun Month
Happiness Happens Month
Romance Awareness Month
- August 1 – Herman Melville’s Birthday; World Wide Web Day
- August 1-7 – International Clown Week
- August 2 – Psychic Day (U.S.)
- August 3-9 – International Dog Assistance Week; National Simplify Your Life Week (U.S.)
- August 4 – Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Birthday
- August 5 – Blogger Day
- August 6 – Farmworker Appreciation Day
- August 7 – International Beer Day; Purple Heart Day (U.S.)
- August 9 – Book Lovers Day
- August 10 – Vlogging Day; World Lion Day
- August 12 – International Youth Day; World Calligraphy Day; World Elephant Day
- August 13 – International Lefthanders Day; Women’s and Family Day
- August 14 – Danielle Steele’s Birthday; Love Your Bookshop Day; World Lizard Day
- August 15 – Chant at the Moon Day
- August 16 – International Homeless Animals Day; World Honey Bee Day
- August 18 – National Bad Poetry Day; World Breast Cancer Research Day
- August 19 – World Humanitarian Day; World Photo Day
- August 22 – International Day Commemorating Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
- August 23 – European Day for Remembrance of Victims of Stalinism and Nazism; International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
- August 23-27 – World Water Week
- August 24 – Paulo Coelho’s Birthday; International Strange Music Day
- August 26 – International Dog Day
- August 28 – Leo Tolstoy’s Birthday
- August 29-33 – International Bat Night
- August 30 – Mary Shelley’s Birthday; International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances
- August 31 – International Day for People of African Descent; International Overdose Awareness Day; We Love Memoirs Day; World Distance Learning Day
Filed under News
Happy Fourth of July 2026!
Filed under News
July 2026 Literary Calendar
Events in the month of July for writers and readers
Good Care Month
National Anti-Boredom Month
National Blueberry Month
National Culinary Arts Month
National Lost Pet Prevention Month
National Picnic Month
Social Wellness Month
South Asian Heritage Month
Wild About Wildlife Month
- July 1 – American Zoo Day (U.S.); Canada Day; International Joke Day
- July 1-7 – Clean Beaches Week
- July 2 – Freedom from Fear of Speaking Day; World UFO Day
- July 3 – Air Conditioning Appreciation Day; International Plastic Bag Free Day
- July 4 – U.S. Independence Day
- July 6 – International Kissing Day
- July 7 – Global Forgiveness Day; Tell the Truth Day; World Chocolate Day
- July 8 – International Paramedics Day
- July 11 – E.B. White’s Birthday; International Essential Oils Day; World Population Day
- July 14 – Bastille Day (France)
- July 17 – World Day for International Justice; World Emoji Day
- July 18 – Nelson Mandela International Day; World Listening Day
- July 20 – International Chess Day; Space Exploration Day (U.S.)
- July 21 – Ernest Hemingway’s Birthday
- July 22 – World Brain Day
- July 24 – International Self-Care Day
- July 25 – National Wine & Cheese Day (U.S.)
- July 29 – International Tiger Day
- July 30 – Paperback Book Day; World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
- July 31 – J.K. Rowling’s Birthday
Filed under News
