From a plethora of playwrights to iconic horror authors to poets galore, October is the birth month of many notable and acclaimed wordsmiths. We're delighted to celebrate them and their beloved works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, theater, and more.

Literary legends born in October

October 1

Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004), Atlanta-born historian who won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize, The Discoverers
Tim O'Brien (1946– ), American author known for his stories about wartime Vietnam, The Things They Carried

October 2

Wallace Stevens (1879–1955), Connecticut-born modernist poet, insurance salesman, and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Harmonium
Graham Greene (1904–1991), Prolific English novelist, The End of the Affair

October 3

Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), Russian Romantic poet and novelist, A Hero of Our Time
James Herriot (1916–1995), Scottish writer and veterinarian, All Creatures Great and Small
Gore Vidal (1925–2012), NY native writer and playwright, Burr

October 4

October 5

Clive Barker (1952– ), English horror writer, filmmaker, and visual artist, The Hellbound Heart
Rupi Kaur (1992– ), Indian-Canadian author, poet, and artist, Milk and Honey

October 6

October 7

October 8

October 9

Katherine Applegate, aka A. Applegate, (1956– ), Michigan-born author of children's and YA fiction, Odder
Guillermo del Toro (1964– ), Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist, The Strain

October 10

Harold Pinter (1930–2008), English playwright and Nobel laureate, Betrayal
Nora Roberts, aka D. Robb, (1950– ), prolific American novelist, Dark Witch

October 11

October 12

Ann Petry, (1908–1997), Connecticut-native and the first Black woman author in America with book sales of more than one million copies, The Street
Charles Gordonne, (1925–1995), Cleveland-born playwright, actor, and director and the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, No Place to Be Somebody

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), Irish wit and author, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953), American playwright, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Günter Grass (1927–2015), Nobel Prize-winning German novelist and playwright, The Tin Drum

October 17

Arthur Miller (1915–2005), Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright who was married to actress Marilyn Monroe, The Crucible
Wally Lamb (1950– ), Connecticut-born novelist, The River is Waiting

October 18

Terry McMillan (1951– ), Michigan-born author, Waiting to Exhale

October 19

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1741–1803), French writer, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the basis for the Oscar-winning 1988 film, Dangerous Liaisons
John le Carré (1931–2020), English spy novelist, Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy
Philip Pullman (1946– ), English fantasy author, The Golden Compass

October 20

Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French poet, Illuminations
Robert Pinsky (1940– ), American poet who was the first to serve three terms as U.S. Poet Laureate, Selected Poems
Elfriede Jelinek (1946– ), Austrian playwright, novelist, and Nobel laureate The Piano Teacher

October 21

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), English Romantic poet and critic, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Ursula K. LeGuin (1929–2018), California-born sci-fi and fantasy author, A Wizard of Earthsea

October 22

Doris Lessing (1919–2013), Persian-born Nobel Prize-winning British novelist, The Golden Notebook

October 23

Michael Crichton (1942–2008), Chicago-born novelist, Jurassic Park
Gordon Korman (1963– ), Canadian author of children's and YA books, Snoop

October 24

Amor Towles (1964– ), American novelist, A Gentleman in Moscow
Emma Donoghue (1969– ), Irish novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and literary historian, Room
Gabrielle Zevin (1977– ), American author and screenwriter, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

October 25

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859), English poet and historian, Lays of Ancient Rome
John Berryman (1914–1972), Oklahoma-born Minnesotan poet, The Dream Songs
Anne Tyler (1941– ), Pulitzer Prize-winning Baltimore-based novelist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Elif Shafak (1971– ), Turkish-British novelist, essayist, and activist, There Are Rivers in the Sky

October 26

Beryl Markham (1902–1986), British aviatrix and memoirist, West with the Night
Pat Conroy (1945–2016), American writer, The Prince of Tides

October 27

Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), Welsh poet, A Child's Christmas in Wales
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), American poet and novelist married to British poet laureate Ted Hughes, Ariel
Anthony Doerr (1973– ), Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, All The Light We Cannot See
Zadie Smith (1975– ), English novelist, essayist, and short story writer, White Teeth

October 28

October 29

Lee Child (1954– ), British thriller novelist best known for his Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor
Ann-Marie MacDonald (1958– ), Canadian playwright, author, and actress, Fall On Your Knees

October 30

October 31

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