2009 in literature

Events

April 21 – UNESCO launches the World Digital Library.

May 1 – Carol Ann Duffy is appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, the first woman appointed to the position; she is also the first Scot and the first openly gay occupant of the post.

May 5 – Posthumous publication of J. R. R. Tolkien's narrative poem The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún in alliterative verse based on the 13th century Poetic Edda and probably written in the 1930s.

May 16–25 – Ruth Padel becomes the first woman ever elected Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford but resigns nine days later after she is alleged to have been involved in what some sources refer to as a smear campaign against Derek Walcott, her leading rival for the post.

August 10 – Standard orthography for writing in the Silesian language is adopted in Cieszyn, at a meeting of the Standardization Committee of the Silesian Language.

October 8 – Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.

November 10 – Linden MacIntyre wins the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel The Bishop's Man.

Australian publishers Allen & Unwin announce the suspension of their annual Iremonger Award, on the grounds that no manuscript of sufficient merit has been submitted.

Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm-Zentrum library opens at Humboldt University of Berlin.

Fiction

Margaret Atwood – The Year of the Flood (September 8)

T. C. Boyle – The Women (February 10)

Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol (September 15)

Jan Cempírek – Bílej kůň, žlutej drak

Arno Camenisch – Sez ner

Chan Koonchung – The Fat Years

E. L. Doctorow – Homer & Langley (September 1)

Dave Eggers – The Wild Things (October 1)

Adam Foulds – The Quickening Maze

Rodrigo Fresán – El fondo del cielo

Glen David Gold – Sunnyside (May 5)

Philippa Gregory – The White Queen (August 18)

Lauren Groff – Delicate Edible Birds (January 27)

Haruki Murakami – 1Q84 (いちきゅうはちよん, Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon, vol. 1–2, May 29 – Japan)

Terrence E. Holt – In the Valley of the Kings (September 14)

John Irving – Last Night in Twisted River (October 20 – Canada) (October 27 – U.S.A.)

Rabee Jaber – أميركا (America)

Denis Johnson – Nobody Move (June 5)

Daniel Kehlmann – Fame (January 16)

Barbara Kingsolver – The Lacuna: A Novel (November 3)

Karl Ove Knausgård – Min Kamp (My Struggle; first book)

Herman Koch – The Dinner (Het diner – Netherlands)

Joe R. Lansdale – Vanilla Ride (September 2009)

Stieg Larsson – The Girl Who Played With Fire (July 28)

Janice Y. K. Lee – The Piano Teacher

Jonathan Lethem – Chronic City (October 13)

Lorrie Moore – A Gate at the Stairs (September 15)

Alice Munro – Too Much Happiness (August 25)

Vladimir Nabokov – The Original of Laura (unfinished last novel) (November 3)

Marie NDiaye – Three Strong Women (Trois Femmes puissantes; August 20)

Joyce Carol Oates

Dear Husband, (March 31)

Little Bird of Heaven (September 15)

Daniel Olivas – Anywhere But L.A.: Stories (October 31)

Chuck Palahniuk – Pygmy (May 5)

Lyudmila Petrushevskaya – There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby (September 29)

Thomas Pynchon – Inherent Vice (August 4)

Philip Roth – The Humbling (November 2)

Richard Russo – That Old Cape Magic (August 4)

Stig Sæterbakken – Don't Leave Me

Raphael Selbourne – Beauty (September)

Steve Sem-Sandberg – De fattiga i Łódź

Nicholas Sparks – The Last Song (September 8)

Peter Stamm – Seven Years

Kathryn Stockett – The Help (February 10)

Wells Tower – Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (March 17)

Ferdinand von Schirach – "Verbrechen" (Burglary; short story)

John Wray – Lowboy (March 3)

Juli Zeh – Corpus Delicti (February 20)

Children and young people

Sagu Aoyama and Tinkle – Ro-Kyu-Bu! (February 10)

Hajime Asano and Seiji Kikuchi – Mayo Chiki! (November 21)

Brent Crawford – Carter Finally Gets It

James Dashner – The Hunt for Dark Infinity (March 1)

Joseph Delaney and Mark Walden – The Spook's Tale/Interception Point (March 5)

John Fardell – The Secret of the Black Moon Moth

Neil Gaiman – Blueberry Girl (March 10)

John Hulme and Michael Wexler – The Lost Train of Thought (October)

Erin Hunter

Great Bear Lake (February 10)

Sunrise (April 24)

Smoke Mountain (May 1)

Code of the Clans (June 9)

Bluestar's Prophecy (August)

The Fourth Apprentice (November 24)

Shinichi Kimura, Kobuichi and Muririn – Is This a Zombi? (Kore wa zombie desu ka?, January 20)

Reif Larsen – The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

Peter Lerangis – The Sword Thief (April 1)

D.J. Machale – The Soldiers of Halla (May 12)

Joshua Mowll et al. – Operation Storm City (May 12)

Brandon Mull – Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (March 24)

Robert Muchamore

Henderson's Boys: The Escape (February 5)

Eagle Day (June 4)

Patrick Ness – The Ask and the Answer (May 4)

Jenny Nimmo - Charlie Bone and the Red King

Charles Ogden – Split Ends (January 27)

Margie Palatini (with Barry Moser) - Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes

Rob Reger – Emily the Strange: The Lost Days (June 2)

Rick Riordan – The Last Olympian (May 5)

Carina Rozenfeld – Les Clefs de Babel

Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (March 9)

Angie Sage – Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers (June 23)

Michael Scott – The Sorceress (May 26)

Jude Watson – Beyond the Grave (June 2)

Victor Watson – Paradise Barn (first in the eponymous series of four books)

Tad Williams and Deborah Beale – The Dragons of Ordinary Farm (July 2)

Jacqueline Wilson – Hetty Feather (first in the eponymous series of five books)

N. D. Wilson – Dandelion Fire

Izuru Yumizuru and Okiura – Infinite Stratos (May 31)

Drama

Jacob M. Appel – Causa Mortis

Jez Butterworth – Jerusalem

Ella Hickson – Precious Little Talent

Patrick Marber – After Miss Julie

Lucy Prebble – ENRON

Sarah Ruhl – In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)

Anna Deavere Smith – Let Me Down Easy

Poetry

Christopher Reid – A Scattering

Toyo Shibata (柴田トヨ) – Kujikenaide (″Don't lose heart″)

Horror

Yukito Ayatsuji – Another (October 29)

Matthew J. Costello – Doom 3: Maelstrom (March 31)

Dark Calling (May 2009)

Hell's Heroes (book) (October 2009)

Stephen King – Under the Dome (November 10)

Richard Laymon – Dark Mountain (March 2009)

Science fiction and fantasy

Jim Butcher – Turn Coat (April 7)

Eoin Colfer – And Another Thing... (October)

Michael Crichton – Pirate Latitudes (November 24)

Andrew Hussie – Homestuck (April 13)

J.C. Hutchins – 7th Son, Book One: Descent (October 27)

Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson – The Gathering Storm) (The Wheel of Time volume 12) (October 27)

Michael E. Marks – Dominant Species (novel) (October 1)

James Patterson

MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel (March 16)

Daniel X: Watch the Skies (July 27)

Lawrence M. Schoen – Buffalito Destiny (June 1, first in the Tales of the Amazing Conroy series)

Mystery

David Baldacci – First Family (April 21)

Attica Locke – Black Water Rising

Non-fiction

Olivier Ameisen – The End of my Addiction (March 5)

Michael Chabon – Manhood for Amateurs (October 6)

Dave Eggers – Zeitoun (July 15)

Christopher M. Fairman – Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties

Craig Ferguson – American on Purpose (September 22)

Jonathan Safran Foer – Eating Animals (November 2)

David Grann – The Lost City of Z (February 24)

Thomas Levenson – Newton and the Counterfeiter (June 3)

Mark Levin – Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (March 24)

Norman Mailer (posthumous) – MoonFire ($112,500 coffee table edition)

Eric W. Sanderson – Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City (May 1)

Bill Simmons – The Book of Basketball (October 26)

Guy Sorman – Economics Does Not Lie (July 20)

William T. Vollmann – Imperial (July 29)

Helen Waldstein Wilkes – Letters from the Lost

Deaths

January 1 – Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian novelist and screenwriter (born 1924)

January 20 – Sheila Walsh, English novelist (born 1928)

January 27 – John Updike, American novelist (born 1932)

February 20 – Christopher Nolan, Irish poet and author (choking, born 1965)

February 25 – Philip José Farmer, American science fiction writer (born 1918)

March 13 – James Purdy, American novelist, poet and playwright (born 1914)

March 21 – Winifred Foley, English memoirist (born 1914)

March 31 – Michael Cox, English novelist and biographer (hemangiopericytoma, born 1948)

April 14 – Maurice Druon, French historical novelist (born 1918)

April 15 – Clement Freud, German-born English writer and broadcaster (born 1924)

April 19 – J. G. Ballard, English novelist (born 1930)

May 6 – Lev Losev, Russian American poet (born 1937)

May 17 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (born 1920)

June 2 – David Eddings, American novelist (born 1931)

July 6 – Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist (born 1932)

July 14 – Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian novelist (born 1926)

July 19 – Frank McCourt, American memoirist and Pulitzer Prize winner (born 1930)

July 23 – E. Lynn Harris, African American novelist (heart disease, born 1955)

July 25 – Stanley Middleton, English novelist (cancer, born 1919)

July 27

Aeronwy Thomas, English-born Welsh translator and writer (born 1943)

Michaël Zeeman, Dutch critic, poet and writer (born 1958)

July 31 – Tim Guest, English writer (drug overdose, born 1975)

August 2 – Adolf Endler, German writer (born 1930)

August 4 – Blake Snyder, American screenwriter and author (born 1957)

August 5 – Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter and novelist (born 1914)

August 6

Jack T. Kirby, American historian (born 1938)

Willibrordus S. Rendra, Indonesian poet (born 1935)

August 7 – Danko Popović, Serbian writer (born 1928)

August 8 – Alfonso Calderón, Chilean writer and poet (born 1930)

August 9 – Thierry Jonquet, French writer (born 1954)

August 10

Josef Burg, Ukrainian writing in Yiddish (born 1912)

Merlyn Mantle, American author (born 1932)

August 16 – Alistair Campbell, New Zealand poet (born 1925)

August 18

Dic Jones, Welsh poet writing in Welsh (born 1934 in literature)

Hugo Loetscher, Swiss author writing in German (born 1929)

Fernanda Pivano, Italian writer (born 1917)

August 20 – Karla Kuskin, American children's author (born 1932)

August 22 – Elmer Kelton, American Western novelist (born 1926)

August 25

Bob Carroll, American historian and author (born 1936)

Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer and poet (born 1913)

September 3 – Christine D'Haen, Belgian poet writing in Flemish (born 1923)

September 4 – Keith Waterhouse, English author and playwright (born 1929)

September 6

Catherine Gaskin, Irish-born Australian romantic novelist (born 1929)

Nada Iveljić, Croatian children's writer (born 1931)

September 10 – Lyn Hamilton, Canadian author (born 1944)

September 11 – Jim Carroll, American writer and poet (born 1949)

September 12

William Hoffman, American novelist (born 1925)

Antônio Olinto, Brazilian writer (born 1919)

September 13 – Sarah E. Wright, American novelist (born 1928)

September 15 – Trevor Rhone, Jamaican playwright (born 1940)

September 19 – Milton Meltzer, American historian and author (born 1915)

September 21 – Junzo Shono (庄野 潤三), Japanese author (born 1921)

September 22 – Kole Čašule, Macedonian essayist, dramatist and short story writer (born 1921)

September 24 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian novelist writing in French (suicide, born 1973)

September 25 – Willy Breinholst, Danish author (born 1918)

October 1

Otar Chiladze, Georgian writer (born 1933)

Cintio Vitier, Cuban poet (born 1921)

October 4 – Veikko Huovinen, Finnish writer (born 1927)

November 1 – Esther Hautzig, Polish-born American autobiographer (born 1930)

November 20 – Naomi Frankel, German-born Israeli novelist (born 1918)

November 29 – Robert Holdstock, English fantasy novelist (born 1949)

November 30 – Milorad Pavić, Serbian writer (born 1929)

December 5 – William Lederer, American author (born 1912)

December 7

Carlene Hatcher Polite, American novelist (born 1932)

Pyotr Vail, Latvian-born Russian essayist and journalist (born 1949)

December 15 – C. D. B. Bryan, American author (born 1936)

December 19 – Loren Singer, American novelist (born 1923)

December 20 – Vera Rich, English poet and journalist (born 1936)

December 23 – Grigory Baklanov, Russian novelist (born 1923)

December 25

Vrindavanam Venugopalan, Indian journalist (born 1935)

(or 24th) Rachel Wetzsteon, American poet (suicide, born 1967)

December 26

Dennis Brutus, South African poet (born 1924)

Norval White, American author (born 1926)

Awards and honors

Camões Prize: Arménio Vieira

IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Michael Thomas, Man Gone Down

Nobel Prize in Literature: Herta Müller

Australia

Miles Franklin Award: Tim Winton, Breath

Canada

Canada Reads: Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes

Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, Debra Anderson; honour of distinction, Greg Kearney.

Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Russell Wangersky, Burning Down the House

Governor General's Awards: Multiple categories; see 2009 Governor General's Awards.

Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction: Brian Brett, Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean

Scotiabank Giller Prize: Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man

Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award: David Bergen

France

Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Pierre Michon, Les Onze

United Kingdom

Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year: Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, Daina Taimina

Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Siobhan Dowd, Bog Child

Man Booker Prize: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Orange Prize for Fiction: to Home by Marilynne Robinson

United States

Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2009 Lambda Literary Awards.

National Book Award for Fiction: to Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

National Book Critics Circle Award: to Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction: to The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

Newbery Medal for children's literature: Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Joseph O'Neill, Netherland

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge

Whiting Awards:

Fiction: Adam Johnson, Nami Mun, Salvatore Scibona, Vu TranNonfiction: Michael Meyer, Hugh RafflesPlays: Rajiv JosephPoetry: Jericho Brown, Jay Hopler, Joan Kane