Tag Archives: novels

October 2023 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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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 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 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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Banned Books Week 2022

I know I’m running late with this, but it’s Banned Books Week, the annual commemoration of free speech and free press.  As always, some people feel they have the authority to determine what the rest of us can see and read.  They start with the schools and libraries under the familiar guise of protecting the children, but the ultimate goal is to restrict literature and education.

All writers and bloggers should always stand up to any kind of censorship.  Remember, no one – absolutely no one – has the right to select what you can and cannot read!

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Imprisoned for Writing: Pham Doan Trang

Independent journalist and human rights defender Pham Doan Trang was sentenced to nine years by The People’s Court of Hanoi on December, 14 2021. She was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on October 7, 2020, and charged under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code which criminalizes “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.”

Trang is the author of several books that address women’s rights, LGBT issues, environmental concerns and land rights.  In 2019, Reporters Without Borders awarded her a Press Freedom Prize in recognition of her impact.  Her work on the Liberal Publishing House helped it receive the prestigious Prix Voltaire award in 2020 for its continued coverage in spite of risks and dangers of reprisals.

Trang was held in isolation from the time of her arrest until October 19, 2021, when she was finally allowed to meet with one of her lawyers after having been denied access to her family and legal representation for over a year.

Foreseeing her own arrest, she gave instructions ahead of time for fellow activists to take advantage of her imprisonment to negotiate for more freedom in Viet Nam, and to “advocate for the others first, then me.”

In The Vietnamese, a journalists’ magazine Trang founded, her “final statement” from her trial has appeared today reads, in part:

“In a democratic society, if a citizen writes something or responds to interview questions from foreign journalists regarding matters the government doesn’t want to hear, what would be the civilized response? The most civilized response would be for the government to do nothing because a civilized person knows how to respect the opinions and interests of others.

“In a less fortunate situation, if a government has authoritarian tendencies and finds what the citizen says unacceptable, then it could simply write books or articles to rebut that citizen, or even boldly reach out to the foreign press to arrange an interview in which a government representative expresses his/her viewpoint or responds to the citizen in-kind.

“But the Socialist Republic of Vietnam does none of this. Instead, it chooses to respond in a more vile, foolish, and heinous manner, imprisoning its citizens simply because they write works or respond to interviews with foreign journalists.”

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In Memoriam – Joan Didion, 1934-2021

“We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.”

Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968

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In Memoriam – Anne Rice, 1941-2021

“I loved words.  I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them.”

Anne Rice

Bibliography

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A Frankenstein Million

Who would have thought a mirthful challenge would last two centuries and spark a horrific enterprise?

Last month a first-edition copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein sold for USD 1.17 million at auction at Christie’s Auction House; much more than its estimated value of USD 300,000.  Only one of 500 known existing first-print copies, the book is the most expensive tome by a woman ever sold.  Published in 1818, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus is now considered to be the first science fiction novel.  At the time, however, it was met with lackluster reviews – many of which bore an obviously sexist bent.  “The writer of it is, we understand, a female; this is an aggravation of that which is the prevailing fault of the novel,” noted one reviewer in the “British Critic”.

Looks like Mary Shelley has had the last laugh.

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