This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1929.
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The Roaring 20's: Crash Course US History #32
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Transcription
Episode 32: The Roaring 20s? Hi, I’m John Green, this is Crash Course U.S. History and today we’re going to learn about one the best eras ever, the 1920s. The 20s gave us Jazz, movies, radio, making out in cars, illegal liquor. And the 20s also gave us prosperity, although not for everybody and gangsters and a consumer culture based on credit and lots of prejudice against immigrants and eventually the worst economic crisis the U.S. has seen. Mr. Green, Mr. Green, but what about Gatsby? Yeah, Me from the Past, it’s true that Gatsby turned alright in the end, but what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust trailed in the wake of his dreams did temporarily close out my interest in the aborted sorrows and short-winded elations of men. intro So there’s a stereotypical view of the 1920s as the “Roaring 20s,” a decade of exciting change and new cultural touchstones, as well as increased personal freedom and dancing. And it really was a time of increased wealth. For some people. The quote of the decade has to go to our famously taciturn president from Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge, who said, “the chief business of the American people is business.” Jay-Z would later update this for the 21st century noting, “I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man.” But anyway during the 1920s the government helped business grow like gangbusters, largely by not regulating it much at all. This is known as “laissez-faire” capitalism. Or “laissez-faire” capitalism if you’re good at speaking French. The Republican Party dominated politics in the 1920s, with all the presidents elected in the decade being staunch conservative Republicans. The federal government hewed to the policies favored by business lobbyists, including lower taxes on personal income and business profits, and efforts to weaken the power of unions. Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover stocked the boards of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission with men who shared their pro-business views, shifting the country away from the economic regulation that had been favored by Progressives. And that was very good for the American economy. At least in the short run. The 1920s were also marked by quite a bit of government corruption, most of which can be pinned to the administration of Warren G. Harding. Now, Harding himself wasn’t terribly corrupt, but he picked terrible friends. They included attorney general Harry Daughtery, who accepted money to not prosecute criminals, and Interior Secretary Albert Fall, who took half a million dollars from private business in exchange for leases to government oil reserves at Teapot Dome. Fall later became the first cabinet member ever to be convicted of a felony. But on the other hand: Business, man! Productivity rose dramatically, largely because older industries adopted Henry Ford’s assembly line techniques, and newer industries like aviation, chemicals, and electronics grew up to provide Americans with new products and new jobs. During the 1920s annual production of cars tripled to 4.8 million and automobile companies were gradually consolidated into the big three that we know today: Ford, Chrysler, and Harley Davidson. What? General Motors. By 1929 half of all American families owned a car. And thus began the American love affair with the automobile, which is also where love affairs were often consummated. Which is why, in the 1920, cars came to be known as “skoodilypooping chariots.” What’s that? They were called “Brothels on Wheels”? And the economy also grew because American corporations were extending their reach overseas and American foreign investment was greater than that of any other country. The dollar replaced the pound as the most important currency for trade and by the end of the decade America was producing 85% of the world’s cars and 40% of its overall manufactured goods. Stan, can I get a Libertage? Libertage And companies churned out all kinds of labor saving devices like vacuum cleaners, toasters, refrigerators. And not having to spend all day washing your clothes or turning over your own toast like some kind of commoner meant that Americans had more time for leisure. And this was provided by radios, and baseball games, boxing matches, vacations, dance crazes. I mean before Gangnam Style, there was the the Lindy and the Charleston. But probably the most significant leisure product was movies. And I’m not just saying that because I’m staring into a camera. The American film industry moved out to Hollywood before World War I because land was cheap and plentiful, all that sunshine meant that you could shoot outside all year round. And it was close to everything: desert, mountains, ocean, plastic surgeons. And by 1925 the American film industry had eclipsed all of its competitors and become the greatest in the world, especially if you count by volume and not quality. And more and more people had money to go see those movies thanks to consumer debt. The widespread use of credit and layaway buying plans meant that it was acceptable to go into debt to maintain what came to be seen as the American “standard of living” and this was a huge change in attitude. These days we don’t even think of credit cards as debt really, but they are. And that was a relatively new idea. As was another feature of American life in the 20s that is still with us: celebrity. Opera singer Enrico Caruso has often been called the first modern celebrity but now he’s a lot less famous than Charlie Chaplin, or Rudolph Valentino, or Babe Ruth. But probably the biggest celebrity of the decade was Charles Lindbergh, whose claim to fame was flying across the Atlantic Ocean by himself without stopping. Although he did use an airplane, which makes it slightly less impressive. Now Lindbergh wasn’t a truly contemporary celebrity in the sense of being famous for being famous, but he was a business more than a businessman. High culture also flourished. This was the age of the “Lost Generation” of American writers, many of whom lived and worked in Europe, but America had its own version of Paris in New York. The decade of the 1920s saw continued migration of African American people from the south to cities in the North, and Harlem became the capital of Black America. And speaking of migration, let us now migrate to the chair for the Mystery Document. The rules here are simple. I guess the author of the Mystery Document. I’m either right or I get shocked with the shock pen. Alright let’s see what we’ve got here. If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot … Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying but fight back. Stan, thank you for the poetry. I appreciate that it’s not some obscure document from 18th century blah blah blah. It’s Claude McKay, Harlem Renaissance poet, the poem is called “If We Must Die.” It’s the only thing in the world I’m actually good at. Now I know this from the imagery alone, especially the line about mad and hungry dogs that would figuratively and literally make up the mobs at the lynchings, but the giveaway here is the ultimate sentiment that “we” will fight back. This was part of the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, which rejected stereotypes and prejudice and sought to celebrate African American experience. Meanwhile, things were changing for women as well as they found ways to express autonomy. Flappers kept their hair and skirts short, smoked and drank illegally in public and availed themselves of birth control. And marketers encouraged them to buy products like cigarettes, christened “torches of freedom” by Edward Bernays. “Liberation” had its limits, though. Most women were still expected to marry, have children, and find their freedom at home through the use of washing machines. But the picture of prosperity is, as usual, more complicated than it at first appears. The fact that so many Americans were going into debt in order to pursue the American dream meant that if the economy faltered, and it did, there was going to be lots of trouble. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble. Prosperity in the 1920s wasn’t equally distributed through the population. Real industrial wages rose by a quarter between 1922 and 1929, but corporate profits rose at twice that rate. By 1929, 1% of the nation’s banks controlled 50% of the nation’s financial resources and the wealthiest 5% of Americans’ share of national income exceeded that of the bottom 60%. An estimated 40% of Americans lived in poverty. Now, many Americans celebrated big business and Wall Street was often seen as heroic, possibly because by 1920 about 1.5 million Americans owned some kind of stock. But big business also meant that smaller businesses disappeared. During the 1920s the number of manufacturing workers declined by 5%, the first time this class of workers had seen its numbers drop, but not the last. Now, some of these jobs were made up for by new jobs in retail, finance, and education, but as early as the 1920s New England was beginning to see unemployment and deindustrialization as textile companies moved their operations to the South, where labor was cheaper. And working class people still made up the majority of Americans and they often couldn’t afford these newfangled devices. Like in 1930, 75% of American homes didn’t have a washing machine, and only 40% of them had a radio. Farmers were even worse off. Many had prospered during World War I when the government subsidized farm prices in order to keep farms producing for the war effort. But, when the subsidies ended, production didn’t subside, largely due to mechanization and increased use of fertilizer. Farmers’ incomes dropped steadily and many saw banks foreclose upon their property. For the first time in American history, the number of farms declined during the 1920s. For farmers, the Great Depression began early. Thanks, Thought Bubble. So, organized labor also took a big hit. Although some companies engaged in welfare capitalism, providing pensions, medical insurance, and greater guarantees of workplace safety, many more continued to oppose unions and their efforts to improve working conditions. They employed stri kebreakers and continued to blacklist union organizers. And coupled with the market logic that led companies to move their businesses to the low-wage south, organized labor lost more than 2 million members in the 1920s. So, in general the federal government did little to nothing to help farmers or workers. The Supreme Court was the only segment of the government that kept any progressive ideas alive, as they began to craft a system of ideas that we call the jurisprudence of civil liberties. For instance, the courts stepped back from decisions like Schenk v. U.S. That was partly down to the newly created ACLU, which through lawsuits brought new meaning to freedom of speech and eventually the right to privacy. Now, the court still voted to uphold convictions of left wing critics of the government, but gradually began to embrace the idea that people had the right to express dissonant views in what Oliver Wendell Holmes called the “marketplace of ideas.” In Near v. Minnesota the Supreme Court struck down censorship of newspapers, and by 1927, Justice Brandeis was writing “that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth.” But despite increased free speech and torches of liberty and flappers and the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s was in many ways a reactionary period in American history. For instance, the decade saw the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in a new and improved form and by improved I mean much more terrible. Spurred on by the hyper-patriotism that was fostered during World War I, the Klan denounced immigrants, and Jews, and Catholics as less than 100% American. And by the mid 20s the Klan claimed more than 3 million members and was the largest private organization right here in my home state of Indiana. And with more immigrants coming from Southern and Eastern Europe – who were often Catholic and Jewish – White Protestants became more and more concerned about losing their dominant position in the social order. Spoiler alert – it turns out okay for you, white Protestants. The first immigration restriction bill was passed in 1921 limiting the number of immigrants from Europe to 357,000. In 1924 a new immigration law dropped that number to 150,000 and established quotas based on national origin. The numbers of immigrants allowed from southern and eastern Europe were drastically reduced and Asians (except for Filipinos) were totally forbidden. The quota for Filipinos was set at 50 per year although they were still allowed to emigrate to Hawaii because their labor was needed there. There were no restrictions however on immigration from the Western Hemisphere because California’s large-scale farms were dependent upon seasonal laborers from Mexico. These immigration restrictions were also influenced by fear of radical anarchists and pseudo-scientific ideas about race. Whites were seen as scientifically superior to people of color and as president Coolidge himself declared when he signed the 1924 immigration law, “America must be kept American.” Tell me, Calvin Coolidge, about how American you are. Are you Cherokee? Or Cree? Or Lakota? The 1920s also saw increased tension between science education in the United States and religious beliefs. The best known example is, of course, the trial of John Scopes in Tennessee in 1925. Scopes was tried for breaking the law against teaching evolution, which he had been encouraged to do by the ACLU as a test case for the freedom of speech. Scopes was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan, whom you will remember as having recently resigned as Secretary of State and who had become a leader of the fundamentalist movement. And Scopes was defended by Clarence Darrow, that famous defense attorney who contemporary defense attorneys always point to to argue that defense attorneys aren’t all scum. Scopes and Darrow actually lost the trial but the case drew national attention and ultimately led to evolution being taught in more American schools. The Scopes trial is often seen as a victory for free thinking, and science, and modernism, and I suppose it was, but for me it’s more a symbol of the contradictions of the 1920s. This is the decade that gave us mass consumer culture and celebrity worship, which are important and very complicated legacies. And it also saw the birth of modern conceptions of civil liberties. It was a period when tolerance became an important value, but at the same time it saw a rise in lynchings. Immigrants were necessary for the economic boom of the 1920s, but at the same time their numbers were restricted as they were seen as a threat to “traditional American values.” And that raises a question that we’re still struggling with today: what are those values? I don’t mean that rhetorically. Let me know in comments. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week. Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller. Our script supervisor is Meredith Danko. The associate producer is Danica Johnson. The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, Rosianna Rojas, and myself. And our graphics team is Thought Café. I nailed that. Every week, there’s a new caption for the libertage. You can suggest your own in comments or ask questions about today’s video that will be answered by our team of historians. Thank you for watching Crash Course. If you enjoyed today’s video, make sure you’ve subscribed. And as we say in my hometown, don’t forget to be awesome. Roaring 20s -
Events
- January 10 – The Adventures of Tintin begin with the first appearance of Hergé's Belgian comic book hero in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter..., au pays des Soviets), serialized in the children's newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième.[1]
- February–August – Voltaire's Candide (1759) is held to be obscene by the United States Customs Service in Boston.
- February – The first of Margery Allingham's crime novels to feature Albert Campion, The Crime at Black Dudley (U.S. title: The Black Dudley Murder), is published in the UK.
- March – Norah C. James's first novel, Sleeveless Errand, is held to be obscene on publication in London, for its portrayal of the city's bohemian life.[2] An edition appears later in Paris from Jack Kahane's Obelisk Press.[3]
- April 1 – The Faber and Faber publishing company is founded in London by Geoffrey Faber, with T. S. Eliot as its literary editor.
- May – Hugo Gernsback first uses the term "science fiction" in its modern sense, for his pulp magazine Amazing Stories.[4]
- c. June – The first of Gladys Mitchell's crime novels appears in the UK. Entitled Speedy Death, it introduces a psychologist detective character, Mrs Bradley.
- July – British publisher William Collins, Sons launches its Detective Story Club imprint with Edgar Wallace's novelization of The Terror.
- July 5 – Scotland Yard seizes 13 paintings of male and female nudes by D. H. Lawrence from a Mayfair, London, gallery on grounds of indecency, citing the Vagrancy Act 1838.[5]
- August – The Censorship of Publications Act sets up the Censorship of Publications Board in the Irish Free State.
- August 15 – The first Ellery Queen mystery novel, The Roman Hat Mystery, is published in New York City.
- Mid year – Serialization begins of one of the first Thai novels – the first by a woman, M. L. Bubpha Kunjara Nimmanhemin writing as Dokmai Sot – entitled Sattru Khǫng Čhaolon (Her Enemy). Soon after comes the semi-autobiographical Lakhǫn Haeng Chiwit (The Circus of Life) of Prince Arkartdam-keung Rapheephat, writing as M. C. Akat. Several Thai writers join Kulap Saipradit in the Suphapburut literary group.[6]
- October – Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir become a couple, having met while he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Twenty-one-year-old De Beauvoir becomes the youngest person ever to obtain an agrégation in philosophy, and comes second in the final examination, beaten only by Sartre.
- October 11 – Seán O'Casey's play The Silver Tassie, set in World War I, receives its première at the Apollo Theatre, London, directed by Raymond Massey. It stars Charles Laughton and Barry Fitzgerald, and has a set design by Augustus John.[7] Rejected the year before by W. B. Yeats for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, it will not open in Ireland until 1935.
- October 5 – The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice confiscates copies of Samuel Roth's pirated edition of James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses – the first complete edition printed in the U.S.[8] He serves two prison terms for publishing an obscene work.[9]
- October 29 – Released in the U.S. is the first sound film adaptation of a Shakespeare play: The Taming of the Shrew, starring Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks.
- December – George Orwell returns to England after a period living in Paris.
- unknown dates
- Father Ronald Knox codifies the "rules" for the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in a "Decalogue" introducing The Best Detective Stories of 1928–1929.[10]
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is banned in the Soviet Union due to the interest its author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, shows in the occult.
- Foyles bookshop in London moves to larger premises in the Foyles Building, Charing Cross Road.
- Monotype introduces Stanley Morison's revival of the Bembo typeface for book printing.
New books
Fiction
- Richard Aldington – Death of a Hero[11]
- Paul Alverdes – Die Pfeiferstube (The Whistler's Room)
- Roberto Arlt – Los siete locos (The Seven Madmen)[12]
- Marcel Aymé – The Hollow Field
- Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay – Pather Panchali (Song of the Road, book publication)
- Hamilton Basso – Relics and Angels
- Vicki Baum – Menschen im Hotel (People at a Hotel, translated as Grand Hotel)
- E.F. Benson – Paying Guests
- Anthony Berkeley
- Georges Bernanos – Joy
- Algernon Blackwood – Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense
- Mary Borden – The Forbidden Zone
- Elizabeth Bowen – The Last September
- Marjorie Bowen – Dickon
- Lynn Brock
- Mateiu Caragiale – Craii de Curtea-Veche
- Agatha Christie
- Jean Cocteau – Les Enfants Terribles
- Colette – Sido
- J.J. Connington
- Miloš Crnjanski – Сеобе (Seobe, Migrations)
- Freeman Wills Crofts – The Box Office Murders
- Aleister Crowley – The Stratagem and other Stories
- Mazo de la Roche – Whiteoaks of Jalna
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – Courrier sud (Southern Mail)
- Alfred Döblin – Berlin Alexanderplatz
- Lloyd C. Douglas – Magnificent Obsession
- Arthur Conan Doyle – The Maracot Deep
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle – Hotel Acropolis (Une Femme à sa fenêtre)
- M. Barnard Eldershaw – A House Is Built
- Susan Ertz – The Milky Way
- William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury
- Edna Ferber – Cimarron
- C. S. Forester – Brown on Resolution
- Zona Gale – Borgia
- Rómulo Gallegos – Doña Bárbara
- Gaito Gazdanov – Вечер у Клэр (Vecher u Kler, An Evening with Claire)
- Floyd Gibbons – The Red Napoleon
- Anthony Gilbert
- Jean Giono
- Joseph Goebbels – Michael: A German Destiny in Diary Form (Michael: Ein deutsches Schicksal in Tagebuchblättern)
- George Goodchild – Jack O'Lantern
- Henry Green – Living
- Julien Green – The Dark Journey
- Graham Greene – The Man Within
- H. Rider Haggard – Mary of Marion Isle
- Dashiell Hammett
- Ernest Hemingway – A Farewell to Arms
- Richard Hughes – A High Wind in Jamaica
- Masuji Ibuse (井伏 鱒二) – Salamander and Other Stories
- Frigyes Karinthy – Minden másképpen van (Everything Is Different, short stories)
- Anna Kavan – A Charmed Circle
- Takiji Kobayashi (小林 多喜二) – Kanikōsen (The Cannery Boat)
- Kwee Tek Hoay – Drama dari Krakatau (Drama of Krakatoa; serialization)
- Oliver La Farge – Laughing Boy
- Nella Larsen – Passing
- Sinclair Lewis – Dodsworth
- Eric Linklater – Poet's Pub
- Claude McKay – Banjo
- Frederic Manning (anonymously) – The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme & Ancre, 1916 (subscription edition)
- Gladys Mitchell
- Alberto Moravia – Gli indifferenti (Time of Indifference)
- W. F. Morris – Bretherton: Khaki or Field Grey?
- Leopold Myers – The Near and the Far
- Irène Némirovsky – David Golder
- Peadar O'Donnell – Adrigool
- Katherine Anne Porter – Flowering Judas
- Katharine Susannah Prichard - Coonardoo
- J. B. Priestley – The Good Companions[13]
- Ellery Queen – The Roman Hat Mystery
- Erich Maria Remarque – All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues; book publication and first English translation)
- Henry Handel Richardson (Et Florence Robertson) – Ultima Thule (final part of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony)
- Ole Edvart Rølvaag – Peder Victorious (Peder Seier)
- Graham Seton – The W Plan
- Agnes Smedley – Daughter of Earth
- John Steinbeck – Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, With Occasional Reference to History
- Cecil Street
- Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎) – Some Prefer Nettles (蓼喰う蟲)
- Josephine Tey – The Man in the Queue
- Wallace Thurman – The Blacker the Berry[14]
- Sigrid Undset – In the Wilderness
- S. S. Van Dine – The Scarab Murder Case
- Henry Wade – The Duke of York's Steps
- Edgar Wallace
- Lynd Ward – Gods' Man (wordless "novel in woodcuts")
- Thomas Wolfe – Look Homeward, Angel
- S. Fowler Wright
- Dawn
- The World Below
- Francis Brett Young – Black Roses
Children and young people
- Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan and the Lost Empire
- Catherine Christian – The Luck of the Scallop Shell
- Josephine Elder – Evelyn Finds Herself
- Erich Kästner – Emil and the Detectives (Emil und die Detektive)
- Eric P. Kelly – The Trumpeter of Krakow
- William Maxwell Reed – The Earth for Sam; the story of mountains, rivers, dinosaurs and men (non-fiction)
- Ruth Plumly Thompson – Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz (23rd in the Oz series overall and the ninth written by her)
- Alison Uttley – The Squirrel, The Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit (introducing Little Grey Rabbit)
Drama
- Jacinto Benavente – Vidas cruzadas (Short Cuts)
- Henri Bernstein – Mélo
- Bertolt Brecht – The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent (Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis)
- Ferdinand Bruckner – Krankheit der Jugend (Illness of Youth)
- St. John Ervine – The First Mrs. Fraser
- Jean Giraudoux – Amphitryon 38
- Walter C. Hackett – Sorry You've Been Troubled
- Patrick Hamilton – Rope
- Denis Johnston – The Old Lady Says "No!"
- Agha Hashar Kashmiri – Rustom O Sohrab
- Frederick Lonsdale – Canaries Sometimes Sing
- A. A. Milne
- Michael and Mary
- Toad of Toad Hall (adapted from Kenneth Grahame)
- Kaj Munk – I Brændingen
- Eugene O'Neill – Dynamo
- Marcel Pagnol – Marius
- Stanisława Przybyszewska – The Danton Case (Sprawa Dantona)
- Ernest Raymond – The Berg
- Elmer Rice – Street Scene
- Arnold Ridley – Keepers of Youth
- George Bernard Shaw – The Apple Cart
- Ahmed Shawqi – Masraa' Kliyubatra (The Death of Cleopatra)
- John Van Druten – After All
- Ödön von Horváth – Rund um den Kongreß
- Edgar Wallace
Poetry
- Robinson Jeffers – Dear Judas and Other Poems[15]
- W. B. Yeats – The Winding Stair
Non-fiction
- Ada Boni – Il talismano della felicità (The Talisman of Happiness)
- Aleister Crowley – Magick in Theory and Practice
- Mahatma Gandhi – The Story of My Experiments with Truth
- Robert Graves – Good-Bye to All That
- Walter Lippmann – A Preface to Morals
- A. A. Milne – Those Were the Days
- Tomas O'Crohan – An t-Oileánach (The Islandman)
- Charles Kay Ogden – Basic English
- Walter F. Otto – Die Götter Griechenlands (The Homeric Gods)
- Alice Prin – Kiki's Memoirs
- I. A. Richards – Practical Criticism
- Various authors – Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress: essays in support of James Joyce[16]
- A. E. Waite – The Holy Kabbalah
- E. B. White and James Thurber – Is Sex Necessary?
- Alfred North Whitehead – Process and Reality
- Virginia Woolf – A Room of One's Own
Births
- January 9
- Brian Friel, Irish dramatist (died 2015)[17]
- Heiner Müller, German dramatist (died 1995)[18]
- January 26 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist and writer
- February 6
- Keith Waterhouse, English journalist and novelist (died 2009)[19]
- Valentin Yanin, Russian historian and author (died 2020)
- February 16 – Peter Porter, Australian-born English poet and educator (died 2010)
- February 17 – Chaim Potok, American author (died 2002)[20]
- February 18 – Len Deighton, English thriller writer[21]
- February 25 – Issa J. Boullata, Palestinian scholar and writer (died 2019)[22]
- March 1 – Thuppettan, Malayalam-language Keralan playwright (died 2019)
- March 7 – Dan Jacobson, South African novelist (died 2014)
- March 13 – Mateja Matevski, Macedonian poet, literary and theater critic, essayist and translator (died 2018)
- March 18 – Christa Wolf, German literary critic, novelist and essayist (died 2011)[23]
- March 19 – Miquel Martí i Pol, Catalan poet (died 2003)
- April 1 – Milan Kundera, Czech-French novelist (died 2023)[24]
- April 9 – Paule Marshall, born Valenza Pauline Burke, American novelist (died 2019)
- April 23 – George Steiner, French-born literary critic and philosopher (died 2020)[25]
- April 26 – Jerzy Turonek, Polish-Belarusian historian (died 2019)
- May 10 – Sándor Kányádi, Hungarian poet and translator (died 2018)
- May 14 – George Selden, American author (died 1989)
- May 16 – Adrienne Rich, American poet and essayist (died 2012)[26]
- June 2 – Norton Juster, American children's writer and academic (died 2021)
- June 11 – George Garrett, American poet and novelist (died 2008)
- June 12
- Brigid Brophy, English novelist and critic (died 1995)
- Anne Frank (Annelies Marie Frank), German-born Dutch child diarist (died 1945)
- June 18 – Grigorijus Kanovičius, Jewish Lithuanian writer
- June 20 – Anne Weale, English writer (died 2007)
- June 25 – Eric Carle, American children's writer and illustrator (died 2021)[27]
- June 29 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and author (d. 2006)[28]
- July 8
- Shirley Ann Grau, American short story writer (died 2020)
- A. T. Q. Stewart, Northern Irish historian and academic (died 2010)
- July 12 – Tayeb Salih, Sudanese fiction writer and cultural commentator (died 2009)
- July 22 – U. A. Fanthorpe, English poet (died 2009)
- July 27 – Jack Higgins (Harry Patterson), English thriller writer (died 2022)
- July 31 – Lynne Reid Banks, English novelist (died 2024)
- August 5 – Al Alvarez, English writer and poetry editor (died 2019)
- August 7 – Arrigo Petacco, Italian journalist and writer (died 2018)[29]
- August 14 – Thomas Meehan, American screenwriter (died 2017)
- August 18 – Anatoly Kuznetsov, Russian dissident novelist (died 1979)
- August 21 – X. J. Kennedy, American poet and translator
- August 27 – Ira Levin, American novelist and playwright (died 2007)[30][31]
- August 29 – Thom Gunn, Anglo-American poet (died 2004)
- September 15 – John Julius Norwich, British historian and travel writer (died 2018)[32]
- September 25 – Barbara Walters, American journalist (died 2022)[33]
- September 30 – Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino senator, writer (died 2017)
- October 7 – Robert Westall, English novelist and children's writer (died 1993)
- October 15 – Milorad Pavić, Serbian novelist (died 2009)
- October 21
- Pierre Bellemare, French writer and radio personality (died 2018)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, American science fiction and fantasy author (died 2018)[34]
- October 23 – Shamsur Rahman, Bengali poet (died 2006)
- October 30 – Jean Chapman, English novelist
- November 7 – Steve Carter, American playwright (died 2020)
- November 12 – Michael Ende, German novelist and children's writer (died 1995)
- November 13 – Theo Aronson, South African-born British biographer (died 2003)
- December 2 – Leon Litwack, American historian (died 2021)[35]
- December 12 – John Osborne, English playwright and screenwriter (died 1994)[36]
- December 16 – James Moore, English author (died 2017)
- December 17 – William Safire, born Safir, American columnist (died 2009)
- December 19 – Howard Sackler, American dramatist and screenwriter (died 1982)
- December 23 – Monique Watteau (Monique Dubois), Belgian fantasy novelist and artist
- December 24 – Philip Ziegler, English biographer and historian (died 2023)[37]
- December 30 – Lucien Xavier Michel-Andrianarahinjaka, Malagasy writer, politician (died 1997)
- December 31 – Robert B. Silvers, American literary editor (died 2017)
Deaths
- January — Anna Bowman Dodd, American author (born 1858)
- January 15 – Leonard Cline, American novelist, poet and journalist (heart failure, born 1893)[38]
- January 29 – Hans Prutz, German historian (born 1843)
- February 6 – Charlotte Carmichael Stopes, Scottish writer and women's rights activist (born 1840)
- March 7 – Auguste Groner, Austrian detective fiction writer (born 1850)
- March 15 – Grace Rhys, Irish novelist and poet (born 1865)[39]
- March 26 – Katharine Lee Bates, American lyricist (born 1859)
- March 31 – Santeri Nuorteva, Soviet journalist and politician (born 1881)
- April 12 – Flora Annie Steel, English writer (born 1847)
- April 16 – Sir John Morris-Jones, Welsh grammarian and poet (born 1864)
- April 21 – Lucy Clifford (Mrs. W. K. Clifford), English novelist, dramatist and screenwriter (born 1846)
- May 19 – Mary E. Mann, English novelist and short story writer (born 1848)
- June 8 – Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (born 1861)[40][41]
- June 18 – Vedam Venkataraya Sastry, Sanskrit and Telugu poet, critic and dramatist (born 1853)
- June 22
- Alfred Brunswig, German philosopher (born 1877)
- Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler, English writer of romances and children's books (born 1860)
- June 25 – Georges Courteline, French dramatist and novelist (born 1858)
- June 28 – Edward Carpenter, English socialist poet and philosopher (born 1844)
- July 15 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian novelist and poet (born 1874)
- July 31 – José de Castro, Portuguese journalist (born 1868)
- August – Mary MacLane, Canadian feminist writer (born 1881)
- September 12 – Rainis, Latvian poet and playwright (born 1865)
- September 19 – Francis Darwin, English botanist and academic (born 1848)
- October – Arno Holz, German Naturalist poet and dramatist (born 1863)
- October 8 – Max Lehmann, German historian (born 1845)
- October 19 – Alexandru Davila, Romanian dramatist and diplomat (born 1862)
- November 3 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and teacher (born 1883)
- November 29 – Dallas Lore Sharp, American nature writer (born 1870)[42]
- December 10 – Harry Crosby, American publisher and poet (suicide; born 1898)
- unknown dates
- Ella M. S. Marble, American physician (born 1850)
- Evelyn Whitaker, English children's writer (born 1844)
Awards
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: J. B. Priestley, The Good Companions
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Lord David Cecil, The Stricken Deer: or The Life of Cowper
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Eric P. Kelly, The Trumpeter of Krakow
- Newdigate prize: Phyllis Hartnoll
- Nobel Prize in literature: Thomas Mann
- O. Henry Award: Dorothy Parker, "Big Blonde" (short story)
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Elmer L. Rice, Street Scene
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stephen Vincent Benét, John Brown's Body
- Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: Julia Peterkin, Scarlet Sister Mary
References
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- ^ Pearson, Neil (2007). Obelisk: A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press. Liverpool University Press. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-1-84631-101-7.
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- ^ Graham-Dixon, Andrew (11 May 2003). "Rude awakening". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ Batson, Benjamin A. "Kulab Saipradit and the War of Life" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ^ The Times, 3 October 1929.
- ^ Jay A. Gertzman (2 September 2011). Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 364–. ISBN 978-0-8122-0585-5.
- ^ Birmingham, Kevin (2014). The most dangerous book: the battle for James Joyce's Ulysses. London: Head of Zeus. ISBN 9781784080723.
- ^ Edward Gorman; Martin Harry Greenberg; Larry Segriff; Jonl Breen (1995). The Fine Art of Murder: The Mystery Reader's Indispensable Companion. Galahad Books. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-88365-910-6.
- ^ Vivien Whelpton (25 July 2019). Richard Aldington: Poet, Soldier and Lover 1911-1929. Lutterworth Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-7188-4796-8.
- ^ Rose Corral (1992). El obsesivo circular de la ficción: asedios a Los siete locos y Los lanzallamas de Roberto Arlt (in Spanish). Colegio de México. ISBN 978-968-12-0511-9.
- ^ Leavis, Q. D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (rev. ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.
- ^ Everett Jenkins (1996). Pan-African Chronology: 1914-1929. McFarland & Company. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-7864-0835-1.
- ^ Robinson Jeffers (1929). Dear Judas, and Other Poems. Liveright.
- ^ Boheemen, Christine (2001). Postcolonial constructions. Amsterdam Atlanta: Rodopi. p. 178. ISBN 9789042012769.
- ^ Maureen Hughes (19 March 2009). The Pocket Guide to Plays & Playwrights. Pen and Sword. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84468-726-8.
- ^ Theresa M. Ganter (2008). Searching for a New German Identity: Heiner Müller and the Geschichtsdrama. Peter Lang. p. 13. ISBN 978-3-03911-048-3.
- ^ Waterhouse; Neil McEwan (1990). Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar: Notes. Longman. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-582-03822-6.
- ^ Sanford Sternlicht (2000). Chaim Potok: A Critical Companion. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-313-31181-9.
- ^ Breese's Guide to Modern First Editions. Breese Books. 1993. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-947533-36-6.
- ^ "Translator Issa J. Boullata, 90". ArabLit. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ Webb, Kate (1 December 2011). "Christa Wolf obituary". The Guardian.
- ^ Bloom, Harold (2003). Milan Kundera. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 147. ISBN 9781438113340.
- ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher; Grimes, William (3 February 2020). "George Steiner, Prodigious Literary Critic, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ O'Mahoney, John (15 June 2002). "Poet and pioneer". The Guardian. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ "Eric Carle, Author and Illustrator of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' Dead at 91". Rolling Stone. 2021-05-27. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ Liz McGregor; John Hooper (September 16, 2006). "Oriana Fallaci". Guardian. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ "Morto Arrigo Petacco, giornalista e storico". 4 March 2018.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (1975-02-13). "The Stepford Wives (1975) Screen: 'Stepford Wives' Assays Suburbia's Detergent Set". The New York Times.
- ^ Scott, A. O. (2004-06-11). "The Stepford Wives (2004) FILM REVIEW; Married To a Machine". The New York Times.
- ^ Telegraph Obituaries (1 June 2018). "John Julius Norwich, writer and television personality – obituary". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ Stanley, Alessandra (2022-12-31). "Barbara Walters, a First Among TV Newswomen, Is Dead at 93". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ^ Jonas, Gerald (23 January 2018). "Ursula K. Le Guin, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ Risen, Clay (12 August 2021). "Leon Litwack, 91, Dies; Changed How Scholars Portray Black History". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ Heilpern, John (2006). John Osborne: A Patriot for Us. Chatto & Windus. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-7011-6780-6.
- ^ "Philip Ziegler, biographer of Britain's powerful and pivotal, dies at 93". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ^ Anderson, Douglas A. Introduction to Cold Spring Press edition of The Dark Chamber.
- ^ The Publishers Weekly. F. Leypoldt. 1929. p. 1507.
- ^ "Carman, Bliss". Encyclopedia of Canada. Vol. I. Toronto: University Associates. 1948. p. 392.
- ^ Adams, John Coldwell (2007). "III - Bliss Carman (1861-1929)". Confederation Voices: Seven Canadian Poets. Canadian Poetry Press. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- ^ Pete Dunne (9 June 2010). Bayshore Summer: Finding Eden in a Most Unlikely Place. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-547-48770-0.