National Author’s Day

Certainly Día de los Muertos holds the most famous holiday spot on November 1st. But on that very same date, National Author’s Day has a timeshare.

This little known day came about because an Illinois educator and avid reader wanted to thank the authors of the books she loved. When Nellie Verne Burt McPherson dreamed up a special day to celebrate writers, her organization (the Generation Federation of Women’s Clubs) approved National Author’s Day in 1928. About twenty years later, the U.S. Department of Commerce acknowledged National Author’s Day and it has been recognized ever since. (source)

So what exactly does the day commemorate? “National Author’s Day is a special occasion for book lovers and wordsmiths to honour the art of writing and those who bring stories to life.” (source)

There as many ways to enjoy the day as their are authors to laud, including:

• Going to the library to find something new to read

• Buying a book as a fun gift

• Posting a thank you on the social media account of a fave author

• Getting in touch with that inner writer and creating a short story or poem

• Appreciating a compelling story in all its forms, from novels to screenplays

As an ancient art, storytelling has provided “a valuable form of human expression” since oral traditions began over five millennia ago. (source)

All cultures tell stories to inform, educate, and/or entertain. Filmmaker Philipp Humm summed it up this way: “Through the art of storytelling, we can preserve our heritage, educate future generations, and inspire change.”

Narratives can, for example, explain the mysteries of earth in the beginning, like How the Stars Fell into the Sky.

Stories often create understanding, exemplified in the animated short Indifferent that shows how the power of empathy can change everything.

And who could forget the This is Your Brain on Drugs campaigns over the years with such compelling imagery of how heroin destroys every aspect of life?

Writing has certainly come a long way since the printing press invention in the 1400s to Gen AI in this decade. Who knows where the art of writing will land next?