This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1985.

• February 25 – Sue Limb's parodic pastiche of the Lake Poets, The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere, begins broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 in the U.K.
• March 1 – The GNU Manifesto by Richard Stallman is published for the first time, and becomes a fundamental philosophical source within the free software movement.^[1]
• August 11 – A memorial to the poet Hugh MacDiarmid is unveiled near his home at Langholm, Scotland.
• unknown dates – Three notable novels in English by female authors are published during the year: Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale,^[2] Jilly Cooper's Riders, the first of the Rutshire Chronicles, and Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

• February 7 - Justina Ireland, American science-fiction and fantasy author of young-adult fiction
• April 24 – Alexander Zeldin, British playwright and director
• September 24 – Eleanor Catton, New Zealand novelist^[3]
• September 30 – Téa Obreht, Yugoslav-born American novelist writing in English

• January 1 – Sigerson Clifford, Irish poet, playwright, and civil servant (born 1913)
• January 5 – Alexis Rannit, Estonian-born American poet and critic (born 1914)
• February 6 – James Hadley Chase, English thriller novelist (born 1906)^[4]
• February 19 – Carl Joachim Hambro, Norwegian novelist, essayist and philologist (born 1914)^[5]
• March 15 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and philosopher (born 1921)
• April 4 – Kate Roberts, Welsh writer (born 1891)
• April 7 – Carl Schmitt, German political theorist (born 1888)
• April 17
  • Basil Bunting, English poet (born 1900)
  • D. I. Suchianu, Romanian essayist, translator, social scientist and film theorist (born 1895)
• April 25 – Uku Masing, Estonian religious philosopher, linguist and writer (born 1909)
• May 12 – Josephine Miles, American poet and literary critic (born 1911)
• May 18 – Hedley Bull, Australian economist (cancer, born 1932)^[6]
• May 25 – Robert Nathan, American novelist and poet (born 1894)
• June 8 – Hu Feng (胡风), Chinese novelist (born 1902)
• June 16 – Ernst Orvil, Norwegian novelist, poet and playwright (born 1898)
• July 16 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist, Nobel laureate (born 1917)
• July 29 – Judah Waten, Australian novelist (born 1911)^[7]
• August 14 – Alfred Hayes, English-born American novelist, poet and screenwriter (born 1911)
• August 30 – (Janet) Taylor Caldwell, English-born American novelist (born 1900)^[8]
• September 1 – Saunders Lewis, Welsh writer and broadcaster (Plaid Cymru) (born 1893)^[9]
• September 17 – Fran Ross, African American satirist (born 1935)
• September 22 – D. J. Opperman, South African Afrikaans poet (born 1914)
• October 1 – E. B. White, American children's writer and writer on style (born 1899)^[10]
• October 11 – Alex La Guma, South African novelist and political activist (born 1925)
• October 24 – László Bíró, Hungarian journalist and inventor (born 1899)
• October 31 – Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek poet (born 1903)
• November 3 – J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, English historian (born 1916)
• November 4 – Hilda Vaughan, Welsh novelist and short story writer (born 1892)
• November 11 – James Hanley, English-born novelist and dramatist of Irish extraction (born 1897)^[11]
• November 25
  • Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (born 1905)
  • Elsa Morante, Italian novelist (born 1912)^[12]
• November 27 – Fernand Braudel, French historian (born 1902)
• December 2 – Philip Larkin, English poet (born 1922)
• December 5 – Mihail Celarianu, Romanian poet and novelist (born 1893)
• December 7 – Robert Graves, English novelist, poet and critic (born 1895)

• Nobel Prize for Literature: Claude Simon