Events in the month of May for writers and readers
American Cheese Month
Arthritis Awareness Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (U.S.)
Be Kind to Animals Month
Better Sleep Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Indian Heritage Month
Jewish American Heritage Month
Labor History Month
Mental Health Awareness Month
Military Appreciation Month
National Allergy and Asthma Awareness Month
National Anxiety Month
National Meditation Month
National Pet Month
Short Story Month
May 1 – Couple Appreciation Day; Global Love Day; May Day; Mother Goose Day; National Loyalty Day; Phone In Sick Day
May 2 – International Harry Potter Day
May 3 – National Space Day; World Press Freedom Day
May 4 – Free Comic Book Day (N. America); Greenery Day (Japan); National Day of Reason (U.S.)
May 4-10 – Red Cross Week
May 5 – Nellie Bly’s Birthday; Cinco de Mayo (México); National Cartoonists Day; National Silence the Shame About Mental Illness) Day; World Laughter Day
May 5-11 – Hurricane Preparedness Week (U.S.); National Pet Week (U.S.)
May 6 – Sigmund Freud’s Birthday
May 6-12 – Children’s Book Week; National Nurses Week (U.S.)
May 7 – Tchaikovsky’s Birthday; Poem on Your Pillow Day
May 8 – Peter Benchley’s Birthday
May 9 – J.M. Barrie’s Birthday; Europe Day; National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (U.S.); Peter Pan Day
May 11 – Irving Berlin’s Birthday; Martha Graham’s Birthday; Salvador Dali’s Birthday; Mother’s Day (U.S.)
May 12 – Limerick Day
May 13-19 – Dementia Awareness Week (U.K.)
May 16 – Love a Tree Day
May 19 – Nora Ephron’s Birthday
May 20 – Flower Day
May 22 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday; Sherlock Holmes Day
May 24 – Take a Road Trip Day
May 25 – Robert Ludlum’s Birthday
May 26 – Memorial Day (U.S.)
May 27 – Dashiell Hammett’s Birthday; Ian Fleming’s Birthday
Several years ago actress turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot found herself in legal trouble with French authorities. The former screen siren openly condemned the Islamic practice of animal slaughter during the Aid al-Kabir holiday. She’d been in such a predicament before – several times. French law doesn’t actually forbid disparaging religious ideology, but it looks down sharply upon it, as it can be considered slander or worse, a conduit to hate-obsessed violence.
It’s surprising, considering France fought hard against Nazi occupation during World War II. One tenet of Nazism is that anyone who speaks out against the government is deemed a traitor. But, short of slander or threats of violence, criticism of governing bodies and religion is free speech. Imprisoning anyone, or even threatening to levy a monetary penalty for such views, runs counter to that.
All of it strikes hard for me – and other writers and artists – here in the U.S., as we witness ongoing assaults on various forms of free speech. Book bans remain a primary source of concern. And with Republicans in charge of the White House and both houses of Congress, the attacks continue. Social extremists have always been opposed to any viewpoint that doesn’t conform to their standards – whether it’s coming from the left or the right. The voices of moderates seem to get lost in the chaos.
Recently the U.S. government – under pressure from the Trump administration – compiled and presented a list of words that are forbidden on federal web sites and other documentation. They include such terms as “biologically male”, “clean energy”, “inequality”, and “woman”. This is real! I have a tendency towards creating outrageous stories, but I’m not intoxicated or deranged. Well…not yet.
Regardless, the list definitely isn’t a manifestation of liberal outrage at the most right-wing president in decades. It’s a result of years of conservative ideology designed to put people and institutions in categories and re-enshrine bigotry and hatred into the American conscience. The leftward shift in culture and politics in the U.S. beginning in the late 1950s eventually met the hostility of Reaganesque antipathy towards anything viewed as different or the other. The Trump era is the culmination of it all.
Those in formerly marginalized groups who also voted for Trump and his ilk shouldn’t be surprised – but they are. For example, Cuban-Americans voted overwhelmingly for Trump, as they often have for the Republican Party. As Cuba has been under communist rule since 1959, those fleeing the country have been given special protection from American law. The same luxury hasn’t been granted to people fleeing war and violence in other Latin American nations, such as El Salvador and Guatemala. However, the Trump Administration’s efforts to reform immigration law have started to impact thousands of Cuban immigrants. Now, Cuban-Americans have the audacity to be horrified at the betrayal. Remember the adage: be careful what you wish for; you might just get it.
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Trump and his cronies appear to be going after anyone who doesn’t fit the narrow definition of who he is. His hypocrisy is glaring. He never outwardly espoused any religious fervor until he first ran for president, but now says Christian ideology should be taught in schools. If he believes in true biblical content, then consider the Christian Bible’s 7th commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14.
There are others.
“I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”Genesis 23:4
“The sinless one among you, go first. Throw the stone.”John 8:6-11
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”Mark 12:30-31
I’m sure this would be too much for him to handle. It’s too much even for some devout Christians to handle!
Whatever words someone wants to use, they shouldn’t be frightened into compliance. Russia, Iran and North Korea do that. No truly democratic society wants to echo such autocratic leadership.
As National Library Week 2025 comes to an end here in the U.S., I want to highlight Every Library’s “Rapid Response Fund”, a political action group for libraries. As I’ve noted before, censorship is in full swing in a country that enshrined the concept of free speech into its constitution. This could only happen with a right-wing autocrat like Donald Trump in the White House. As writers and bloggers, we can’t afford to let this madness continue. Please consider donating and as always – keep writing and keep fighting!
March 15 – Everything You Think Is Wrong Day; Ides of March
March 16-22 – World Folktales and Fables Week
March 16 – Everything You Do Is Right Day; Freedom of Information Day
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
March 19 – International Read to Me Day; Let’s Laugh Day
March 20 – First Day of Spring (Northern Hemisphere); First Day of Fall (Southern Hemisphere); Extraterrestrial Abductions Day; International Day of Happiness; World Storytelling Day
If you have no major projects scheduled in the near future, consider taking on this challenge from the Smithsonian Institution. They’re offering USD 1 million to anyone who can figure out what this ancient manuscript says. For more than a century, no one has been able to decipher the various symbols carved into these tablets from the Indus Valley civilization. The Bronze Age society flourished in the northwestern regions of Southern Asia from roughly 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. As one of the world’s first large-scale urban cultures, they developed grid-based layouts, standardized weights and measures and elaborate drainage and even sewer systems; domesticated animals; and of course, created a logosyllabic writing system.
The prize announcement actually comes from M.K. Stalin, an official with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Recent archeological examinations noted similarities between the Indus script and early writing from Tamil Nadu, despite the considerable geographic distance.
Researchers at Tamil Nadu’s Pondicherry University digitized 15,000 graffiti-marked pot shards from 140 archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu and compared them against 4,000 examples of the Indus Valley script. They found that nearly 60 percent of the signs matched and 90 percent shared “parallels”. Despite the intensive scrutiny, the Indus markings remain enigmatic.
Hence, the reward!
Personally, I’d take on the challenge, since I love a great mystery and harbor a fascination with ancient cultures. But sometimes I even have trouble figuring out my own dreams! See what you can do!
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 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)
Chief Writing Wolf 