March
- 1880 - Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer born
- 1892 - Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese writer born
- 1913 - Ralph Ellison, American writer born
- 1935 - Robert Conrad, American actor born
- 1936 - Jean-Edern Hallier, French author born
- 1952 - Steven Barnes, American writer born
- 1578 - George Sandys, English poet born
- 1800 - Evgeny Baratynsky, Russian poet born
- 1820 - Multatuli, Dutch writer born
- 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian novelist born
- 1904 - Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, American writer and cartoonist born
- 1930 - D.H.Lawrence, English novelist died
- 1931 - Tom Wolfe, American author born
- 1942 - John Irving, American author born
- 1962 - Morioka Hiroyuki, Japanese writer born
- 1851 - Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author born
- 1863 - Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author born
- 1940 - Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer born
- 1947 - Clifton Snider, American poet and writer born
- 1982 - Georges Perec, French writer died
- 1983 - Arthur Koestler, Austrian writer died
- 1996 - Marguerite Duras, French writer died
- 1856 - Toru Dutt, English and French poet and author born
- 1870 - Thomas Sturge Moore, English poet born
- 1876 - Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet born
- 1878 - Arishima Takeo, Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist born
- 1921 - Wilson Harris, Guyanese writer born
- 2005 - Carlos Sherman, Uruguayan-born writer died
- 1870 - Frank Norris, American writer born
- 1908 - Irving Fiske, American writer born
- 1944 - Max Jacob, French poet and writer died
- 1966 - Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet died
- 1969 - Danny King, British author born
- 1806 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, British poet born
- 1885 - Ring Lardner, American writer born
- 1927 - Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian writer born
- 1939 - Adam Osborne, British author born
- 1947 - Teru Miyamoto, Japanese author born
- 2003 - John Sanford, American author died
- 1715 - Ewald Christian von Kleist, German poet born
- 1913 - Emily Pauline Johnson, Native Canadian poet died
- 1957 - Wyndham Lewis, British author died
- 1964 - Bret Easton Ellis, American writer born
- 1674 - Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer died
- 1830 - João de Deus, Portuguese poet born
- 1859 - Kenneth Grahame, English author
- 1923 - Krišjānis Barons, Latvian writer died
- 1999 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer died
- 1749 - Honore Mirabeau, French writer born
- 1763 - William Cobbett, English journalist and author born
- 1814 - Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet born
- 1892 - Vita Sackville-West, English writer born
- 1918 - Mickey Spillane, American writer born
- 1947 - Keri Hulme, New Zealand writer born
- 1994 - Charles Bukowski, American writer died
- 1788 - Joseph von Eichendorff, German writer born
- 1925 - Manolis Anagnostakis, Greek poet born
- 1931 - Georges Dor, Quebec author, playwright born
- 1940 - Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer died
- 1544 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet born
- 1915 - Hans Peter Keller, German writer born
- 1952 - Douglas Adams, English writer born
- 1970 - Erle Stanley Gardner, American novelist died
- 1982 - Edmund Cooper, English author died
- 2003 - Brian Cleeve, Irish author died
- 1626 - John Aubrey, English antiquary and writer born
- 1912 - Irving Layton, Canadian poet born
- 1922 - Jack Kerouac, American writer born
- 1925 - Harry Harrison, American author born
- 2003 - Howard Fast, American author died
- 1720 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist and writer born
- 1884 - Sir Hugh Walpole, English novelist born
- 1899 - Jan Lechoń, Polish poet born
- 1911 - L. Ron Hubbard, American author born
- 1914 - W. O. Mitchell, Canadian writer born
- 1943 - Stephen Vincent Benét, American author died
- 1823 - Théodore de Banville, French writer born
- 1869 - Algernon Blackwood, British writer born
- 1916 - Horton Foote, American writer born
- 1947 - Pam Ayres, British poet born
- 1957 - W. Andrew Robinson, British author born
- 1991 - Margery Sharp, children's author died
- 1830 - Paul Heyse, German writer born
- 1884 - Angelos Sikelianos, Greek poet and playwright born
- 1918 - Richard Ellmann, American biographer born
- 1920 - Lawrence Sanders, American novelist born
- 1959 - Lisa Holton, American writer born
- 1581 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and writer born
- 1585 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer born
- 1805 - Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer born
- 1850 - Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter is first published.
- 1892 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet born
- 1906 - Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer born
- 1917 - Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer born
- 1945 - Börries von Münchhausen, German poet died
- 1948 - Margaret Weis, American author born
- 1820 - Jean Ingelow, English poet born
- 1894 - Paul Green, American writer born
- 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer born
- 1947 - James Morrow, American author born
- 1768 - Laurence Sterne, Irish writer died
- 1840 - William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic born
- 1842 - Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet born
- 1893 - Wilfred Owen, English poet born
- 1904 - Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet born
- 1915 - Richard Condon, American novelist born
- 1932 - John Updike, American novelist, poet and critic born
- 1996 - Odysseus Elytis, Greek poet died
- 1721 - Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist born
- 1916 - Irving Wallace, American novelist born
- 1920 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author born
- 1933 - Philip Roth, American author born
- 1999 - Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet died
- 2008 - Arthur C. Clarke, British writer died
- 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German writer born
- 1799 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet born
- 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer born
- 1971 - Touré, American writer born
- 1763 - Jean Paul, German writer born
- 1843 - Robert Southey, English poet died
- 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer died
- 1997 - W. V. Awdry, English children's writer died
- 1503 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer born
- 1712 - Edward Moore, English writer born
- 1908 - Louis L'Amour, American author born
- 1909 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author born
- 1941 - Billy Collins, American poet born
- 2006 - Kurt von Trojan, Australian science fiction author died
- 1831 - Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer born
- 1881 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer born
- 1941 - Jim Trelease, American educator and children's literature author born
- 1943 - Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish writer born
- 1952 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American author born
- 1968 - Edwin O'Connor, American novelist died
- 1830 - Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet born
- 1855 - Olive Schreiner, South African writer born
- 1882 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American author died
- 1905 - Jules Verne, French author died
- 1916 - Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American novelist born
- 1926 - Dario Fo, Italian writer born
- 1927 - Martin Walser, German author born
- 1643 - Louis Moréri, French encyclopedist born
- 1661 - Paul de Rapin, French historian born
- 1881 - Mary Gladys Webb, English writer born
- 1926 - Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet born
- 1934 - Gloria Steinem, American author born
- 1980 - James Wright, American poet died
- 1859 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet born
- 1874 - Robert Frost, American poet born
- 1904 - Joseph Campbell, American author born
- 1930 - Gregory Corso, American poet born
- 1942 - Erica Jong, American author born
- 2000 - Alex Comfort, American author died
- 1746 - Michael Bruce, Scottish poet born
- 1797 - Alfred de Vigny, French author born
- 1871 - Heinrich Mann, German writer born
- 1883 - Marie Under, Estonian author and poet born
- 1935 - Abelardo Castillo, Argentine writer born
- 2006 - Stanisław Lem, Polish writer died
- 1815 - Arsène Houssaye, French novelist born
- 1868 - Maxim Gorky, Russian author born
- 1909 - Nelson Algren, American writer born
- 1914 - Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer born
- 2000 - Anthony Powell, British novelist died
- 1553 - Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek Renaissance poet born
- 1891 - Yvan Goll, French-German writer born
- 1895 - Ernst Jünger, German author born
- 1902 - Marcel Aymé, French writer born
- 1913 - R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet born
- 1933 - Jacques Brault, French Canadian poet born
- 1936 - Judith Guest, American author born
- 2005 - Miltos Sahtouris, Greek poet died
- 2006 - Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer died
- 1820 - Anna Sewell, British author born
- 1844 - Paul Verlaine, French poet born
- 1903 - Countee Cullen, American poet born
- 1923 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet born
- 1967 - Jean Toomer, American writer died
- 2005 - Robert Creeley, American poet died
- 1621 - Andrew Marvell, English poet born
- 1809 - Edward FitzGerald, English poet born
- 1924 - Leo Buscaglia, American author born
- 1935 - Judith Rossner, American author born