2014_in_literature
2014 in literature
Overview of the events of 2014 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2014.
- January – Parts of two previously unknown poems by the female Greek poet Sappho are discovered on ancient papyrus.[1] This is reported by several news sources by the end of the month.[2][3][4]
- January 18 – The first books are transferred from the old to the new National Library of Latvia in Riga.
- March 6 – Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda wins the 2014 edition of Canada Reads.[5]
- April 24 – Writers including Mark Haddon and Mary Beard join a campaign against a ban on sending books to U.K. prison inmates.[6]
- May 22 – J. R. R. Tolkien's 1926 translation of Beowulf is first published.[7] (His essay "On Translating Beowulf" had appeared in 1940).
- June 10 – As part of a Northern Iraq offensive, ISIL and aligned Salafi jihadist forces take Mosul, leading to extensive book burning at its libraries, as part of the destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL.[8]
- November 25 – Discovery of a previously unknown copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays (1623) in the public library at Saint-Omer in northern France is announced.[9]
- 28 January – On this day 75 years ago, W. B. Yeats died in Menton, France.[10]
- 5 February – William Burroughs was born in 1914 (100th Anniversary)[11]
- 21 February – Christopher Marlowe's 450th birthday celebrated (may or may not be his birthday)[10]
- 1 March – On this day 100 years ago, Ralph Ellison (author of Invisible Man) was born.[10]
- 9 March – Charles Bukowski died 20 years ago today (1994).[12]
- 10 March – On this day 50 years ago, John Updike receives the National Book Award for The Centaur.[13]
- 31 March – 100th anniversary of the birth of the Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet Octavio Paz in 1914.[14][15]
- 4 April – Marguerite Duras was born in 1914 (100th Anniversary)[10]
- 14 April – On this day 75 years ago, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.[10]
- 16 April – Ralph Ellison dies on this date 20 years ago in 1994. (see March 1 above for Ellison links)
- 18 April – On this day 40 years ago (1974) the first printing of J. M. Coetzee's debut novel Dusklands appeared in hardback.[16]
- 23 April – It is assumed that William Shakespeare was born on this day 450 years ago (because records show that he was baptised on 26 April).[10]
- 26 April – The centenary of Bernard Malamud's birth (April 26, 1914).[17]
- May – The 100th anniversary of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons.[18][19]
- 16 June – This year's Bloomsday celebration will also mark the 100th anniversary of the publication (June 1914) of Joyce's Dubliners.[20]
- 21 September – the 50th anniversary of the publication of Herzog by Saul Bellow, the second of his three National Book Award-winning novels.[21]
- 7 July – Sir Walter Scott's debut novel, Waverley, was published (anonymously) 200 years ago today.[10]
- 22 September – Alain-Fournier died in action in northern France 100 years ago today, just a year after the publication of his only novel, Le Grand Meaulnes.[10]
- 27 October – Dylan Thomas was born a hundred years ago.[10]
- 18 November – Margaret Atwood celebrates her 75th birthday today.[10]
- 2 December – The Marquis de Sade died 200 years ago today.[10]
Fiction
Dates after each title indicate U.S. publication, unless stated otherwise.
- Belinda Alexandra – Sapphire Skies (Australia)
- Jacob M. Appel – Scouting for the Reaper (February 15)
- Kate Atkinson – A God in Ruins (UK)
- Margaret Atwood – Stone Mattress – Nine Tales (September 16)
- Bandi – The Accusation (Korean language short stories, South Korea, May)
- Natalie Baszile – Queen Sugar (February 6)
- Pierce Brown – Red Rising (January 28)
- Jessie Burton – The Miniaturist (UK)
- Anthony Doerr – All the Light We Cannot See (May 6)
- Ceridwen Dovey – Only the Animals (April 23)
- David Grossman – A Horse Walks into a Bar: A novel (In original Hebrew as סוס אחד נכנס לְבָּר (Soos Echad Nechnas L'bar), Israel)
- John Hornor Jacobs – The Incorruptibles (UK)
- Marlon James – A Brief History of Seven Killings (October 2)
- Stephen King
- Mr. Mercedes (June 3)
- Revival (November 11)
- Thomas King – The Back of the Turtle
- Paul Kingsnorth – The Wake (UK, April?)
- Herman Koch – Geachte heer M. (Dear Mr. M., Netherlands)
- Niviaq Korneliussen – Homo Sapienne (Greenland)
- Laila Lalami – The Moor's Account (September 9)
- S. E. Lister – Hideous Creatures (UK, May)
- Édouard Louis (born Eddy Bellegueule) – En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule (translated as The End of Eddy, France, February)
- Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – Kintu (Ugandan-born author published in Kenya)
- Emily St. John Mandel – Station Eleven (Canada)
- Javier Marías – Así empieza lo malo (Thus Bad Begins, Spain)
- Sean Michaels – Us Conductors (Canada, April 8)
- Karen Miller – The Falcon Throne (September)
- Haruki Murakami – Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (translation, August 12)
- Rick Riordan – The Blood of Olympus (October 7)
- Rudy Ruiz – Seven for the Revolution
- Samanta Schweblin – Distancia de rescate (translated as Fever Dream, Argentina)
- Roger Scruton – Notes from Underground (March 12)
- Akhil Sharma – Family Life
- Joss Sheldon – Involution & Evolution (August 4)
- Leïla Slimani – Dans le jardin de l'ogre (France)[22]
- Ali Smith – How to Be Both (UK, August 28)
- Miriam Toews – All My Puny Sorrows[23]
- Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob (Księgi Jakubowe) (Poland, October)
- Niall Williams – History of the Rain
Children and young people
- Chris Van Allsburg – The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie
- David Almond
- Connah Brecon – There's This Thing
- A. F. Harrold – The Imaginary
- John Hornor Jacobs – The Shibboleth
- J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – Harlem Hellfighters
- Katherine Rundell – Rooftoppers
- Jon Scieszka – Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (first in the Frank Einstein series of four books)
- R. A. Spratt – Friday Barnes
- Maggie Stiefvater – Blue Lily, Lily Blue (third book in The Raven Cycle, October 21)[24]
- Zoe Sugg – Girl Online (UK, November 25)
Drama
Poetry
See also: 2014 in poetry
- Rosemary Tonks (posthumous) – Bedouin of the London Evening (selected poetry and prose)
Non-fiction
- Alan Cumming – Not My Father's Son
- Lindsay David – Australia: Boom to Bust
- Mark Felton – Zero Night
- William H. Frey – Diversity Explosion
- Michael Gross – House of Outrageous Fortune'
- Christophe Guilluy – La France périphérique
- Madhu Kishwar – Modi, Muslims and Media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat
- Naomi Klein – This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
- Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott – Farmageddon
- Helen Macdonald – H is for Hawk (UK, July)
- Rajiv Malhotra – Indra's Net
- Lucy Mangan – Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory
- L. A. Paul – Transformative Experience
- Winifred Phillips – A Composer's Guide to Game Music
- Claudia Rankine – Citizen: An American Lyric
- Roger Scruton
- How to Be a Conservative (UK, September 11)
- The Soul of the World
- Douglas Vakoch – Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication
- Erik Voskuil – Before Mario
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in literature" article,
- January 4 – Jean Metellus, Haitian neurologist, author, poet, and playwright (born 1937)
- January 14 – Juan Gelman, Argentine poet, 83 (born 1930)
- January 28 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer, 64 (born 1949)
- January 29 – Hashem Shabani, Iranian poet, 32, (hanged, born c. 1982)
- February 18 – Mavis Gallant, Canadian writer of short stories, 91 (born 1923)[26]
- March 2 – Justin Kaplan, American writer, editor and biographer, 88 (born 1925)[27]
- March 18 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian researcher and poet,
- April 2
- Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (born 1931)
- Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (born 1938)
- April 5 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, naturalist and wilderness writer, 86 (born 1927)[28][29][30]
- April 10
- Doris Pilkington Garimara (Nugi Garimara), Aboriginal novelist, 77 (born 1937)[31]
- Sue Townsend, English comic novelist and playwright, 68 (born 1946)
- April 15 – Rosemary Tonks, English poet, prose writer, and children's writer (born 1928)
- April 17 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian Nobel laureate, 87 (born 1927)[32]
- April 20 – Alistair MacLeod, Canadian writer, 77 (born 1936)[33][34]
- April 24 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer, 92 (born 1921)[35]
- May 6 – Farley Mowat, Canadian author and environmentalist, 92 (born 1921)[36]
- May 21 – Ruth Guimarães, Afro-Brazilian classicist, fiction writer and poet, 93 (born 1920)
- May 28
- Maya Angelou, American author, poet and civil rights activist, 86 (born 1928)[37]
- Oscar Dystel, American paperback publisher, 101 (born 1912).
- June 19 – Josephine Pullein-Thompson, English children's novelist, 90 (born 1924)
- June 22 – Felix Dennis, English publisher and poet, 67 (born 1947)[38]
- June 23 – Nancy Garden, American author (born 1938)[39]
- June 25 – Ana María Matute, Spanish writer, 88 (born 1925)[40]
- June 29 – Dermot Healy, Irish poet, playwright, fiction writer and memoirist. 66 (born 1947)[41]
- July 4 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic, 62
- July 7 – Sheila K. McCullagh, English children's writer (born 1920)
- July 13 – Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, anti-apartheid activist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 90 (born 1923)[42]
- July 20 – Thomas Berger, American writer, 93 (born 1924)
- August 1 – Jan Roar Leikvoll, Norwegian novelist, 40 (brain tumour, born 1974)
- August 2
- Billie Letts, American novelist, 73 (born 1938)
- James Thompson, American-Finnish author, 49 (born 1964)
- September 4
- Orunamamu, American-Canadian author, story-teller and educator, 93 (born 1921)
- Edgar Steele, American lawyer and author, 69 (born 1945)
- September 21 – Linda Griffiths, Canadian playwright, 60 (born 1953)[43]
- September 24 – Hugh C. Rae (Jessica Stirling, etc.), Scottish novelist, 79 (born 1935)
- September 28 – Dannie Abse, Welsh poet and physician, 91 (born 1923)
- November 27 – P. D. James, English crime writer, 94 (born 1920)[44]
- November 29 – Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet and writer, United States Poet Laureate, 80 (born 1934)[45]
- November 30
- Radwa Ashour, Egyptian writer and academic, 68 (born 1946)[46]
- Kent Haruf, American novelist, 71 (born 1943)[47]
- December 3 – Vicente Leñero, Mexican writer and journalist, 81 (born 1933)[48]
- December 12 – Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, 86 (born 1928)
- December 24 – Lee Israel, American biographer and literary forger, 75 (born 1939)
- Akutagawa Prize: Hiroko Oyamada for Ana (Hole) and Tomoka Shibasaki for Haru No Niwa (Spring Garden)
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
- Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride[49]
- Caine Prize for African Writing: Okwiri Oduor, "My Father's Head"
- Camões Prize: Alberto da Costa e Silva
- Costa Book of the Year: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald[50]
- Danuta Gleed Literary Award: Paul Carlucci, The Secret Life of Fission[51]
- Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Tamai Kobayashi[52]
- Desmond Elliott Prize: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride[53]
- DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer by Cyrus Mistry[54]
- Dylan Thomas Prize: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris[55]
- European Book Prize: Pascale Hugues, Hannah's Dress, and Anthony Giddens, Turbulent and Mighty Continent
- Folio Prize: Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders[56]
- German Book Prize: Kruso by Lutz Seiler[57]
- Goldsmiths Prize: How to Be Both by Ali Smith[58]
- Gordon Burn Prize: The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth[59]
- Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: Thomas King, The Back of the Turtle[60]
- Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Andrée A. Michaud, Bondrée[60]
- Governor General's Awards, other categories: See 2014 Governor General's Awards.
- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Adrien Bosc, for Constellation
- International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi[61]
- International Dublin Literary Award: Juan Gabriel Vásquez, The Sound of Things Falling
- Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride[62]
- Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 26th Lambda Literary Awards
- Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award: Steve Erickson
- Man Booker Prize: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan[63]
- Miles Franklin Award: All The Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld[64]
- National Biography Award: The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer by Alison Alexander[65]
- National Book Award for Fiction: to Redeployment by Phil Klay[66]
- Nobel Prize in Literature: to Patrick Modiano[67]
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt[68]
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri[69][70]
- Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows[71]
- SAARC Literary Award: Tarannum Riyaz
- Samuel Johnson Prize: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald[72]
- Scotiabank Giller Prize: Sean Michaels, Us Conductors[73]
- Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings: Ko Un[74]
- Walter Scott Prize: An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris[75]
- Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: Charles Simic[76]
- "Scholars Discover New Poems from Ancient Greek Poetess Sappho". The Daily Beast. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- Quinn, Annalisa (2014-01-30). "Book News: Two Poems By Greek Poet Sappho Discovered". The Two-Way. NPR. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- "New poems by Sappho". TLS. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- "A discussion on the new Sappho papyrus". New Sappho. 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- "Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda wins CBC's Canada Reads contest". Edmonton Journal. 2014-03-06. Archived from the original on 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
- Williams, Aime (2014-04-24). "Authors campaign against ban on sending books to prisoners". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
- Garth, John (2014-03-22). "JRR Tolkien's translation of Beowulf: bring on the monsters". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Buchanan, Rose Troup; Saul, Heather (2015-02-25). "Isis burns thousands of books and rare manuscripts from Mosul's libraries". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
- Mulholland, Rory (2014-11-25). "Shakespeare First Folio discovered in French library". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
- "2014 in books: turn over a new leaf". The Guardian. January 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
- Link (2014-03-22). "Silliman's Blog". Ronsilliman.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- "Charles Bukowski Called it Splitsville 20 Years ago". Pierrejoris.com. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Begley, Adam (2014). Updike. HarperCollins (2014). p. 265. ISBN 978-0061896453.
Updike and Cheever had met fleetingly at literary events, such as the National Book Award on March 10, 1964, at the Grand Ballroom of the New York Hilton, where Updike accepted the prize for The Centaur
- "Octavio Paz, b. 100 Years ago today..." Pierrejoris.com. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Joel Whitney. "Poetry and Action: Octavio Paz at 100". Dissent Magazine. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Kannermeyer, J. C. (2012). J. M. Coetzee: A Life in Writing. Michiel Heyns, translator. Scribe Publications. p. 247. ISBN 9781922070081.
On 18 April 1974 the first printing of Dusklands appeared in hardback, with a press release by Randall praising the novel as "one of the most important works of literature to have been written in South Africa". The retail price was R4.80.
- "Bernard Malamud Centenary | Work in Progress". Fsgworkinprogress.com. 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- "Li: Herzog". libraryofinspiration.com.
- "Dans le jardin de l'ogre". Gallimard. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- Bethune, Brian (11 October 2014). "Miriam Toews wrestles with suicide in her latest quest for narrative truth". Maclean's.
- "Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater | Waterstones". www.waterstones.com. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- "King Charles III". almeida.co.uk. Almeida Theatre. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- Christopher Hawtree (18 February 2014). "Mavis Gallant obituary". the Guardian.
- "Justin Kaplan, Biographer of Whitman and Twain, Dies at 88 : Harriet Staff : Harriet the Blog". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
- National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-09. (With interview, acceptance speech by Matthiessen, and essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
- "2008 National Book Award Winner, Fiction". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- Martin, Douglas (21 April 2014). "Doris Pilkington Garimara, Aboriginal Novelist, Dies at 76". The New York Times.
- "Author Alistair MacLeod dies at 77, remembered as 'great writer and a great man'". Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
- "Alistair MacLeod, acclaimed Canadian writer, dead at 77 – Nova Scotia – CBC News". Cbc.ca. 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- "Poet Tadeusz Rozewicz dies, aged 92". Radio Poland. 2014-04-24. Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- Parini, Jay (8 May 2014). "Farley Mowat obituary". www.theguardian,com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- Link (2014-05-29). "Silliman's Blog". Ronsilliman.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
- "Felix Dennis". The Independent. London. 2014-06-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- "Nancy Garden: The author whose novel Annie on My Mind was credited". The Independent. 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- Sergi Doria (June 25, 2014). "Muere la escritora Ana María Matute". ABC.
- "Death of writer Dermot Healy". RTÉ News. 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
- "SA novelist Nadine Gordimer dies". Channel.
- "Linda Griffiths, actor and playwright, dead after battle with cancer". CBC News, 21 September 2014.
- "Egyptian writer Radwa Ashour dies at 68". ahram.org.eg.
- "El Universal – In English – Mexican writer Vicente Leñero dies at 81". El Universal. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- Tim Masters (4 June 2014). "Eimear McBride wins Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction". BBC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
- "Helen Macdonald wins Costa Book of the Year 2014". BBC News. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- "Paul Carlucci wins Danuta Gleed Award". Quill & Quire, June 2, 2014.
- "The 2014 Prize | The Desmond Elliott Prize". The Desmond Elliott Prize. 3 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- Aditi Malhotra (18 January 2014). "Indian Wins South Asian Prize for Literature". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- Wroe, Nicholas (7 November 2014). "Joshua Ferris wins Dylan Thomas prize". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- "Tenth of December by George Saunders wins inaugural Folio Prize 2014" (PDF). Folio Prize. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- "Lutz Seiler Wins 2014 German Book Prize". Publishing Perspectives. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- "Ali Smith wins Goldsmiths Prize for How to be Both". BBC News. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- "Mark Rylance-backed novel wins £5,000 literary prize". BBC News. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- "Thomas King wins Governor General’s award for fiction". The Globe and Mail, November 18, 2014.
- "Baghdad Writes!". Pierrejoris.com. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
- Doyle, Martin (28 May 2014). "Eimear McBride wins €15,000 Kerry Group Irish novel of the year award". Irish Times. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- Masters, Tim (14 October 2014). "Man Booker Prize: Richard Flanagan wins for wartime love story". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- Adrian Raschella (27 June 2014). "Miles Franklin Literary Award: Author Evie Wyld wins for her book All The Birds Singing". ABC News. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- Begley, Patrick (4 August 2014). "Alison Alexander wins National Biography Award for The Ambitions of Jane Franklin". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- Kell y, Keith J. (November 20, 2014). "Phil Klay wins National Book Award for 'Redeployment'". New York Post. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
- Ron Charles (9 October 2014). "Patrick Modiano wins Nobel Prize in literature". Washington Post.
- "The Pulitzer Prizes – Citation". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Citation reads: "for a compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness, from birth to dementia, in a voice that is by turns witty and grave, compassionate and remorseless."
- "The Pulitzer Prizes | Jurors". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
- Medley, Mark (4 November 2014). "Miriam Toews wins Writers' Trust award for All My Puny Sorrows". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- Clark, Nick (4 November 2014). "Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction: Helen Macdonald wins with 'H is for Hawk'". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- "Sean Michaels awarded Giller Prize for his book 'Us Conductors'". The Globe and Mail, November 10, 2014.
- "Ko Un is the winner of the "Golden Wreath" 2014". Struga Poetry Evenings. 21 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- "Robert Harris wins Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction". BBC News. BBC. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- "Charles Simic wins 2014 Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- Most popular 2014 book articles viewed on Wikipedia, with user comments on traffic jumps – The latest statistics can be found on Wikitop