18 September The literary calendar

On this day in English literature

Discover the writers who share this date, their stories, and where to read them.

Born on this day 07

Thought for the day

Oh, Death was never enemy of ours! We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum. No soldier's paid to kick against His powers. We laughed, — knowing that better men would come, And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.

Reveal who said it

Wilfred Owen · "The Next War"
Quote from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Remembered today

Published on this day

1954 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2018 Lethal White by J. K. Rowling
2025 What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
1895 The Cone by H. G. Wells

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Photo credits

James Shirley: unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Samuel Johnson: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Lord Berners: Herbert Lambert (1881-1936) (see https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw159726/Gerald-Tyrwhitt-Wilson-14th, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Mona Douglas: Jamesfranklingresham, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
N. C. Hunter: Jrost minttheater, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Simon Mawer: Juan de Vojníkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Gary Russell: The original uploader was Whouk at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Matthew Prior: Thomas Hudson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, resized
Lewis Theobald: William Hogarth, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized