This Week in Literary History: Willie Wonka & HFR Contributors Galore

September 13, 1916 was the birthday of children's writer Roald Dahl. Seriously, where would our lives be without Roald Dahl? For any young bibliophile, books like James and the Giant Peach and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory were the middle men between Dr. Suess and Nancy Drew (or The Hardy Boys - depending on your gender). The natural progression from 10-page children's books to novels with chapters and character development began with Roald Dahl. So thanks old man, I think I read The BFG half a dozen times when I was a kid.

If you thought Charlie & The Chocolate Factory was trippy, watch out for this guy: Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and leader of a huge group of hippies who drove across the country in a bus, was born on September 17,1935. We interviewed Kesey back in Issue #10 of HFR where he talked to us about Western heroes, Hemingway and being the first in his family to go to college. Check it out.

Speaking of HFR contributors, Saturday, September 18 is the birthday of HFR's own Alberto Ríos. Ríos is a faculty advisor for HFR as well as a Regents' Professor of English and a poet. Check out some of his work, here. Happy birthday Alberto!

In honor of Mr. Dahl, go check out Hunger Mountain, a literary journal that includes Young Adult and Children's Literature! Exciting!