Writers and Writing – Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library

April is Poetry Month

Come down to your School Library to join us as we celebrate Poetry Month in Canada this April.

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born on this day in 1904. He would grow up to become one of the world’s most beloved writers of books for children.

Langston Hughes was born on this day in 1901. Hughes would go on to become a renowned poet, playwright, novelist and social activist. Langston Hughes was at the center of the the intellectual and cultural phenomenon that was the “Harlem Renaissance” of the twenties and thirties in New York.

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J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the most popular authors of the 20th Century, J.R.R. Tolkien was born to English parents in 1892 in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State. At age 3, his family moved back to Britain. Tolkien studied at Oxford and eventually taught there as well. He would go to author some of the English language’s most read books, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. For more on Tolkien, click here.

Isaac Asimov

One of the giants of science fiction. and one of the great minds of the 20th Century, Isaac Asimov was born on this day in 1920. His work and the work of other great sci-fi writers, film makers and game developers is celebrated on this day, unofficially known as “International Science Fiction Day.” Here in your School Library we are going to be celebrating Sci-Fi all month long– so stay posted, and visit us in person, to find out more.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on this day in 1874 on Prince Edward Island. Montgomery is best known the author of the beloved novel Anne of Green Gables. Montomgery wrote 20 novels, hundreds of poems and more. Perhaps her greatest honour came when Anne of Green Gables won the inaugural tournament of Young Adult Lit March Madness at LTSS in 2022.

Margaret Atwood

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood was born on this day in 1939 in Ottawa. Atwood is a prolific writer of dozens of titles, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels and children’s books. Margaret Atwood is best known for 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel that is perhaps even more relevant today than it was when it won the Governor-General’s Award in 1985 and the Arthur C. Clark Award in 1987, and was a finalist for the Booker Prize. Atwood did go on to win the prestigious Booker Prize, for best English language novel, in 2000 for The Blind Assassin, and was a co-winner in 2019 for The Testaments, a much celebrated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Nobel Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro was born on this day in 1954. Ishiguro was born in Japan, but moved to the U.K. with his parents when he was five years old. He grew up to become one of most critically acclaimed authors in the English language, winning a variety of prestigious awards including the Booker Prize in 1989 for his novel, The Remains of the Day, and, for his entire body of work, the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.

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Ursula K. Le Guin

Legendary American writer Ursula K. Le Guin was born on this day in 1929. Le Guin is celebrated as a master of fantasy and science fiction. She is best known for her novel A Wizard of Earthsea, published in 1968, and numerous follow-up books set in the world of Earthsea. Le Guin died in 2018.

Richard Wagamese

Richard Wagamese, the celebrated Indigenous Canadian writer, was born October 14, 1955. Wagamese was Ojibwe and a member of the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations. He was born in Ontario and lived there for much of his life. In later years he lived in British Columbia, where he died in 2017 at the the age of 61. Keeper’N Me was his debut novel, published in 1994. Wagamese was perhaps best known for his 2012 novel Indian Horse.

Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert, author of the Science Fiction classic novel Dune, and the series of Dune books, was born on this day in 1920.

Stephen King

American writer Stephen King was born on this day in 1947. King has been referred to as the “King of Horror” as he has written dozens of horror novels and hundreds of horror stories. Some of his best known works include Carrie, It, The Shining, and the Dark Tower series. Many of his novels and stories have been adapted for film and television.

King’s works aren’t limited to horror. He has also written books and stories that fit it many other categories or genres. Many lovers of the films “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Stand By Me.” don’t realize that these films were adapted from King’s books.