October
- 1684 - Pierre Corneille, French author died
- 1760 - William Thomas Beckford, English writer born
- 1791 - Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer born
- 1842 - Charles Cros, French poet born
- 1885 - Louis Untermeyer, American author born
- 1899 - Ernest Haycox, American writer born
- 1914 - Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and writer born
- 1949 - Isaac Bonewits, American author born
- 1953 - John Hegley, British poet born
- 1968 - Jon Guenther, American author born
- 1985 - E. B. White, American author died
- 1988 - Sacheverell Sitwell, English writer died
- 1644 - François-Timoléon de Choisy, French writer born
- 1724 - François-Timoléon de Choisy, French writer died
- 1775 - Chiyo-ni, Japanese poet died
- 1879 - Wallace Stevens, American poet born
- 1904 - Graham Greene, British novelist born
- 1911 - Jack Finney, American author born
- 1926 - Jan Morris, English writer born
- 1999 - Heinz G. Konsalik, German novelist died
- 2005 - August Wilson, American playwright died
- 1596 - Florent Chrestien, French writer died
- 1690 - Robert Barclay, Scottish writer born
- 1720 - Johann Uz, German poet born
- 1895 - Giovanni Comisso, Italian writer born
- 1896 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet born
- 1897 - Louis Aragon, French writer born
- 1900 - Thomas Wolfe, American author born
- 1916 - James Herriot, English veterinarian and author born
- 1925 - Gore Vidal, American author born
- 1987 - Jean Anouilh, French writer died
- 2003 - William Steig, American cartoonist and children's author died
- 1862 - Edward Stratemeyer, American author who created the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Rover Boys, and Tom Swift series is born
- 1880 - Damon Runyon, American writer born
- 1928 - Alvin Toffler, American author born
- 1937 - Jackie Collins, British author born
- 1941 - Anne Rice, American writer born
- 1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author born
- 1974 - Anne Sexton, American poet died
- 1540 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet died
- 1606 - Philippe Desportes, French poet died
- 1713 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist born
- 1889 - Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer born
- 1911 - Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist born
- 1928 - Louise Fitzhugh, American author born
- 1936 - Václav Havel, playwright and President of the Czech Republic born
- 1936 - J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist died
- 1939 - Marie-Claire Blais, French Canadian author and playwright born
- 1946 - Zahida Hina, Pakistani columnist and story writer born
- 1948 - Zoran Živković, Serbian writer born
- 1952 - Clive Barker, English writer born
- 1660 - Paul Scarron, French writer died
- 1872 - Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian writer born
- 1892 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, British poet died
- 1916 - Stanley Ellin, American crime writer born
- 1930 - The novel As I Lay Dying, written by American author William Faulkner, is published.
- 1950 - David Brin, American author born
- 1952 - Ayten Mutlu, Turkish poet and writer born
- 1576 - John Marston, English writer born
- 1577 - George Gascoigne, English poet died
- 1849 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer died
- 1853 - James Whitcomb Riley, American poet born
- 1894 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, American writer died
- 1913 - Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer born
- 1929 - Robert Westall, British author born
- 1934 - Amiri Baraka, American playwright and poet born
- 1935 - Thomas Keneally, Australian author (Schindler's Ark) born
- 1943 - Radclyffe Hall, British author died
- 1955 - First reading of the Allen Ginsberg poem "Howl" took place in San Francisco.
- 1981 - Albert Cohen, Greek-born novelist died
- 1754 - Henry Fielding, English author died
- 1894 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer died
- 1917 - Walter Lord, American author born
- 1920 - Frank Herbert, American writer born
- 1943 - R. L. Stine, American author born
- 1945 - Felix Salten, Austrian author died
- 1958 - Ran Bosilek, Bulgarian author and translator died
- 1970 - Jean Giono, French author died
- 1892 - Ivo Andrić, Serbo-Croatian writer born
- 1892 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet born
- 1893 - Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer born
- 1920 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author born
- 1924 - Valery Bryusov, Russian writer and critic died
- 1967 - André Maurois, French author died
- 1989 - Penny Lernoux, American journalist and author died
- 1674 - Thomas Traherne, English poet died
- 1691 - Isaac de Benserade, French poet died
- 1827 - Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer died
- 1834 - Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author born
- 1870 - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer born
- 1875 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian novelist, poet and dramatist died
- 1906 - Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan, Indian novelist born
- 1913 - Claude Simon, French writer born
- 1930 - Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet born
- 1930 - Harold Pinter, English playwright born
- 2004 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer died
- 2005 - Wayne C. Booth, American literary critic died
- 1616 - Andreas Gryphius, German writer born
- 1885 - François Mauriac, French writer born
- 1925 - Elmore Leonard, American novelist born
- 1935 - Steele Rudd, Australian author died
- 1937 - R. H. W. Dillard, American poet born
- 1963 - Jean Cocteau, French writer died
- 1976 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author died
- 1977 - MacKinlay Kantor, American author died
- 2005 - Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Linguist, and writer of Pakistan died
- 1679 - William Gurnall, English writer died
- 1875 - Aleister Crowley, English occultist and author born
- 1880 - Louis Hémon, French novelist born
- 1887 - Paula von Preradović , Croatian-Austrian poet born
- 1896 - Eugenio Montale, Italian poet born
- 1904 - Ding Ling, Chinese writer born
- 1908 - Ann Petry, American novelist born
- 1920 - Alice Childress, American playwright born
- 1924 - Anatole France, French author died
- 1970 - Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet died
- 1988 - Ruth Manning-Sanders, author of children's books died
- 1991 - Arkady Strugatsky, Russian novelist died
- 1994 - Gérald Godin, Québécois poet died
- 1696 - John Hervey, Lord Hervey, English statesman and writer born
- 1862 - Mary Kingsley, English writer born
- 1869 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic died
- 1880 - Sasha Cherny, Russian poet born
- 1890 - Conrad Richter, American novelist born
- 1902 - Arna Bontemps, American poet born
- 1919 - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer died
- 1931 - Ernst Didring, Swedish author died
- 1950 - Ernest Haycox, American writer died
- 1637 - Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet died
- 1703 - Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish poet died
- 1888 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer born
- 1894 - E. E. Cummings, American poet born
- 1906 - Hannah Arendt, German political theorist and writer born
- 1908 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress born
- 1926 - The children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, is first published.
- 1997 - Harold Robbins, American novelist died
- 1998 - Cleveland Amory, American writer and animal rights activist died
- 70 BC - Virgil, Roman poet born
- 1686 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet born
- 1764 - Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
- 1814 - Mikhail Lermontov, Russian author born
- 1837 - Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman and poet died
- 1844 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher born
- 1881 - P. G. Wodehouse, British novelist born
- 1891 - Gilbert Arthur a Beckett, English writer died
- 1905 - C. P. Snow, British writer born
- 1920 - Mario Puzo, American novelist (The Godfather) born
- 1923 - Italo Calvino, Italian writer born
- 1926 - Evan Hunter, American author born
- 1930 - FM-2030, philosopher born
- 1954 - Peter Bakowski, Australian poet born
- 1628 - François de Malherbe, French poet and critic died
- 1758 - Noah Webster, American lexicographer born
- 1854 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer born
- 1888 - Eugene O'Neill, American writer born
- 1919 - Kathleen Winsor, American writer born
- 1927 - Günter Grass, German writer born
- 1961 - Marc Levy, French novelist born
- 1937 - Jean de Brunhoff, French writer died
- 1962 - Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet died
- 1979 - Johan Borgen, Norwegian author died
- 1996 - Eric Malpass, English novelist died
- 1999 - Jean Shepherd, American writer died
- 1711 - Jupiter Hammon, American writer born
- 1719 - Jacques Cazotte, French writer born
- 1813 - Georg Büchner, German playwright born
- 1898 - Simon Vestdijk, Dutch writer born
- 1903 - Nathanael West, American writer born
- 1915 - Arthur Miller, American playwright born
- 1917 - Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian novelist born
- 1930 - Jimmy Breslin, American writer born
- 1931 - Ernst Hinterberger, Austrian writer born
- 1973 - Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer died
- 1979 - S. J. Perelman, American writer died
- 1981 - Albert Cohen, Swiss author died
- 2005 - Ba Jin, Chinese writer died
- 1569 - Giambattista Marini, Italian poet born
- 1777 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer born
- 1785 - Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist born
- 1868 - Ernst Didring, Swedish author born
- 1948 - Ntozake Shange, American author born
- 1950 - Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright born
- 1951 - Terry McMillan, American author born
- 1952 - Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist born
- 1605 - Thomas Browne, English writer born
- 1682 - Thomas Browne, English writer died
- 1745 - Jonathan Swift, Irish author died
- 1899 - Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer born
- 1913 - Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet born
- 1931 - John le Carré, English novelist born
- 1936 - Lu Xun, Chinese writer died
- 1946 - Philip Pullman, English writer born
- 1950 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet died
- 1999 - Nathalie Sarraute, Russian-born French writer died
- 1463 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher born
- 1652 - Antonio Coello, Spanish writer died
- 1822 - Thomas Hughes, English novelist born
- 1854 - Arthur Rimbaud, French poet born
- 1890 - Sir Richard Burton, British explorer and writer died
- 1900 - Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet died
- 1925 - Art Buchwald, American newspaper columnist born
- 1940 - Robert Pinsky, American poet born
- 1946 - Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer born
- 1983 - Yves Thériault, French Canadian author died
- 2004 - Anthony Hecht, American poet died
- 1125 - Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian writer died
- 1687 - Sir Edmund Waller, English poet died
- 1772 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet born
- 1790 - Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer born
- 1847 - Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian writer born
- 1873 - Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet died
- 1904 - Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet born
- 1931 - Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian writer died
- 1914 - Martin Gardner, American mathematician and writer born
- 1929 - Ursula K. Le Guin, American author born
- 1956 - Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer born
- 1969 - Jack Kerouac, American novelist died
- 1071 - William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and poet born
- 1565 - Jean, Vicomte d'Aguisy Grolier de Servieres, French bibliophile died
- 1818 - Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle, French poet born
- 1919 - Doris Lessing, British writer born
- 1920 - Timothy Leary, American writer born
- 1954 - Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet died
- 1959 - Arto Salminen, Finnish writer born
- 1978 - John Riley, English poet murdered
- 1989 - Ewan MacColl, English author died
- 1995 - Sir Kingsley Amis, English writer died
- 1998 - Eric Ambler, English novelist died
- 1844 - Robert Bridges, English poet born
- 1865 - Neltje Blanchan, American writer born
- 1872 - Théophile Gautier, French writer died
- 1923 - Aslam Farrukhi, Pakistani scholar and poet born
- 1939 - Zane Grey, American author died
- 1942 - Michael Crichton, American writer born
- 1949 - Nick Tosches, American writer born
- 1965 - Augusten Burroughs, American writer born
- 1969 - Trudi Canavan, Australian writer born
- 1788 - Sarah Josepha Hale, American poet born
- 1868 - Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer born
- 1904 - Moss Hart, American playwright born
- 1923 - Denise Levertov, English poet born
- 1929 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer born
- 1929 - Hubert Aquin, French Canadian novelist born
- 1933 - Norman Rush, American novelist born
- 1943 - Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, French Canadian poet died
- 1767 - Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer born
- 1908 - Edmond Pidoux, Swiss writer born
- 1914 - John Berryman, American poet born
- 1938 - Alfonsina Storni, Argentine poet died
- 1941 - Anne Tyler, American novelist born
- 1957 - Lord Dunsany, Irish writer died
- 1880 - Andrei Bely, Russian writer born
- 1890 - Carlo Collodi, Italian writer died
- 1911 - Sorley MacLean, Scottish poet born
- 1925 - Jan Wolkers, Dutch author born
- 1941 - Arkady Gaidar, Russian children's writer died
- 1945 - Pat Conroy, American writer born
- 1952 - Andrew Motion, English poet born
- 1957 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer died
- 1674 - Hallgrímur Pétursson, Icelandic poet died
- 1914 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet born
- 1931 - Nawal el-Saadawi, Egyptian writer born
- 1932 - Sylvia Plath, American poet born
- 1950 - Fran Lebowitz, American writer born
- 1940 - Maxine Hong Kingston, Chinese American writer born
- 1975 - Zadie Smith, British novelist born
- 1975 - Rex Stout, American novelist died
- 1977 - James M. Cain, American novelist died
- 1661 - Agustín Moreto y Cavana, Spanish playwright died
- 1676 - Jean Desmarets, French writer died
- 1754 - Friedrich von Hagedorn, German poet died
- 1806 - Charlotte Turner Smith, English poet and novelist died
- 1818 (O.S.) - Ivan Turgenev, Russian writer born
- 1879 - Marie Roch Louis Reybaud, French writer died
- 1885 (O.S.) - Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet born
- 1903 - Evelyn Waugh, English writer born
- 1907 - John Hewitt, Northern Irish poet born
- 1929 - John Hollander, American poet and literary critic born
- 1938 - Anne Perry, English-born novelist born
- 1973 - Taha Hussein, Egyptian writer died
- 1986 - John Braine, English novelist died
- 1998 - Ted Hughes, English poet died
- 1740 - James Boswell, Scottish biographer born
- 1882 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer born
- 1925 - Dominick Dunne, American author born
- 1958 - Zoe Akins, American playwright died
- 1999 - Michel Regnier (Greg), Belgian comic-book writer died
- 2003 - Hal Clement, American writer died
- 1513 - Jacques Amyot, French writer born
- 1602 - Jean-Jacques Boissard, French poet died
- 1624 - Paul Pellisson, French writer born
- 1751 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright born
- 1762 - André Chénier, French writer born
- 1786 - Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, French Canadian writer born
- 1821 (O.S.) - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer born
- 1842 - Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author died
- 1871 - Paul Valéry, French poet born
- 1885 - Ezra Pound, American poet born
- 1886 - Zoe Akins, American playwright born
- 1935 - Ágota Kristóf, Hungarian writer born
- 1935 - Robert Caro, American biographer born
- 1968 - Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author died
- 1968 - Conrad Richter, American novelist and short story writer died
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- 1599 - Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer born
- 1620 - John Evelyn, English diarist born
- 1724 - Christopher Anstey, English writer born
- 1795 - John Keats, British poet born
- 1879 - Jacob Abbott, American author died
- 1892 - Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- 1920 - Dick Francis, Welsh novelist born
- 1987 - Joseph Campbell, American author and expert on mythology died
- 2008 - Studs Terkel, American author died