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Here are seven author birthdays for this week.
Check out which authors are your favorites, and find out who shares your day.
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This Week’s Author Birthdays
Michael Moorcock – December 18
On this day, December 18, in 1939, Michael Moorcock was born in London, England. His well-known character, the brooding, dark, violent and complex anti-Tolkienesque elf Elric of Melniboné, was incredibly influential in modern fantasy literature. Mr. Moorcock was also the long-time editor of British magazine New Worlds, which ushered in the New Wave in science fiction of the 60s and 70s.
Among other awards, he has been given lifetime achievement honors from the British Fantasy Awards, the World Fantasy Awards, and the Bram Stoker Awards, and in 2002 was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He currently splits his time between Texas and Paris; today he turns 84.
Brandon Sanderson – December 19
On this day, December 19, in 1975, fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. His first published novel, Elantris, and his later Mistborn trilogy (now a series of eight works and counting) are unique in their portrayal of the incorporation of magic in the lives of his characters. In 2007 he was named by the widow of Robert Jordan to finish the Wheel of Time epic fantasy series; the final volume, A Memory of Light, was published in 2013.
Many books have followed since then, including five books written during the pandemic and financed in a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $15 million in its first 24 hours; the first of these “secret” novels, Tress of the Emerald Sea, was published in April 2023. Today, he turns 48.
Kate Atkinson – December 20
On this day, December 20, in 1951, Kate Atkinson was born in York, England. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year. Other critically acclaimed novels followed, including Life After Life, A God in Ruins (both winners of the Costa award), and 2022’s Shrines of Gaity. Also known for creating the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels (which have been adapted into the BBC One series Case Histories), she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to literature. Today, she turns 72.
Diana Athill – December 21
On this day, December 21, in 1917, literary editor and author Diana Athill was born in London, England. In her more than 50 years in publishing, she worked with some of the greatest writers of the 20th century at Andre Deutsch Ltd (which she helped to found) such as Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Rhys, Jack Kerouac, and Margaret Atwood. The first work she produced was the short story collective An Unavoidable Delay, but it was her many memoirs that brought her the most acclaim. In 2009 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature. She died in 2019, at age 101.
Charles de Lint – December 22
On this day, December 22, in 1951, Charles de Lint was born in Bussum, Netherlands (however, he is considered a Canadian writer as his family moved there when he was four months old). One of the early proponents of what was termed “urban fantasy”, his works often touch on magical realism and mythic fiction, combining “our” world with the “otherword”, blending reality with the supernatural. He has written over 70 books (novels, novella and short collections) and has won a World Fantasy Award and an Aurora Award (Canadian). Also a talented musician, he currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario; today he turns 72.
Donna Tartt – December 23
On this day, December 23, 1963, Donna Louise Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, the eldest of two daughters to a service station owner and a secretary. A graduate of Bennington College, she published her first novel, The Secret History, to critical acclaim. Her 2013 novel The Goldfinch was a major success and was adapted into a film.
Vanity Fair called Tartt a precocious literary genius when she was just 29 years old. Today Tartt turns 60.
Also on December 23 – A Visit From Saint Nicholas
On this day in 1923, the poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” was published anonymously in the Troy, New York “Sentinel”. Four years later, the poem, also known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, was acknowledged by professor Clement Clarke Moore as being his; he felt the work unscholarly (the poem had been submitted to the newspaper by a family friend). Not only did the poem affix names to Santa’s reindeer for the first time, but having St. Nick arrive on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, Moore side-stepped the Catholic vs. Protestant religious squabbles surrounding the character, and associated Santa strongly and enduringly with a childlike wonder.
Stephenie Meyer – December 24
On this day, December 24, in 1973, Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She is best known for writing the wildly popular vampire romance series Twilight, which has sold over 160 million copies. Having no prior experience as an author, she conceived the idea for the Twilight series in a dream, and crafted the first volume, Twilight, using the works of Jane Austen and William Shakespeare as influences.
She was the American bestselling author of 2008 and 2009, and in 2008 was included on Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People” as well as being included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world’s most powerful celebrities in 2009. Also the author of two adult novels, today she turns 50.
Other LitStack Resources
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