2013 in literature

Events

21 January – Orwell Day.

26 January – Fleeing Islamist insurgents set fire to library buildings in Timbuktu containing manuscripts, mostly in Arabic, dating back to 1204.

7 March – World Book Day, a UNESCO-designated event marked in more than 100 countries.

April – J. K. Rowling publishes the detective novel The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith with Sphere Books in the U.K. The author's real identity is uncovered by the media in July.

23 April – World Book Night.

28 April – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Simon Stephens' stage adaptation of the novel by Mark Haddon, wins a record seven awards at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards in London.

1 July – Publisher Penguin Random House created by merger.

3 September – The Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in the United Kingdom, designed by Mecanoo, is opened by Malala Yousafzai. Its public spaces are integrated with those of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

October – Jo Nesbø reveals himself as "Tom Johansen", the author of three forthcoming novels.

28 November – Three unpublished works by J. D. Salinger, including "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls", are leaked onto the internet.

Anniversaries

28 January – 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813.

11 February

50th anniversary of the death of Sylvia Plath in 1963.

200th anniversary of the birth of Harriet Jacobs in 1813.

5 May – 200th anniversary of the birth of Søren Kierkegaard in 1813.

2 June – 100th anniversary of the birth of Barbara Pym.

29 June – 400th anniversary of the burning down of the Globe Theatre during production of Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII in 1613.

2 August – 25th anniversary of the death of US short story writer Raymond Carver. He was 50 years old (he was born 75 years ago, 25 May 1938).

7 November – 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Camus.

22 November – 50th anniversary of the death of Aldous Huxley.

Fiction

Jacob M. Appel – The Biology of Luck

Dan Brown – Inferno

J. M. Coetzee – The Childhood of Jesus

Adam Christopher – The Burning Dark

Troy Denning – Crucible

Doug Dorst – S

Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Frederick Forsyth – The Kill List

Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Elizabeth Graver – The End of the Point

David G. Hartwell (ed.) – Year's best SF 18

Stephen King – Doctor Sleep

Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers

Pierre Lemaitre – Au revoir là-haut (The Great Swindle)

Eimear McBride – A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing

Alex Miller – Coal Creek

Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹) – Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (in Japanese)

Adam Nevill – House of Small Shadows

Nnedi Okorafor – Kabu-kabu: stories

Chuck Palahniuk – Doomed

Rick Riordan – The House of Hades

Veronica Roth – Allegiant

J. K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) – The Cuckoo's Calling

Stephen Scourfield – As the River Runs (Crawley, WA)

Robert Stone – Death of the Black-Haired Girl

John Scalzi – The Human Division

Sjón – Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was (Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til)

Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch

Peter Watts – Beyond the Rift (collected stories)

Tim Winton – Eyrie

Children's and young people

David Almond - Mouse Bird Snake Wolf

Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

Fangirl

Maggie Stiefvater - The Dream Thieves (second book in The Raven Cycle)

Drama

Edward Petherbridge and Kathryn Hunter – My Perfect Mind

Non-fiction

Jorge Carrión – Librerías

Jared Diamond – The World Until Yesterday

Craig Dworkin – No Medium

Peter Freeman – The Wallpapered Manse

Malcolm Gladwell – David and Goliath

Ben Goldacre – Bad Pharma

Temple Grandin – The Autistic Brain

Mark Levin – The Liberty Amendments

Sheryl Sandberg – Lean In

Jeff VanderMeer – The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

Deaths

2 January

Alexei Rudeanu, Romanian writer (born 1939)

Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and writer (born 1944)

7 January – Maruša Krese, Slovene poet, writer and journalist (born 1947)

10 January – Evan S. Connell, American novelist, poet and short story writer (born 1924)

11 January – Robert Kee, English writer, journalist and broadcaster (born 1919)

18 January – Jacques Sadoul, French novelist, book editor and non-fiction writer (born 1934)

20 January

Yemi Ajibade, Nigerian playwright and actor (born 1929)

Dolores Prida, Cuban-American journalist and playwright (born 1943)

Toyo Shibata (柴田トヨ), Japanese poet (born 1911)

2 February – Sirajul Haq Memon, Pakistani author, journalist and scholar in Sindhi (born 1933)

3 February – Robert Anthony Welch, Irish author and academic (born 1947)

4 February – Margaret Frazer (Gail Lynn Brown), American historical novelist (born 1946)

5 February – Leda Mileva, Bulgarian writer, translator, and diplomat (born 1920)

7 February

Niki Marangou, Cypriot writer and painter (born 1948)

Jonathan Rendall, English author (born 1964)

8 February – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American screenwriter and author (born 1934)

10 February – W. Watts Biggers, American novelist (born 1927)

12 February – Barnaby Conrad, American author (born 1922)

13 February – Oswald LeWinter, Austrian-born American writer (born 1931)

14 February

Glenn Boyer, American author (born 1924)

Mary Brave Bird, American Lakota writer and activist (born 1954)

Friedrich Neznansky, Russian writer (born 1932)

17 February

William Bridges, American author and business consultant (born 1933)

Manoranjan Das, Indian playwright (born 1923)

Debbie Ford, American motivational author (born 1955)

23 February

Maurice Rosy, Belgian comics writer (born 1927)

Sylvia Smith, English writer (born 1945)

24 February – Mahmoud Salem, Egyptian author (born 1931)

26 February

Jan Howard Finder, American science fiction writer (born 1939)

Stéphane Hessel, German-born French author and diplomat (born 1917)

27 February

Molly Lefebure, English writer (born 1919)

Imants Ziedonis, Latvian poet (born 1933)

30 March – Daniel Hoffmann, American poet and essayist (born 1923)

11 April – Adam Galos, Polish historian (born 1924)

13 April – Nick Pollotta, American science fiction author (born 1954)

20 April

Jocasta Innes, China-born English non-fiction writer (born 1934)

E. L. Konigsburg, American children's novelist and illustrator (born 1930)

22 April – Clément Marchand, Canadian poet and journalist (born 1912)

1 May – Gregory Rogers, Australian children's author and illustrator (born 1957)

12 May – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian (born 1932)

6 June – Tom Sharpe, English comic novelist (born 1928)

9 June – Iain Banks, Scottish novelist (born 1954)

23 June – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (born 1926)

2 September – Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer (born 1919)

18 September – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-born German literary critic (born 1920)

21 September – Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian poet (shot dead, born 1935)

23 September

Christopher Koch, Australian novelist (born 1932)

Álvaro Mutis, Colombian poet, novelist and essayist (born 1923)

Luciano Vincenzoni, Italian screenwriter (born 1926)

1 October – Tom Clancy, American thriller writer (born 1947)

25 November – Joel Lane, English author, poet, and critic (born 1963)

11 December – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author (born 1929)

Awards

Akutagawa Prize (Early): Kaori Fujino for Tsume to Me (爪と目) "Nails and Eyes"

Camões Prize: Mia Couto

Danuta Gleed Literary Award: (announced 11 June 2013)

Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, C. E. Gatchalian; honours of distinction, Anand Mahadevan, Barry Webster

Dylan Thomas Prize: Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

German Book Prize: Das Ungeheuer by Terézia Mora

Goldsmiths Prize: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

Gordon Burn Prize: Pig Iron by Ben Myers

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Quand les guêpes se taisent by Stéphanie Pelletier

Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Plonger by Christophe Ono-dit-Biot

Hugo Award for Best Novel: John Scalzi for Redshirts

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: City of Bohane by Kevin Barry

Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2013 Lambda Literary Awards.

Man Booker Prize: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Miles Franklin Award (22 June): Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser

National Biography Award (5 August): The Two Frank Thrings by Peter Fitzpatrick

National Book Award for Fiction: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

National Book Critics Circle Award: to Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nobel Prize in Literature: Alice Munro

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Premio Planeta de Novela: El cielo ha vuelto by Clara Sánchez

Premio Strega: Resistere non serve a niente by Walter Siti

Pritzker Military Library Literature Award: to Tim O'Brien

Prix Goncourt: Au revoir là-haut by Pierre Lemaitre

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds

Russian Booker Prize: Возвращение в Панджруд (Return to Panjrud) by Andrei Volos

Samuel Johnson Prize: (announced November 2013) The Pike by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Scotiabank Giller Prize: Lynn Coady, Hellgoing

Whiting Awards:

Fiction: Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams (fiction/nonfiction), Amanda Coplin, Jennifer duBois, C.E. Morgan, Stephanie Powell Watts Nonfiction: Morgan Meis, Clifford Thompson Plays: Virginia Grise Poetry: Ishion Hutchinson, Rowan Ricardo Phillips

Women's Prize for Fiction: May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes