APM: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac Podcast feed
APM: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac Podcast Feed
Each day, The Writer's Almanac features Garrison Keillor recounting the highlights of this day in history and reading a short poem or two. The Writer's Almanac is produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media.
Nov. 29, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Sunday’s Poem: “A November Sunrise” by Anne Porter, from An Altogether Different Language. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday Madeleine L’Engle, born in New York City (1918), who struggled to find any success as a writer with novels ...
Nov. 28, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Saturday’s Poem: “Bouquet” by Jerry Roscoe, from The Unexamined Life. Saturday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of William Blake, born in London (1757). He wrote Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794) and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ...
Nov. 27, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Friday’s Poem: “The Surgeon” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from The Book of Seventy. Friday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1978 that San Francisco mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by Dan White, a former ...
Nov. 25, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Wednesday’s Poem: “Two Girls” by Jim Harrison, from Saving Daylight. Wednesday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of Leonard Woolf, born in London (1880). He was an incredibly prolific writer, though his literary achievements were overshadowed ...
Nov. 26, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Thursday’s Poem: “In Sickness and Health” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from The Book of Seventy. Thursday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1922 that archaeologist Howard Carter and his patron Lord Carnarvon became the first people in more ...
Nov. 23, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Monday’s Poem: “Where They Were and What They Were Doing” by Matt Cook, from In the Small of My Backyard. Monday’s Literary Notes: Today, the winner of the 2005 National Spelling Bee turns 18. Anurag Kashyap, who was born in India and grew up in ...
Nov. 24, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Tuesday’s Poem: “What the Dark-Eyed Angel Knows” by Eleanor Lerman, from The Mystery of Meteors. Tuesday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the publisher and editor of The Little Review magazine, Margaret Anderson, born in Indianapolis ...
Nov. 22, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Sunday’s Poem: “Head Cheerleader” by Jack Ridl, from Losing Season. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It was about 12:30 p.m. on this day in 1963 that President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. It was the ...
Nov. 21, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Saturday’s Poem: “XI.” by Wendell Berry, from Leavings. Saturday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of Christopher Reuel Tolkien (1924) born in Leeds, England. He’s the youngest son of J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings, and he ...
Nov. 20, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Friday’s Poem: “Farley, Iowa” by Christopher Wiseman, from the longer poem “Standing by Stones” from Crossing the Salt Flats. Friday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of South African novelist Nadine Gordimer, born in Springs, South ...
Nov. 19, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Thursday’s Poem: “Diagnosis” by Sharon Olds, from One Secret Thing. Thursday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln got up in front of about 15,000 people seated at a new national cemetery in Gettysburg, ...
Nov. 17, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Tuesday’s Poem: “Alexandria, 1953” by Gregory Djanikian, from Falling Deeply into America. Tuesday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the man who created Saturday Night Live — Lorne Michaels, born in Toronto, Canada (1944). He majored in ...
Nov. 18, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Wednesday’s Poem: “My Love For All Things Warm and Breathing” by William Kloefkorn, from Cottonwood County: Poems by William Kloefkorn and Ted Kooser. Wednesday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of novelist and poet Margaret Atwood, born in ...
Nov. 15, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Sunday’s Poem: “Manners” by Howard Nemerov, from The Selected Poems of Howard Nemerov. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (1887). In 1923, she said, “One day seven years ago ...
Nov. 15, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Sunday’s Poem: “Manners” by Howard Nemerov, from The Selected Poems of Howard Nemerov. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (1887). In 1923, she said, “One day seven years ago ...
Nov. 16, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Monday’s Poem: “Middle School Band Concert” by Christine Rhein, from Wild Flight. Monday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the novelist Andrea Barrett, born in Boston, Massachusetts (1954). She is known for writing fiction about botanists, ...
Nov. 16, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Monday’s Poem: “Middle School Band Concert” by Christine Rhein, from Wild Flight. Monday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the novelist Andrea Barrett, born in Boston, Massachusetts (1954). She is known for writing fiction about botanists, ...
Nov. 14, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Saturday’s Poem: “Cranberry-Orange Relish” by John Engels, from Sinking Creek. Saturday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1851 that Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick was published, and it was a total flop. He had pored his heart and soul ...
Nov. 13, 2009: The Writer's Almanac
Friday’s Poem: “Grapefruit” by Ted McMahon, from The Uses of Imperfection. Friday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the man who wrote the first memoir in Western literature: St. Augustine, born in 354 in Thagaste, which is now in Algeria. ...

