17 April

Born in 1885 — Danish writer Karen Blixen, known also by her pen name Isak Dinesen.

Above: Still from the 1987 film Babette’s Feast, directed by Gabriel Axel and based on Blixen’s short story.

Also, born in 1897, American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder, who said:

“I am not interested in the ephemeral — such subjects as the adulteries of dentists. I am interested in those things that repeat and repeat and repeat in the lives of the millions.”