1498 – Michelangelo commissioned to carve the Pietà.
1839 – The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island.

birthdays –
1904 – Christopher Isherwood, English-born writer (d. 1986)
1914 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)

talking heads
• from the New York Times an interview with Gary Paulsen.
• from the press of Atlantic City an interview with Harlan Coben

naughty • The UK judge has demanded extra efforts should be made to recover rare books stolen by a librarian from Manchester’s Central Library.

something new • from the NYT a review of Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer:A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them.

event • John Updike will be one of seven writers who will speak at this year’s