The Writer’s Almanac from Friday, April 19, 2013 “I Will Make You Brooches” by Robert Louis Stevenson, from Selected Poems. © Penguin Classics, 1999. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of Jon Agee, born in Nyack, New York (1960), along the Hudson River, who has drawn cartoons for The New Yorker and written and illustrated many children’s books. He was still in high school when he published his first cartoon, and the publisher of his drawing — which was of a pack of rats running alongside a road — was The New York Times Op-Ed page. Right ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Thursday, April 18, 2013 “Serious” by James Fenton, from Yellow Tulips. © Faber and Faber, 2012. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 On this day in 1775, Paul Revere made his famous ride from Boston to Lexington to warn the patriots that the British troops were on the march. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow commemorated the historic occasion in a ballad, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which begins: Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Wednesday, April 17, 2013 “Paper-White Narcissus” by Lisel Mueller, from Alive Together. © Louisiana State University Press, 1996. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of Irish poet Brendan Kennelly, born in Ballylongford, County Kerry (1936). He’s a literature professor at Trinity College in Dublin, and a very popular poet — he has published more than 20 books of poems. He said, “To be born in Ireland is to inherit not only one of the most beautiful little countries in the world, but also an entire legacy of prejudices, hatreds, cli ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Tuesday, April 16, 2013 “Frogs” by Louis Simpson, from The Owner of the House. © BOA Editions, Ltd., 2003. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of Gertrude Chandler Warner, born in Putnam, Connecticut (1890). She’s the creator of the Boxcar Children series. She taught first grade for more than 30 years. She was home sick one day when she thought up the story of the Boxcar Children. As a child, her family had lived near the railroad tracks, and she spent hours watching the trains go by. Sometimes, she would catch a glimpse through the ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Monday, April 15, 2013 “The Undeniable Pressure of Existence” by Patricia Fargnoli, from Duties of the Spirit. © Tupelo Press, 2005. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 Today is Tax Day. The federal income tax has been in effect since Congress ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913. That first year, the form was only two pages long. Humorist Dave Barry wrote, “It’s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.” It’s the birthday of humorist and biographer ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Sunday, April 14, 2013 “This Moment” by Eavan Boland, from In a Time of Violence. © Norton, 1994. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It was on this day in 1939 that John Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath. The novel tells the story of three generations of the Joad family, who lose their farm in Oklahoma and set off across the country for the paradise of California, only to encounter extreme poverty and corrupt corporations trying to make a profit off them. He wrote the novel at an incredible rate — about two thousands words a day — in ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Saturday, April 13, 2013 “Sun and Rain” by W.S. Merwin, from Flower & Hand. © Copper Canyon Press, 1996. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of the man who said: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” That’s Thomas Jefferson, born in Albemarle County, Virginia (1743). And he certainly lived by those words. He wrote the Declaration of Independence for the fledgling United States and then served as its minister of France, secretary of state, vice president, and president. But he w ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Friday, April 12, 2013 “Thanks for Remembering Us” by Dana Gioia, from Daily Horoscope. © Graywolf Press, 1986. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It was on this day in 1633 that Galileo Galilei stood trial before the Roman Inquisition, to defend the publication of his book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632). It is commonly thought that Galileo was called to defend his scientific beliefs before the Church, who insisted on their own version of the universe. But the purpose of the trial was more complex than that, go ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Thursday, April 11, 2013 “Wild” by Stephen Dunn, from What Goes On. © Norton, 2009. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of Marguerite de Navarre, born in Angoulême, France, in 1492. The daughter of a count and a mother with high aspirations for her children, Marguerite learned Latin, Spanish, Hebrew, and Italian and read philosophy and the Scriptures. Her younger brother, Francis, became the King of France. He had always looked up to his big sister, and he asked her to join his court to provide counsel and advice. She did, advising ..read more

The Writer’s Almanac from Wednesday, April 10, 2013 “Philosophy in Warm Weather” by Jane Kenyon, from The Boat of Quiet Hours. © Graywolf Press, 1986. ORIGINAL  TEXT AND AUDIO – 2013 It’s the birthday of the man who said: “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” Paul Theroux, born in Medford, Massachusetts (1941). After college he went in the Peace Corps and taught school in Malawi, Africa, and he wrote. Ten years after college graduation, he had written ten books, and it was the 10th that made his reputation: The Great Rail ..read more