•
January 1 –
Joe Orton, English playwright (murdered
1967) •
January 2 –
Seiichi Morimura (森村誠一), Japanese author (died
2023) •
January 4 –
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, American children's and adult novelist •
January 9 –
Wilbur Smith, South African historical novelist (died
2021) •
January 13 –
Shahnon Ahmad, Malaysian writer and politician (died
2017) •
January 16 –
Susan Sontag (Susan Rosenblatt), American novelist (died
2004) •
January 25 –
Alden Nowlan, Canadian poet and novelist (died
1983) •
February 1 –
Reynolds Price, American novelist and literary scholar (died
2011) •
February 5 –
B. S. Johnson, English novelist (died
1973) •
February 12 –
Costa-Gavras (Konstantinos Gavras), Greek-French film director and writer •
February 20 –
Zamenga Batukezanga, Congolese francophone writer and philanthropist (died
2000) •
February 21 –
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Native American author •
February 22 –
Christopher Ondaatje, Ceylonese-born English travel writer, biographer and philanthropist •
February 27 –
Edward Lucie-Smith, Jamaican-born English writer, critic and broadcaster •
March 17 –
Penelope Lively (Penelope Low), Egyptian-born English novelist •
March 18 –
Sergio Pitol, Mexican fiction writer, translator and diplomat (died
2018) •
March 19 –
Philip Roth, American novelist (died 2018) •
April 2 –
György Konrád, Hungarian novelist, essayist, political dissident and President of PEN International (died
2019) •
April 7 –
Cong Weixi, Chinese author (died
2019) •
April 14 –
Boris Strugatsky, Russian sci-fi writer (died
2012) •
April 24 –
Patricia Bosworth, American writer/biographer (died
2020) •
May 9 –
Jessica Steele, English romance novelist (died
2020) •
May 10 –
Barbara Taylor Bradford (Barbara Taylor), English-born American novelist (died
2024) •
May 12 –
Stephen Vizinczey, Hungarian-born writer (died 2021) •
May 22 –
Arnold Lobel, American children's writer and illustrator (died
1987) •
May 29 •
Abdul Rahman Munif, Arab writer (died
2004) •
Edward Whittemore, American novelist (died
1995) •
June 9 –
Vicente Leñero, Mexican novelist and playwright (died
2014) •
June 11 –
Martti Soosaar, Estonian journalist and author (died
2017) •
June 20 –
Claire Tomalin (Claire Delavenay), English journalist and biographer •
June 25 –
James Meredith, African-American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser and Air Force veteran •
June 30 –
Mauricio Rosencof, Uruguayan playwright, poet and journalist •
July 2 –
John Antrobus, English playwright and scriptwriter •
July 4 –
David Littman, English historian (died
2012) •
July 10 –
Kevin Gilbert, Australian writer and artist (died
1993) •
July 13 –
David Storey, English novelist and playwright (died
2017) •
July 14 –
Solange Fasquelle, French novelist (died
2016) •
July 15 –
M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Indian novelist (died
2024) •
July 20 –
Cormac McCarthy, American novelist, playwright and screenwriter (died
2023) •
July 21 •
John Gardner, American novelist (died
1982) •
Brigitte Reimann, German novelist (died
1973) •
July 31 –
Cees Nooteboom, Dutch poet and writer (died
2026) •
August 1 –
Ko Un (Ko Untae),
South Korean poet •
August 2 –
Michel del Castillo, Spanish-born French writer (died
2024) •
August 7 –
Jerry Pournelle, American science fiction writer (died
2017) •
August 13 –
Madhur Jaffrey, Indian actress and food writer •
August 16 –
Tom Maschler, Austrian-born English literary publisher (died
2020) •
September 8 –
Michael Frayn, English playwright and novelist •
September 9 –
Michael Novak, American philosopher and author (died
2017) •
September 19 –
Gilles Archambault, French Canadian novelist •
September 27 –
Paul Goble, English-American author and illustrator (died
2017) •
October 21 –
Maureen Duffy, English poet, playwright, author and activist •
October 24 –
Norman Rush, American writer •
November 1 •
Viačasłaŭ Adamčyk, Belarusian journalist, writer, playwright and screenwriter (died
2001) •
Huub Oosterhuis, Dutch poet, theologian and liturgy reformer •
Samir Roychoudhury, Indian Bengali poet and philosopher (died
2016) •
November 5 –
Ilie Purcaru, Romanian journalist and poet (died
2008) •
November 13 –
Peter Härtling, German novelist and poet (died
2017) •
November 23 –
Daniel Chavarría, Uruguayan writer and translator (died
2018) •
December 2 –
Kent Andersson, Swedish dramatist (died
2005) •
December 22 –
Jim Barnes, Native American poet and translator •
December 31 –
Edward Bunker, American crime novelist (died
2005) ==Deaths==