O. Henry's Birthday
Next: September 11, 2027
Every good story needs a twist.
The story
Where it comes from
O. Henry was born William Sidney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on 11 September 1862, and this Story marks his birthday. He trained as a pharmacist in his uncle's drugstore, then worked in Texas as a land-office clerk and a bank teller. Convicted of embezzlement, he began writing the stories that made him famous in an Ohio prison. On his release he moved to New York and, as O. Henry, wrote hundreds of short stories about ordinary people, loved for their warmth, humour and surprise endings.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but his birthday is a good excuse to read one of his stories aloud; most take only minutes. The O. Henry Prize, created in his memory and awarded since 1919, honours the year's best short stories, and its anthology now includes stories translated into English. In Greensboro, the public library keeps an online portal of letters, documents and photographs about his life.
Did you know
- In 'The Gift of the Magi', a young couple each sell their most treasured possession, her hair and his watch, to buy the other a Christmas present.
- His collection The Four Million (1906) answered a society figure's claim that only 400 people in New York were really worth noticing.
- In New York he kept his real identity a secret from all but a few friends.
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