Birthdays: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Steinbeck, Irwin Shaw

Longfellow was a popular poet and writer whose work has stood the test of time. From “The Song of Hiawatha” to “Evangeline”, his lyrical verse sings as well today as it did in his era. Like Longfellow, Steinbeck’s prose has stayed in the forefront for decades. There are too many to list here, but some of the more well known ones include “The Grapes of Wrath”, “Of Mice and Men”, “East of Eden” and “Travels With Charley”. There are many more and I highly recommend any writer read at least one of them. Irwin Shaw was a prolific dramatist, screenwriter, novelist, and more. Read any of these three to expand your writing and reading horizons.

Thought for the day: “The creative writer is usually captive to his next book.” Fannie Hurst

Tips and Teasers: Choose an inanimate subject (object, place, idea, emotion) and describe it using action verbs. It’s not as easy as you might think.