Category Archives: News

November 29, 2024 · 6:41 PM

December 2024 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of December for writers and readers

Read a New Book Month

  • December 1 – National Christmas Lights Day; World AIDS Day
  • December 2 – International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
  • December 3 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
  • December 4 – Wildlife Conservation Day
  • December 5 – Walt Disney’s Birthday; International Volunteer Day; World Soil Day
  • December 6 – Ira Gershwin’s Birthday; Joyce Kilmer’s Birthday
  • December 7 – International Civil Aviation Day; National Letter Writing Day
  • December 9 – John Milton’s Birthday; Christmas Card Day; International Anti-Corruption Day; International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide; National Llama Day
  • December 10 – Emily Dickinson’s Birthday; Dewey Decimal System Day; Human Rights Day; International Animal Rights Day; Nobel Prize Day
  • December 11 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Birthday; International Mountain Day; UNICEF Birthday
  • December 12 – International Day of Neutrality; International Universal Health Coverage Day
  • December 13 – National Day of the Horse (U.S.)
  • December 14 – Nostradamus’ Birthday
  • December 15 – Bill of Rights Day (U.S.)
  • December 16 – Jane Austen’s Birthday; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Birthday; National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
  • December 17 – National Maple Syrup Day (U.S.); Wright Brothers Day (U.S.)
  • December 18 – International Migrants Day; National Twin Day (U.S.)
  • December 20 – International Human Solidarity Day
  • December 21 – Crossword Puzzle Day; Look on the Bright Side Day; National Short Story Day; Summer Solstice (Southern Hemisphere); Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
  • December 22 – National Short Person Day
  • December 23 – Robert Bly’s Birthday; Harriet Monroe’s Birthday; National Roots Day
  • December 24 – Mary Higgins Clark’s Birthday; Jolabokaflod (Iceland)
  • December 25 – Christmas Day; Hanukkah begins
  • December 26 – Boxing Day; Kwanzaa begins
  • December 27 – International Day of Epidemic Preparedness
  • December 28 – National Call a Friend Day; National Short Film Day
  • December 30 – National Bacon Day
  • December 31 – Henri Matisse’s Birthday; No Interruptions Day

Famous December Birthdays

Other December Events

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November 28, 2024 · 12:03 AM

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

“The Thanksgiving tradition is, we overeat.  ‘Hey, how about at Thanksgiving we just eat a lot?’ ‘But we do that every day!’  ‘Oh. What if we eat a lot with people that annoy the hell out of us.’”

Jim Gaffigan

Feeding America

Image: Bill Day

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November 15, 2024 · 1:36 AM

Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2024

“The censorship and book-burning of unpoliced prose, the harassment and detention of painters, journalists, poets, playwrights, novelists, essayists: this is the first step of a despot whose instinctive acts of malevolence are not simply mindless or evil; they are also perceptive. Such despots know very well that their strategy of repression will allow the real tools of oppressive power to flourish.”

Toni Morrison

To all writers everywhere, don’t let any political entities stop you!  Keep writing and keep fighting!

Day of the Imprisoned Writer

Image: Pham Doan Trang, PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Awardee, by Jin Jin

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November 11, 2024 · 12:03 AM

Veteran’s Day 2024

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

Mark Twain

Veteran’s Day

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October 29, 2024 · 3:10 PM

November 2024 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of November for writers and readers

National Family Literacy Month

National Memoir Writing Month

Native American Heritage Month

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Picture Book Month

  • November 1 – Author’s Day; Day of the Dead; World Vegan Day
  • November 2 – All Soul’s Day; International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists; Plan Your Epitaph Day
  • November 4 – Book Lovers Day
  • November 9 – International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism; World Adoption Day; World Freedom Day
  • November 10 – World Science Day for Peace and Development
  • November 11 – Veterans Day (U.S.)
  • November 12 – World Pneumonia Day
  • November 13 – World Kindness Day
  • November 14 – Young Readers Day
  • November 15 – Day of the Imprisoned Writer; I Love to Write Day
  • November 16 – International Day for Tolerance; World Philosophy Day
  • November 18 – Margaret Atwood’s Birthday; High-Five a Librarian Day
  • November 19 – International Men’s Day
  • November 21 – Voltaire’s Birthday
  • November 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
  • November 28 – Thanksgiving (U.S.)
  • November 29 – Louisa May Alcott’s Birthday
  • November 30 – International Computer Security Day

Famous November Birthdays

Other November Events

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October 14, 2024 · 4:18 AM

Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024

Mayan Prayer of the Seven Directions

From the East, House of Light

May wisdom Dawn in us

So we may see all things in clarity

From the North, House of the Night

May Wisdom Ripen in Us

So we may know all from within

From the West, House of Transformation

May Wisdom be transformed into right action

So we may do what must be done

From the South, House of the Eternal Sun

May right action reap the harvest

So we may enjoy the fruits of Planetary being

From the Centre, Galactic Source

Which is everywhere at once

May everything be known

As the light of mutual love

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

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September 29, 2024 · 6:02 AM

October 2024 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of October for writers and readers

National Book Month

National Reading Group Month

Famous October Birthdays

Other October Events

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September 22, 2024 · 12:10 AM

Banned Books Week 2024 – September 22-28

“They’re banning books in their schools. We are banishing hunger in ours!”

Gov. Tim Walz

Today is the start of “Banned Books Week 2024” – the annual fight against literary censorship.  Writers, media types and all who support us know full well we’ll never win this war.  But we can win battles across the national spectrum.  The fight has become more intense in recent years, as social conservatives march into libraries and demand certain items be removed because they’re offended.  Remember, there will always be people who think they know what’s best for everyone else.  As writers and readers, we simply can’t let that happen.

Keep writing and keep fighting!

Banned Books 2024

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September 11, 2024 · 12:24 AM

In Memoriam – James Earl Jones, 1931-2024

“When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language.”

James Earl Jones

Filmography

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September 11, 2024 · 12:20 AM

In Remembrance: September 11, 2001

“Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.”

Blackfoot Proverb

911 Memorials

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