Category Archives: News

July 29, 2023 · 12:57 AM

August 2023 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 – National Coloring Book Day (U.S.)       
  • August 4 – Percy Blythe Shelley’s Birthday; International Beer Day
  • August 5 – Blogger Day
  • August 6 – Farmworker Appreciation Day; Psychic Day (U.S.)
  • August 6-12 – International Dog Assistance Week
  • August 7 – Professional Speakers Day (U.S.); Purple Heart Day (U.S.)
  • August 7-13 – National Simplify Your Life Week (U.S.)
  • August 9 – Book Lover’s Day (also November 4)
  • August 10 – Vlogging Day; World Lion Day
  • August 11 – Mountain Day
  • August 12 – International Youth 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 – World Calligraphy Day
  • August 18 – National Bad Poetry Day; World Breast Cancer Research Day
  • August 19 – International Homeless Animals Day; World Honey Bee Day; World Humanitarian Day; World Photo Day
  • August 21 – Poet’s 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-September 1 – World Water Week
  • August 24 – Paulo Coelho’s Birthday; International Strange Music Day
  • August 26 – International Bat Night
  • August 28 – Leo Tolstoy’s Birthday
  • 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

Famous August Birthdays

Other August Events

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July 22, 2023 · 12:01 AM

In Memoriam – Tony Bennett, 1926-2023

“To me, life is a gift, and it’s a blessing just to be alive.  And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get.”

Tony Bennett

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July 15, 2023 · 12:28 AM

In Memoriam – Milan Kundera, 1929-2023

“The worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself, to go outside oneself, to exist in and for other people.”

Milan Kundera

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July 4, 2023 · 12:05 AM

Happy Fourth of July 2023!

“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.”

William Faulkner

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June 30, 2023 · 9:43 PM

A New Deal for the American Indian

In light of this week’s decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that seem to undercut the value of the “Great American Experiment”, here’s a great piece about one of the most progressive presidents of the 20th century – Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"The Chief"'s avatarWolfsonian-FIU Library

In the final paragraph of the address he delivered at the Democratic National Convention on July 2, 1932, Democratic presidential candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt concluded his speech with the words: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” That promise of a “new deal” was taken up by his campaign, the press, the public, and later historians of the era to describe the wide scope of economic experiments, reforms, and alphabet-soup programs prescribed by FDR as remedies for the Great Depression. The federal government’s relations with Indian tribes would also undergo a radical departure from policies and practices that could be traced back to the earliest years of European colonization and the foundation of the American Republic. Although far from perfect and predictably paternalistic, the Roosevelt Administration’s dealings with the aboriginal peoples living on reservations in the United States most definitively constituted a “New…

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June 30, 2023 · 6:33 AM

July 2023 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

Read an Almanac Month

Social Wellness Month

South Asian Heritage Month

Wild About Wildlife Month

  • July 1 – American Zoo Day; 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 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 – International Friendship Day; Paperback Book Day; World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
  • July 31 – J.K. Rowling’s Birthday

Famous July Birthdays

Other July Events

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June 19, 2023 · 12:13 AM

Juneteenth 2023

“Juneteenth was never about commemorating a delayed proclamation, but about celebrating a people’s enduring spirit.”

Annette Gordon-Reed

Juneteenth

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June 18, 2023 · 12:07 AM

Happy Father’s Day 2023!

“The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get.”

Tim Russert

Image: Dave Granlund

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June 16, 2023 · 6:56 AM

In Memoriam – Cormac McCarthy, 1933-2023

“My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That’s heaven. That’s gold, and anything else is just a waste of time.”

Cormac McCarthy

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May 29, 2023 · 12:08 AM

June 2023 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of June for writers and readers

Audiobook Appreciation Month

Black Lives Matter Month

Celibacy Awareness Month

Children’s Awareness Month

National Adopt a Cat Month

National Candy Month

National Foster a Pet Month

National Men’s Health Month

National Oceans Month

Rainbow Book Month

  • June 1 – Dare Day
  • June 2 – American Indian Citizenship Day; National Doughnut Day; National Leave the Office Early Day
  • June 3 – Love Conquers All Day
  • June 4 – Audacity to Hope Day; Hug Your Cat Day; National Cancer Survivors Day; National Cheese Day
  • June 4-10 – National Week of the Ocean; Pet Appreciation Week
  • June 5 – Thank You Day; World Environment Day
  • June 6 – National Yo-Yo Day
  • June 7 – Global Running Day; VCR Day; World Caring Day
  • June 8 – Best Friends Day; International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos
  • June 9 – National No Apologies Period Day; National Sex Day
  • June 10 – Abolition Day; Ball Point Pen Day; Herbs and Spices Day; National Iced Tea Day
  • June 11 – National Children’s Day; Race Unity Day
  • June 12 – Anne Frank’s Birthday; Democracy Day; National Red Rose Day; Peace Day; World Day Against Child Labor
  • June 13 – Sewing Machine Day
  • June 14 – Monkey Around Day; World Blood Donor Day
  • June 15 – Nature Photography Day; Smile Power Day; World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
  • June 16 – International Waterfall Day; Take a Road Trip Day; World Sea Turtle Day
  • June 17 – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
  • June 18 – Father’s Day (U.S.); National Splurge Day; Wear Blue Day
  • June 18-24 – National Forgiveness Week (U.S.)
  • June 19 – Juneteenth (U.S.); National Watch Day; World Sauntering Day
  • June 19-25 – Animal Rights Awareness Week (U.S.); Learning Disability Week; Universal Father’s Week
  • June 21 – Andean New Year; Indigenous People’s Day (Canada); International Yoga Day; Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere); Winter Solstice (Southern Hemisphere); World Giraffe Day; World Humanist Day; World Music Day
  • June 22 – Octavia Butler’s Birthday; National Kissing Day; World Rainforest Day
  • June 23 – Let It Go Day; National Food Truck Day; National Pink Day; National Typewriter Day
  • June 24 – Farmer Day; International Fairy Day
  • June 25 – Eric Carle’s Birthday
  • June 26 – International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
  • June 27 – Sun Glasses Day
  • June 28 – Paul Bunyan Day
  • June 29 – Fisherman’s Day; Hug Holiday; International Day of the Tropics; Waffle Iron Day
  • June 30 – International Asteroid Day; National Safer Workplace Day

Famous June Birthdays

Other June Events

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