October 2
Today is the first day of Mystery Series Week. Which mystery author will you read to celebrate?
October 4
Finalists for the 73rd annual National Book Awards will be announced today.
October 6
Litquake, San Francisco’s annual literary festival, begins today and will continue through October 22.
October 8
Happy birthday to R.L. Stine, beloved author of the Goosebumps series.
October 10
Commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day by reading the work of Indigenous writers, such as the five books by Native American authors that Brooke Blanchard recommended in our February issue, which can be found on writermag.com.
October 12
Ann Petry, whose novel The Street became the first novel written by a Black American woman to sell more than a million copies, was born 114 years ago today. The New York Times also published their national bestseller list for the first time on this day in 1931.
October 15
A century ago on this day, T. S. Eliot founded The Criterion magazine, where his poem, “The Waste Land,” appeared in print for the very first time.
October 16
In honor of National Dictionary Day, grab your own dictionary off the shelf, open to a page at random, and incorporate the first word you see into a poem or short story.
October 17
Today is Black Poetry Day, honoring the work of past and present Black poets in celebration of the birthday of Jupiter Hammon, who is believed to be the first Black poet published in the United States.
October 26
Virginia Woolf’s third novel, Jacob’s Room, was published 100 years ago today.
October 27
The winners of the 2022 Kirkus Prize will be presented their prizes at an award ceremony in Austin, Texas; interested viewers can watch the ceremony live on YouTube. Sylvia Plath was also born on this day 90 years ago.
October 31
Write a short story or poem told from the perspective of a sentient jack-o-lantern.
