•
January 4 •
Doris Kearns Goodwin, American political biographer •
Hwang Sok-yong, Korean novelist •
Jesús Torbado, Spanish novelist (died
2018) •
Priit Vesilind, Estonian-American author and photographer •
January 6 –
Francis M. Nevins, American mystery writer, biographer, film historian and law professor •
January 8 –
Charles Murray, American political science writer (
The Bell Curve) •
January 11 –
Jim Hightower, American radio host and author •
January 13 –
Lorna Sage, English scholar and biographer (died
2001) •
January 22 –
Wilhelm Genazino, German writer (died
2018) •
February 8 –
Pirzada Qasim, Pakistani poet and academic •
February 15 –
Elke Heidenreich, German journalist and writer •
February 16 –
Graham Lord, Rhodesian-born English
literary biographer and novelist (died
2015) •
February 18 –
Graeme Garden, Scottish-born writer, comedian and actor •
February 21 –
Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Russian fiction writer •
February 22 –
Terry Eagleton, English scholar and publicist •
February 27 –
Sheila Rowbotham, English feminist author •
March 2 –
Peter Straub, American novelist and poet (died
2022) •
March 26 –
Bob Woodward, American journalist •
March 28 –
Oľga Feldeková, Slovak writer (died
2025) •
April 6 –
Max Clifford, English publicist •
April 17 –
Gwynne Dyer, Canadian journalist •
April 22 –
Louise Glück, American poet, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Literature (died
2023) •
April 30 –
Paul Jennings, English-born Australian children's author •
May 5 –
Michael Palin, English comedy writer and television broadcaster •
May 7 –
Peter Carey, Australian novelist •
May 8 –
Pat Barker, English novelist •
May 20 –
Justin Cartwright, South African-born novelist (died
2018) •
May 26 –
James Carlos Blake, American writer (died
2025) •
June 7 •
Nikki Giovanni, American author, poet and educator •
Michael Pennington, English writer, actor and director •
June 10 –
Simon Jenkins, English journalist •
June 15 –
Xaviera Hollander, Dutch East Indies-born writer •
July 14 –
Christopher Priest, English novelist •
July 16 –
Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban writer (died
1990) •
August 2 –
Rose Tremain (Rosemary Thomson), English novelist •
August 30 –
Robert Crumb, American cartoonist •
September 12 –
Michael Ondaatje, Ceylonese-born Canadian novelist and poet •
September 24 –
Antonio Tabucchi, Italian writer, academic and translator (died
2012) •
October 5 –
Michael Morpurgo, English children's writer •
October 8 -
R. L. Stine, American novelist •
October 9 –
L. E. Modesitt, Jr., American fantasy and science fiction writer •
October 17 –
Laila al-Othman, Kuwaiti writer •
November 5 –
Sam Shepard, American playwright, writer and actor •
November 6 –
Berlie Doherty (Beryl Hollingworth), English children's and young-adults' writer •
November 7 –
Stephen Greenblatt, American Shakespeare scholar •
November 12 –
Wallace Shawn, American actor and dramatist •
December 9 •
Michael Krüger, German writer, publisher and translator •
Joanna Trollope, English novelist (died
2025) •
unknown dates •
Christine Evans, Welsh poet in English •
Vicki Feaver, English poet and academic •
Hadrawi (Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame), Somali poet •
Ebrahim Hussein, Tanzanian playwright in Swahili ==Deaths==