August
- 1579 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer born
- 1819 - Herman Melville, American writer (Moby Dick) born
- 1950 - Jim Carroll, American poet born
- 1815 - Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German writer born
- 1865 - Irving Babbitt, American literary critic born
- 1924 - James Baldwin, American author (Go Tell It on the Mountain) born
- 1942 - Isabel Allende, Chilean author (The House of Spirits) born
- 1949 - James Fallows, journalist born
- 1955 - Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian born
- 1887 - Rupert Brooke, English poet born
- 1904 - Clifford D. Simak, American science-fiction writer born
- 1920 - P. D. James, English crime fiction writer born
- 1924 - Leon Uris, American novelist born
- 1924 - Joseph Conrad, Polish-born writer (Heart of Darkness ) died
- 1937 - Diane Wakoski, American poet born
- 1954 - Colette, French writer died
- 1604 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French writer born
- 1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet born
- 1859 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer born
- 1904 - Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist born
- 1913 - Robert Hayden, American poet born
- 1936 - Assia Djebar, Algerian writer born
- 1850 - Guy de Maupassant, French author born
- 1889 - Conrad Aiken, American writer born
- 1895 - Friedrich Engels, German philosopher died
- 1637 - Ben Jonson, English writer died
- 1715 - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer born
- 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet born
- 1868 - Paul Claudel, French poet born
- 1889 - John Middleton Murry, English poet born
- 1934 - Piers Anthony, English writer born
- 1533 - Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (La Araucana) born
- 1574 - Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick, English writer born
- 1598 - Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet born
- 1635 - Friedrich von Spee, German writer died
- 1941 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author died
- 1955 - Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer born
- 1974 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet died
- 1884 - Sara Teasdale American poet born
- 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings American novelist born
- 1593 - Izaak Walton English writer born
- 1631 - John Dryden English writer born
- 1854 - Henry David Thoreau published Walden
- 1899 - P. L. Travers creator of Mary Poppins born
- 1845 - Abai Kunanbaiuli, Kazak poet born
- 1869 - Laurence Binyon, British poet born
- 1878 - Alfred Döblin, German writer born
- 1884 - Panait Istrati, Romanian writer born
- 1912 - Virginia Stephen married Leonard Woolf
- 1912 - Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist born
- 1948 - Montague Summers, English writer died
- 1774 - Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer died
- 1892 - Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist born
- 1897 - Louise Bogan, American poet born
- 1897 - Enid Blyton, English author born
- 1913 - Angus Wilson, British novelist born
- 1921 - Alex Haley, American historian and novelist born
- 1932 - Fernando Arrabal, Spanish/French writer born
- 1937 - Edith Wharton, American author died
- 1647 - Johann Heinrich Acker, German writer born
- 1774 - Robert Southey, English poet and biographer born
- 1827 - William Blake, English poet and painter died
- 1831 - Helena Blavatsky, Ukrainian-born author born
- 1866 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer born
- 1876 - Mary Roberts Rinehart, American author born
- 1880 - Radclyffe Hall, British author born
- 1926 - Wallace Markfield, American novelist born
- 1955 - Thomas Mann, German writer died
- 1964 - Ian Fleming, English novelist died
- 1721 - Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer born
- 1803 - Vladimir Odoevsky, Russian philosopher and writer born
- 1946 - H. G. Wells, English writer died
- 1967 - Amélie Nothomb, Belgian writer born
- 1994 - Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born writer died
- 1995 - Jan Křesadlo, Czech-born writer died
- 1575 - Robert Hayman, English-born poet born
- 1771 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist born
- 1863 - Ernest Thayer, American poet born
- 1867 - John Galsworthy, English writer (The Forsyte Saga) born
- 1947 - Danielle Steel, American novelist born
- 1956 - Bertolt Brecht, German writer died
- 2004 - Czesław Miłosz, Polish-born writer died
- 1432 - Luigi Pulci, Italian poet born
- 1785 - Thomas De Quincey, English author born
- 1856 - Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer born
- 1858 - E. Nesbit, English author born
- 1885 - Edna Ferber, American novelist born
- 1898 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet born
- 1916 - Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer born
- 1938 - Janusz Zajdel, Polish writer born
- 1645 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer born
- 1860 - Jules Laforgue, French poet born
- 1888 - T. E. Lawrence, English writer born
- 1902 - Georgette Heyer, English novelist born
- 1920 - Charles Bukowski, American poet born
- 1949 - Margaret Mitchell, American novelist died
- 1676 - Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, German novelist died
- 1930 - Ted Hughes, English poet born
- 1932 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian-born writer born
- 1414 - Jami, Persian poet born
- 1450 - Marko Marulić, Croatian poet born
- 1596 - Jean Bolland, Flemish Jesuit writer born
- 1850 - Honoré de Balzac, French writer died
- 1922 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer born
- 1925 - Brian Aldiss, English writer born
- 1981 - Anita Loos, American screenwriter, playwright, and author died
- 1398 - Marqués de Santillana, Spanish poet born
- 1631 - John Dryden, English poet born
- 1689 - Samuel Richardson, English writer born
- 1902 - Ogden Nash, American poet born
- 1925 - Claude Gauvreau, Canadian playwright, poet, and polemicist born
- 1930 - Frank McCourt, Irish-American author (Angela's Ashes) born
- 1936 - Federico García Lorca, Spanish author died
- 1944 - Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer born
- 1625 - Thomas Corneille, French dramatist born
- 1639 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet died
- 1648 - Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher died
- 1847 - Bolesław Prus, Polish writer born
- 1881 - Edgar Guest, English poet born
- 1897 - Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer born
- 1890 - H. P. Lovecraft, American writer born
- 1918 - Jacqueline Susann, American novelist born
- 1932 - Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist born
- 1961 - Greg Egan, Australian author born
- 1986 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet died
- 1762 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer died
- 1798 - Jules Michelet, French historian born
- 1838 - Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer died
- 1908 - M. M. Kaye, British writer born
- 1940 - Ernest Lawrence Thayer, American poet died
- 1943 - Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer died
- 2005 - Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet died
- 1601 - Georges de Scudéry, French writer born
- 1624 - Jean Renaud de Segrais, French writer born
- 1779 - James Kirke Paulding, American author, poet born
- 1880 - George Herriman, American cartoonist born
- 1891 - Jan Neruda, Czech author died
- 1893 - Dorothy Parker, American writer, humorist born
- 1920 - Ray Bradbury, American writer born
- 1935 - E. Annie Proulx, American author born
- 1958 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer died
- 1849 - William Ernest Henley, British poet and critic, born
- 1869 - Edgar Lee Masters, American author, born
- 1880 - Alexander Grin, Russian writer, born
- 1884 - Will Cuppy, American humorist, born
- 1924 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer, born
- 1943 - Nelson DeMille, American novelist, born
- 1948 - Andrei Pleșu, Romanian writer and essayist, born
- 1999 - James White, Northern Irish science fiction writer, died
- 2001 - Peter Maas, American novelist, died
- 1580 - John Taylor, English poet born
- 1591 - Robert Herrick, English poet born
- 1817 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer born
- 1884 - Earl Derr Biggers, American author born
- 1890 - Jean Rhys, Dominican writer born
- 1898 - Malcolm Cowley, American literary critic, writer, and editor born
- 1899 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer born
- 1915 - James Tiptree, Jr, American writer born
- 1936 - A. S. Byatt, English novelist born
- 1947 - Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author born
- 1951 - Orson Scott Card, American writer born
- 1951 - Oscar Hijuelos, American author born
- 1744 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer born
- 1802 - Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian poet born
- 1836 - Bret Harte, American writer born
- 1913 - Walt Kelly, American cartoonist born
- 1921 - Brian Moore, Irish-born writer born
- 1935 - Charles Wright, American poet born
- 1938 - Frederick Forsyth, English author born
- 1949 - Martin Amis, English novelist born
- 1984 - Truman Capote, American author died
- 2000 - Carl Barks, American cartoonist died
- 2002 - Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer died
- 1874 - Zona Gale, American novelist born
- 1875 - John Buchan, Scottish novelist born
- 1880 - Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet born
- 1904 - Christopher Isherwood, English writer born
- 1914 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer born
- 1945 - Franz Werfel, Austrian writer died
- 1979 - Mika Waltari, Finnish author died
- 1989 - Irving Stone, American author died
- 1635 - Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright died
- 1748 - James Thomson, Scottish poet died
- 1870 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet born
- 1871 - Theodore Dreiser, American author born
- 1958 - Tom Lanoye, Belgian author born
- 1645 - Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and writer died
- 1749 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer born
- 1814 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer born
- 1828 (O.S.) - Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (War and Peace and Anna Karenina) born
- 1906 - John Betjeman, English poet born
- 1913 - Robertson Davies, Canadian writer born
- 1916 - Jack Vance, American author born
- 1924 - Janet Frame, New Zealand author born
- 1993 - William Stafford, American writer died
- 1632 - John Locke, English philosopher born
- 1844 - Edward Carpenter, English Socialist poet born
- 1862 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer born
- 1898 - Preston Sturges, American screenwriter born
- 1930 - William Archibald Spooner, English writer died
- 1797 - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, English writer born
- 1856 - Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer died
- 1925 - Laurent de Brunhoff, French writer born
- 1935 - Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist died
- 1688 - John Bunyan, English writer died
- 1811 - Theophile Gautier, French poet and novelist born
- 1867 - Charles Baudelaire, French poet died
- 1885 - DuBose Heyward, American playwright born
- 1896 - Félix-Antoine Savard, French Canadian priest and novelist born
- 1908 - William Saroyan, American author born
- 1941 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet hanged herself
- 1953 - György Károly, Hungarian author born
- 1967 - Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer died