Each month, we highlight birthdays of authors for you to discover through print and digital items as well as online biographies. In the post below, click on the author’s name to find titles by them in our catalog. Read a bit about each author below and find their full biography in the database listed.
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Langston Hughes (born Feb. 1, 1902): “Langston Hughes was an African American poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and columnist. His literature focused on the social uplift of poor African Americans, combatted racial stereotypes, and celebrated Black identity, even as it acknowledged seemingly insurmountable social problems. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hughes continued to write prolifically well beyond this period.” From the African American Experience database. Find the database HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Keigo Higashino (born Feb. 4, 1958): "Keigo Higashino is "Japan's Stephen King," as Houston Chronicle reviewer P.G. Koch noted. The author of more than a score of thriller and crime titles, Higashino has several novels translated into English. His 1998 award-winning novel Himitsu was translated in 2004 as Naoko: A Novel, and his 2006 award winner Yogisha X no kenshin was published in 2011 as The Devotion of Suspect X. That novel's protagonist, Detective Galileo, is reprised in Salvation of a Saint, from 2012." From Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Laura Ingalls Wilder (born Feb. 7, 1867): "When she was in her 60s, American author Laura Ingalls Wilder began writing about her childhood as a pioneer. The resulting 'Little House' novels became classics in children’s literature. They were read not only for their insight into what it was like to grow up on the American frontier during the 1870s and 1880s but also for their entertainment value." From her biography in the eLibrary research topic about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Find eLibrary HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Alice Walker (Born Feb. 9, 1944): "One of the best and most influential writers of her generation, Alice Walker has affected modern American life not only through her brilliant poetry and novels, but through her actions as a black feminist ("womanist") and social activist. Her novel The Color Purple is perhaps her most popular work so far. It was made into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey in 1985." From her biography in the African American Experience database. Find the African American Experience database HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Matt de la Peña: "In everything I've ever written--even the stupid poems I used to write in high school to try and get girls--elements of racism and racial identity and racial consciousness color the world," remarked author Matt de la Peña in an interview with Amy Bowllan for Bowllan's Blog. De la Peña is the author of several novels for young adults, works that feature the lives of kids, often minorities or outcasts, from the archetypal "other side of the tracks." De la Peña does not chart the course of middle-class high schoolers coming of age; instead he looks at a seventeen-year-old with a troubling background who finds solace on the basketball court in his debut novel, Ball Don't Lie, at the confusion of being bi-racial in Mexican White Boy, and at the lives of three homeless, teenage runaways in We Were Here." From Authors and Artists for Young Adults in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Jane Yolen (born Feb. 9, 1939): Described as the "Hans Christian Andersen of America," Jane Yolen is the creator of more than three hundred books for children, teens, and adults. The versatile and highly esteemed author writes in a wide range of genre and formats, including historical fiction, poetry, biography, criticism, and fables. Yolen has developed a stellar reputation as a fantasist, with a remarkable ability to capture the attention of readers with beautifully crafted language and skillful storytelling. During her decades-long career, she has earned numerous honors, including the Nebula Award, the Jewish Book Award, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, the Christopher Medal, and the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award." From Authors and Artists for Young Adults in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Judy Blume (born Feb. 12, 1938): "Many a young reader has been given a hand through the tough adolescent years with the help of author Judy Blume, known for her realistic portrayals of pre-teen and teenage characters and the issues they face growing up in modern, middle-class America. With books such as Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, and more, Blume opened up a dialogue for kids struggling to figure out life's mysteries." From Newsmakers in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Mo Yan (born Feb. 17, 1955): "Pseudonymous novelist and short story writer Mo Yan (Chinese for 'Don't Speak') has been the object of both celebration and controversy in his native China, and he has received a great deal of attention from literary critics worldwide. Parts of his first novel, Red Sorghum: A Novel of China, became a highly praised epic film by Zhang Yimou that glorifies the bravery of Chinese peasants fighting Japanese invaders prior to World War II." From Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Audre Lorde (born Feb 18, 1934): "Audre Lorde was a leading American poet and feminist in the post–World War II era. Her work explored such difficult social topics as sexuality and race, as well as her personal battle with cancer." From her biography in the African American Experience database. Find the African American Experience database HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Toni Morrison (born Feb. 18, 1931): "Novelist, nonfiction writer, editor, and professor, Toni Morrison was a prominent African American author notable for her work depicting the African American experience. Morrison transitioned from a successful career in publishing to become a full-time novelist. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She was the first African American to earn this prestigious award. She was also the recipient of the National Book Critics' Circle Award for Song of Solomon (1977) and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987), two novels that have become contemporary classics." From her biography in the African American Experience database. She also has a research topic containing multiple resources in the eLibrary database. Find the African American Experience database HERE and eLibrary HERE. Log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Clifton L. Taulbert (born Feb. 19, 1945): "Clifton L. Taulbert is the author of inspirational memoirs and children's fiction that emphasizes the bonds of family and community. Once upon a Time When We Were Colored, for example, is his memoir of growing up in a small Mississippi town during the waning days of segregation. Instead of emphasizing the tense racial situation of the South, "Taulbert portrays those close to him--his mother, grandparents, an extended family of aunts and uncles--as people who were 'wryly cognizant of segregation but ... decided to enjoy life anyway,' reported Rosemary L. Bray in the New York Times Book Review." From Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
Amy Tan (born Feb. 19, 1952): "Amy Tan's novels concerning the bonds between Chinese-American mothers and daughters have earned her a worldwide audience. Although immersed in the rich lore of Chinese myth and history, Tan's works transcend the particular and become testaments to the universal themes of love and forgiveness. Tan introduces characters who are ambivalent, as she once was, about their Chinese background, but who move to a deeper understanding of themselves as they confront their ancestors' struggles in China and America." From Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors in the Biography in Context database. Find Biography in Context HERE, then log in with your last name and TCCL card number to search this author's name and explore the resources about them.
