Breathing Curiosity
Rosario Castellanos, born May 25, 1925, in Mexico City, Mexico, is the novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist, and diplomat who was probably the most important Mexican woman writer of the 20th century. Her 1950 master’s thesis, Sobre cultura femenina (“On Feminine Culture”), became a turning point for modern Mexican women writers, who found in it… Continue reading Rosario Castellanos *V 25 1925 — The Life You Give / La Vida Que Das
Victor Hugo, born Victor-Marie Hugo, February 26, 1802, in Besançon, France, is the poet, novelist, and dramatist who was the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country’s greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).Victor… Continue reading Víctor Hugo *II 26 1802 — The Life You Give
The elder statesman of literature's Beat Generation -- and, by extension, of the American underground culture -- few figures outside of the musical sphere exerted a greater influence over rock & roll than novelist William S. Burroughs. A provocative, controversial figure famed for his unique cut-up prose aesthetic, Burroughs lived the rock lifestyle years before… Continue reading William S. Burroughs *II 5 1914 — The Life You Give
James Joyce, born James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, on February 2, 1882, Dublin, Ireland, was the novelist noted for his experimental use of language and exploration of new literary methods in such large works of fiction as Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). Early life Joyce, the eldest of 10 children in his family to survive… Continue reading James Joyce *II 2 1882 — The Life You Give
J. R. R. Tolkien, born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is the writer and scholar who achieved fame with his children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).At age four Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, settled near Birmingham,… Continue reading J. R. R. Tolkien *I 3 1892 — The Life You Give
Emily Dickinson, born Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is the lyric poet who lived in seclusion, and commanded a singular brilliance of style and integrity of vision. With Walt Whitman, Dickinson is widely considered to be one of the two leading 19th-century American poets.Only 10 of Emily Dickinson’s nearly 1,800… Continue reading Emily Dickinson *XII 10 1830 — The Life You Give
Rainer Maria Rilke, born René Maria Rilke, Dec. 4, 1875, in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic], is the poet who became internationally famous with such works as Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus.Rilke was the only son of a not-too-happy marriage. His father, Josef, a civil servant, was a man frustrated in his… Continue reading Rainer Maria Rilke *XII 4 1875 — Das Leben das Du Gibst
Oscar Wilde, born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, October 16, 1854, Dublin, Ireland—died November 30, 1900, Paris, France), Irish wit, poet, and dramatist whose reputation rests on his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). He was a… Continue reading Oscar Wilde *X 16 1854 — The Life You Give
George Sand, Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dudevant, née Dupin, born July 1, 1804, in Paris, France, is the Romantic writer known primarily for her so-called rustic novels.She was brought up at Nohant, near La Châtre in Berry, the country home of her grandmother. There she gained the profound love and understanding of the countryside that were to inform… Continue reading The Life You Give: George Sand * VII 1 1804
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, born Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry, June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France, is the aviator and writer whose works are the unique testimony of a pilot and a warrior who looked at adventure and danger with a poet’s eyes. His fable Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) has become a modern classic.Saint-Exupéry came from… Continue reading The Life You Give: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Samuel Beckett, born Samuel Barclay Beckett, on April 13, 1906, in Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland, was author, critic, and playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He wrote in both French and English and is perhaps best known for his plays, especially En attendant Godot (1952; Waiting for Godot).Samuel Beckett was born… Continue reading The Life You Give: Samuel Beckett *1906
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., is the poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression.Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural Stamps,… Continue reading The Life You Give: Maya Angelou *1928
Gabriel José García Márquez nació en Aracataca (Colombia) en 1928. Cursó estudios secundarios en San José a partir de 1940 y finalizó su bachillerato en el Colegio Liceo de Zipaquirá, el 12 de diciembre de 1946. Se matriculó en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Nacional de Cartagena el 25 de febrero de 1947,… Continue reading La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give: Gabriel García Márquez *1927
Victor Hugo, born Victor-Marie Hugo, on February 26 1802, in Besançon, France, is the poet, novelist, and dramatist who was the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country’s greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables… Continue reading The Life You Give: Victor Hugo *1802
Bertolt Brecht, born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht, on February 10 1898, in Augsburg, Germany, is the poet, playwright, and theatrical reformer whose epic theatre departed from the conventions of theatrical illusion and developed the drama as a social and ideological forum for leftist causes.Until 1924 Brecht lived in Bavaria, where he was born, studied medicine… Continue reading The Life You Give: Bertolt Brecht *1898
Zadie Smith, born Sadie Smith, October 27 1975 in London, England, is the author known for her treatment of race, religion, and cultural identity and for her novels’ eccentric characters, savvy humour, and snappy dialogue. She became a sensation in the literary world with the publication of her first novel, White Teeth, in 2000. Smith,… Continue reading The Virtuous Black I — Zadie Smith
Virginia Woolf, born Adeline Virginia Stephen, on January 25, 1882, in London, England, is the writer whose novels, through their nonlinear approaches to narrative, exerted a major influence on the genre. While she is best known for her novels, especially Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927), Woolf also wrote pioneering essays on artistic… Continue reading The Life You Give: Virginia Woolf *1882
Stefan Zweig, born November 28, 1881, in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire [now in Austria] was a writer who achieved distinction in several genres — poetry, essays, short stories, and dramas — most notably in his interpretations of imaginary and historical characters. Zweig was raised in Vienna. His first book, a volume of poetry, was published in… Continue reading The Life You Give: Stefan Zweig *1881
François-Marie Arouet * November 21 1694
Soldiers' Pay - 1926Mosquitoes - 1927Sartoris - 1929The Sound and the Fury - 1929As I Lay Dying - 1930Sanctuary - 1931Light in August - 1932Pylon - 1935Absalom, Absalom! - 1936The Unvanquished - 1938The Wild Palms - 1939The Hamlet - 1940Go Down, Moses - 1942Intruder in the Dust - 1948Requiem for a Nun - 1951A Fable… Continue reading Thinking of William Faulkner on the eve of his birthday
Sila Blume 