On This Day – Page 14 – Interesting Literature

October 14 in Literature: Winnie-the-Pooh is Published

The most significant events in the history of books on the 14th of October

1888: Katherine Mansfield is born. This pioneer of the modernist short story was born in New Zealand, but became a success in Britain in the early 1920s, shortly before her premature death from tuberculosis in 1923. Her most important and acclaimed writing is probably the stories contained in The Garden Party and Other Stories (1922). Shortly before her death, fellow modernist writer D. H. Lawrence – with whom Mansfield had formerly been on speaking terms – sent her a rather nasty note that read: ‘you are a loathsome reptile I hope you will die’. Lawrence would himself die from tuberculosis seven years later.

October 13 in Literature: Paddington Bear Makes His Debut

The most significant events in the history of books on the 13th of October

1862: Mary Kingsley is born. The niece of author Charles Kingsley (author of The Water-Babies), she will become well-known as a travel writer. Her Travels in West Africa (1897) was a huge bestseller, although Kingsley wouldn’t live long to enjoy the fruits of her success: she contracted typhoid while volunteering as a nurse during the Second Boer War, and died in 1900, aged just 37.

1915: Charles Sorley dies. This Scottish poet is not someone whose name tends to spring to mind when one thinks of poets of the First World War. He was certainly one of the youngest: born in 1895, he was just 20 when he died on this day at the Battle of Loos. But for Robert Graves, in his war memoir Goodbye to All That, Sorley was, along with Isaac Rosenberg and Wilfred Owen, ‘one of the three poets of importance killed during the war.’

October 12 in Literature: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is Published

The most significant events in the history of books on the 12th of October

1692: The Salem witch trials end in Massachusetts. Judges include Andrew Elliott, T. S. Eliot’s distant ancestor, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne would add the ‘w’ to his surname in an attempt to distance himself from his historic relative.

October 11 in Literature: George Bernard Shaw Praises Stalin

The most significant events in the history of books on the 11th of October

1542: Sir Thomas Wyatt dies. He was a pioneer of sonnet-writing in English, one of the first English poets to use the form. We offer a short analysis of one of his most famous sonnets, ‘Whoso List to Hunt’, here.

1931: George Bernard Shaw broadcasts a lecture on US radio in support of Stalin. Earlier in the year, Shaw had visited the USSR and met Joseph Stalin, and now he heartily endorsed the Soviet leader, assuring American listeners than any skilled workman would find work in the USSR. It is thought that a fair few Americans heeded the advice and promptly left the US for Russia – this was the era of the Great Depression, after all.

October 10 in Literature: The New York Times Book Review Is Born

The most significant events in the history of books on the 10th of October

1896: The New York Times publishes its first ‘Books’ section. This will later evolve into The New York Times Book Review. The editor’s note on this day read: ‘We begin today the publication of a Supplement which contains reviews of new books … and other interesting matter … associated with news of the day.’

1906: Indian writer R. K. Narayan is born.

1912: Charles Madge is born. A poet and journalist, Madge was one of the founders of Mass Observation in the 1930s.