April 21 Events Pre-1600 *753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date). * 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

May 1 Events Pre-1600 * 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. * 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. *1169 – N ...

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will writ ...

Scot The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

May 5 Events Pre-1600 * 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins. *1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. *1260 – Kub ...

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be s ...

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún ''The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún'' is a book containing two narrative poems and related texts composed by English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HarperCollins on 5 May 2009. The two poems that mak ...

alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...

May 16 Events Pre-1600 * 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan. *1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. * 1364 ...

Ruth Padel Ruth Sophia Padel FRSL FZS is a British poet, novelist and non-fiction author, known for her poetic explorations of migration, both animal and human, and her involvement with classical music, wildlife conservation and Greece, ancient and modern. ...

Professor of Poetry The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to lecture, but is in effect a part-time po ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

smear campaign A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics. It can be applied to individual ...

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

August 10 Events Pre-1600 * 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I. * 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West. * 991 – Battle of Maldon: Th ...

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

Silesian language Silesian * Polish: ''etnolekt śląski'', ''język śląski'', ''gwara śląska'', ''śląszczyzna'' * german: link=no, Schlonsakisch, Wasserpolnisch or Upper Silesian is a West Slavic ethnolect of either the Lechitic group or the Czech� ...

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitant ...

Standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

October 8 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Constantine I defeats Roman Emperor Licinius, who loses his European territories. * 451 – The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins. * 876 – Frankish forces led by Louis the Younger preven ...

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nițchidorf (german: Nitzkydorf, link=no), Timiș County in Romania, her native language is G ...

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

October 12 Events Pre-1600 * 539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire. (Julian calendar) * 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance u ...

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

November 10 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of ten months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. * 937 – Ten Kingdoms: Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang ...

Linden MacIntyre Linden Joseph MacIntyre (born May 29, 1943) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten Gemini Awards, an International Emmy and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 Scotiabank ...

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

Nelson Algren Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren articulated ...

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

The Year of the Flood ''The Year of the Flood'' is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the second book of her dystopian trilogy, released on September 22, 2009, in Canada and the United States, and on September 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. The novel was ...

Nicholson Baker Nicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is an American novelist and essayist. His fiction generally de-emphasizes narrative in favor of careful description and characterization. His early novels such as ''The Mezzanine'' and ''Room Temperature'' we ...

T. C. Boyle Thomas Coraghessan Boyle, also known as T. C. Boyle and T. Coraghessan Boyle (born December 2, 1948), is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the ...

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...

The Lost Symbol ''The Lost Symbol'' is a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of ''The Da Vinci Code'', and relies on Freemasonry for both its recurring theme and its major characters. Rel ...

Sam Childers Sam Childers (born 1963), also known as the Machine Gun Preacher, is an American motorcyclist, author, and humanitarian. A former member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, Childers became well known after Dateline NBC's (Keith Morrison and Tim Sandle ...

Kate Christensen Kate Christensen (born August 22, 1962) is an American novelist. She won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her fourth novel, '' The Great Man'', about a painter and the three women in his life. Her previous novels are ''In the Drink'' ...

E. L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

The Wild Things ''The Wild Things'' is a 2009 full-length novel written by Dave Eggers and published by McSweeney's. The book is based on the screenplay of ''Where the Wild Things Are'' which Eggers co-wrote. The film is, in turn, based on Maurice Sendak's ch ...

Adam Foulds Adam Samuel James Foulds FRSL ( ; born 8 October 1974) is a British novelist and poet. Biography Foulds was educated at Bancroft's School, read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford under Craig Raine, and graduated with an MA in creative ...

Glen David Gold Glen David Gold (born 1964) is an American novelist, memoirist and screenwriter. Known for his bestselling novels exploring the roles of entertainment and popular culture in historical America, he has also published a critically acclaimed memoir ...

Philippa Gregory Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...

Lauren Groff Lauren Groff (born July 23, 1978) is an American novelist and short story writer. She has written four novels and two short story collections, including '' Fates and Furies'' (2015), ''Florida'' (2018), and '' Matrix'' (2021). Early life and ed ...

Delicate Edible Birds ''Delicate Edible Birds'' is a short story collection written by Lauren Groff. Groff was born and raised in Cooperstown, New York, home of American writers James Fenimore Cooper and W.W. Lord. Several of the stories take place in Upstate New Yo ...

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

1Q84 is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to no ...

Yuri Herrera Yuri Herrera (born 1970) is a Mexican political scientist, editor, and contemporary writer. He currently teaches at Tulane University in New Orleans. Biography Yuri Herrera studied Political Science at the National Autonomous University of Me ...

John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of ''The World According to G ...

Last Night in Twisted River ''Last Night in Twisted River'' is a 2009 novel by American writer John Irving, his 12th since 1968. It was first published (in English) in the Netherlands by De Bezige Bij on September 1, 2009, in Canada by Knopf Canada on October 20, 2009, a ...

Rabee Jaber Rabee Jaber ( ar, ربيع جابر; born 1972) is a Lebanese novelist and journalist, born in Beirut, Lebanon. Life Jaber studied Physics at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He is also editor of ''Afaaq'' (in Arabic آفاق meaning ...

Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...

Daniel Kehlmann Daniel Kehlmann (; born 13 January 1975) is a German-language novelist and playwright of both Austrian and German nationality.Fame'' (January 16) *

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...

– ''The Lacuna: A Novel'' (November 3) *

Karl Ove Knausgård Karl Ove Knausgård (; born 6 December 1968) is a Norwegian author. He became known worldwide for six autobiographical novels, titled ''My Struggle'' (''Min Kamp''). Since the completion of the ''My Struggle'' series in 2011, he has also publis ...

– '' Min Kamp'' (Norway) * Herman Koch – '' The Dinner'' (''Het diner'' – Netherlands) * Joe R. Lansdale – ''

Vanilla Ride ''Vanilla Ride'' is a crime fiction novel written by American author Joe R. Lansdale. It is the eighth book in the '' Hap and Leonard'' series. Published in 2009, it is the first in the book in the series since '' Captains Outrageous'' in 2001. ...

'' (September 2009) *

Janice Y. K. Lee Janice Y. K. Lee (born 1972), is a Hong Kong-born American author, known for her best-selling debut novel '' The Piano Teacher''. Career After graduating from Harvard College with a degree in English and American Literature and Language, Lee mo ...

– '' The Piano Teacher'' *

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...

– ''

Chronic City ''Chronic City'' (2009) is a novel by American author Jonathan Lethem. Summary Lethem began work on ''Chronic City'' in early 2007, and has said that the novel is "set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it’s strongly influenced by Saul Bell ...

'' (October 13) *

Yiyun Li Yiyun Li (born November 4, 1972) is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for ''A Thousand Years of Good Pra ...

(李翊雲) – ''The Vagrants'' *

Nadifa Mohamed Nadifa Mohamed ( so, Nadiifa Maxamed, ar, نظيفة محمد) (born 1981) is a Somali-British novelist. She featured on ''Granta'' magazine's list "Best of Young British Novelists" in 2013, and in 2014 on the Africa39 list of writers aged u ...

– '' Black Mamba Boy'' (c. December) *

Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore (born Marie Lorena Moore; January 13, 1957) is an American writer. Biography Marie Lorena Moore was born in Glens Falls, New York, and nicknamed "Lorrie" by her parents. She attended St. Lawrence University. At 19, she won ''Seve ...

– ''

A Gate at the Stairs ''A Gate at the Stairs'' is a novel by American fiction writer Lorrie Moore. It was published by Random House in 2009. The novel won Amazon.com's "best of the month" designation and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize f ...

'' (September 15) *

Alice Munro Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...

– '' Too Much Happiness'' (August 25) *

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

– '' The Original of Laura'' (unfinished last novel, November 3) *

Marie NDiaye Marie NDiaye (born 4 June 1967) is a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. She published her first novel, ''Quant au riche avenir'', when she was 17. She won the Prix Goncourt in 2009. Her play ''Papa doit manger'' is the sole play by a ...

– '' Three Strong Women'' (''Trois Femmes puissantes'', August 20) *

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

**''

Dear Husband In Internet slang, DH is an abbreviation for dear husband; it is commonly used by women on certain forums to refer to their husbands. Similarly, DD means dear daughter and DS means dear son. According to one forum participant interviewed in an et ...

,'' (March 31) **'' Little Bird of Heaven'' (September 15) *

Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (; born February 21, 1962) is an American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adul ...

– ''

Pygmy In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...

'' (May 5) *

Lyudmila Petrushevskaya Lyudmila Stefanovna Petrushevskaya (russian: Людмила Стефановна Петрушевская; born 26 May 1938) is a Russian writer, novelist and playwright. She began her career writing and putting on plays, which were often cens ...

– ''There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby'' (short stories translated from Russian, September 29) *

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

– ''

Inherent Vice ''Inherent Vice'' is a novel by American author Thomas Pynchon, originally published in August 2009. A darkly comic detective novel set in 1970s California, the plot follows sleuth Larry "Doc" Sportello whose ex-girlfriend asks him to investigat ...

'' (August 4) *

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

– '' The Humbling'' (November 2) *

Richard Russo Richard Russo (July 15, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. Early life and education Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville. He earned a bachelor's degree, a Master o ...

– '' That Old Cape Magic'' (August 4) *

Stig Sæterbakken Stig Sæterbakken (4 January 1966 – 24 January 2012) was a Norwegian author. He wrote novels, essays and poems, and worked as a translator. Life and career Stig Sæterbakken published his first book at the age of 18, a collection of poems ...

– '' Don't Leave Me'' * Raphael Selbourne – ''

Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

'' (September) *

Steve Sem-Sandberg Steve Sem-Sandberg (born 16 August 1958) is a Swedish journalist, novelist, non-fiction writer and translator. He made his literary debut in 1976 with the two science fiction novels ''Sländornas värld'' and ''Sökare i dödsskuggan''. He was aw ...

– ''De fattiga i Łódź'' *

Nicholas Sparks Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and philanthropist. He has published twenty-three novels and two non-fiction books, some of which have been ''New York Times'' bestsellers, with over 115 m ...

– ''The Last Song'' (September 8) *

Peter Stamm Peter Stamm (born 18 January 1963 in Münsterlingen) is a Swiss writer. His prize-winning books have been translated into more than thirty languages. For his entire body of work and his accomplishments in fiction, he was short-listed for the ...

– ''Seven Years'' *

Kathryn Stockett Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, '' The Help'', which is about African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. Career Stockett worked in magazine publ ...

– ''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett and published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA To ...

'' (February 10) * Mari Strachan – ''The Earth Hums in B Flat'' *

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

– '' Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych (

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead ''Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead'' ( pl, Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych) is a 2009 mystery novel by Olga Tokarczuk. Originally published in Polish by Wydawnictwo Literackie, it was later translated to English by Anton ...

)'' *

Wells Tower Wells Tower (born April 14, 1973) is an American writer of short stories, non-fiction, feature films and television. In 2009 he published his first short story collection, ''Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) to ...

– '' Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned'' (March 17) *

Sue Townsend Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing ...

– '' Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years'' (November 5) *

Ferdinand von Schirach Ferdinand von Schirach (born 12 May 1964) is a German lawyer and writer. He published his first short stories at the age of forty-five. Shortly thereafter he became one of Germany's most successful authors. His books, which have been translated i ...

– "Verbrechen" (Burglary; short story) * John Wray – ''Lowboy'' (March 3) *

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974 in Bonn) is a German writer and former judge. Biography Her first book was ''Adler und Engel'' (translated into English as ''Eagles and Angels'' by Christine Slenczka), which won the ...

– ''

Corpus Delicti (Latin for "body of the crime"; plural: ), in Western law, is the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing that crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can ...

'' (February 20)

Genre fiction

*

Yukito Ayatsuji , who writes under his pen name , is a Japanese writer of mystery and horror. He is one of the founders of Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writin ...

– '' Another'' (October 29) *

David Baldacci David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is an American novelist. An attorney by education, Baldacci writes mainly suspense novels and legal thrillers. Biography Early life and education David Baldacci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. H ...

– ''

First Family First Family is an unofficial title for the family of a republic's head of state. A first family usually consists of: the head of state, the first spouse and their children. Related terms The term ''second family'' is often used to refer to t ...

'' (April 21) *

Jim Butcher Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and ''Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He ...

– ''

Turn Coat ''Turn Coat'' is the 11th book in ''The Dresden Files'', Jim Butcher's continuing series about wizard detective Harry Dresden. It debuted at number one on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. Plot summary Nearly a year ...

'' (April 7) *

Eoin Colfer Eoin Colfer (; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the Artemis Fowl (series), ''Artemis Fowl'' series. I ...

– '' And Another Thing...'' (October) * Matthew J. Costello – '' Doom 3: Maelstrom'' (March 31) **''Dark Calling'' (May 2009) **'' Hell's Heroes (book)'' (October 2009) *

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

– ''

Pirate Latitudes ''Pirate Latitudes'' is an action adventure novel by Michael Crichton, the sixteenth novel to be published under his own name and first to be published after his death, concerning 17th-century piracy in the Caribbean. HarperCollins published th ...

'' (November 24) *

Andrew Hussie Andrew Hussie (born August 25, 1979) is an American author and artist. He is best known as the creator of ''Homestuck'', a multimedia webcomic presented in the style of a text-based graphical adventure game, as well as other works in a similar ...

– ''

Homestuck ''Homestuck'' is an Internet fiction series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie in the first half of the 2010s. The fourth and best-known of Hussie's four ''MS Paint Adventures'', it originally ran from April 13, 2009 to April 1 ...

'' (April 13) * J.C. Hutchins – ''7th Son, Book One: Descent'' (October 27) *

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan,"Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the na ...

and

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The ...

– '' The Gathering Storm (

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in a ...

volume 12'', October 27) *

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

– '' Under the Dome'' (November 10) *

Richard Laymon Richard Carl Laymon (January 14, 1947 – February 14, 2001) was an American author of suspense and horror fiction, particularly within the splatterpunk subgenre. Life and career Laymon was born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois, then li ...

– ''Dark Mountain'' (March 2009) *

Attica Locke Attica Locke (born 1974 in Houston, Texas) is an American fiction author and writer/producer for television and film. Career A 1995 graduate of Northwestern University School of Communication, Locke was a fellow at the Sundance Institute's Featu ...

– ''Black Water Rising'' *

Michael E. Marks Michael Edward Marks (born November 5, 1960) is an American author noted for his work in counterterrorism, special operations and counter illicit traffic, most recently including co-authorship of "Understanding Narrative: The Battle of the Narra ...

– ''Dominant Species (novel)'' (October 1) *

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

– ''

1Q84 is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to no ...

'' (いちきゅうはちよん, ''Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon'', Books 1–2, May 29) *

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the ''Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', ''Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', and ''Private'' se ...

**'' 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)

Children and young people

* Sagu Aoyama (蒼山サグ) and

Tinkle ''Tinkle'' is an Indian fortnightly magazine for children in English, published from Mumbai. Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media in 2007. The magazine contains comics, sto ...

– ''

Ro-Kyu-Bu! is a Japanese light novel series written by Sagu Aoyama and illustrated by Tinkle. ASCII Media Works published 15 novels between February 2009 to July 2015. The series follows a high school freshman Subaru Hasegawa who becomes the coac ...

'' (February 10) * Hajime Asano (あさのハジメ) and Seiji Kikuchi (菊池政治) – ''

Mayo Chiki! is a Japanese light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term forme ...

'' (November 21) * Brent Crawford – ''

Carter Finally Gets It ''Carter Finally Gets It'' is a 2009 young adult novel by Brent Crawford. The novel follows the misadventures of William Carter, who has ADD Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic ...

'' *

James Dashner James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for speculative fiction. Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults. He is best known for ''The Maze Runner'' series and the young adult fantasy seri ...

– '' The Hunt for Dark Infinity'' (March 1) *

Joseph Delaney Joseph Henry Delaney (25 July 1945 – 16 August 2022) was an English author, known for his dark fantasy series ''Spook's''. He started his career as a teacher and wrote science fiction and fantasy novels for adults under the pseudonym J. K. H ...

and

Mark Walden Mark Walden (born 1972) is the author of the H.I.V.E. series of novels. He was a senior producer in charge of developing PlayStation games for Sony before taking up writing full-time. Personal life Walden spent seven years at Bablake School, a ...

– ''The Spook's Tale/Interception Point'' (March 5) *

John Fardell John Fardell (born 1967)Books from ScotlandRetrieved 4 April 2012./ref> is an English cartoonist, and author and illustrator of children's books. Work Fardell has been a regular contributor to the adult comic ''Viz (comics), Viz'', and has create ...

– ''The Secret of the Black Moon Moth'' * Brian Floca – '' Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11'' *Betsy Franco – '' A Curious Collection of Cats'' *

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

– ''

Blueberry Girl ''Blueberry Girl'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. It was conceived as a poem of the same name, written in 2000 by Neil Gaiman for his goddaughter Tash, the daughter of his friend Tori Amos. In 2004, Neil Gaiman announced that Charles ...

'' (March 10) *

Odo Hirsch Odo Hirsch (born 1962) is the pen name of David Kausman, an Australian author of children's books. He was born in Melbourne, where he trained to be a doctor, but moved to London, where he currently lives. After working as a doctor in both Melbour ...

– ''

Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool ''Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool'' is a 2009 Children's literature, children's novel by Australian author Odo Hirsch. Synopsis Darius Bell and his family are living in the Bell estate, the mansion given to his ancestors, under the condition th ...

'' * Nonny Hogrogian – '' Cool Cat'' * Mandy Hubbard – '' Prada and Prejudice'' * John Hulme and Michael Wexler – '' The Lost Train of Thought'' (October) *

Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several juvenile fantasy novel series, which focus on anima ...

**''

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest ...

'' (February 10) **''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

'' (April 24) **'' Smoke Mountain'' (May 1) **''

Code of the Clans ''Code of the Clans'' is a field guide in the ''Warriors'' novel series. ''Code of the Clans'' is about the warrior code that guides the Clans in their everyday behavior and decisions. Plot summary In the introduction, the book summarizes how t ...

'' (June 9) **'' Bluestar's Prophecy'' (August) **'' The Fourth Apprentice'' (November 24) *

Reif Larsen Reif Larsen (born 1980) is an American author, known for '' The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet'', for which '' Vanity Fair'' claimed Larsen received just under a million dollars as an advance from Penguin Press following a bidding war between ten ...

– '' The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet'' *

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

– '' Cat Dreams'' *

Peter Lerangis Peter Duncan Lerangis (born 1955, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American author of children's and young adult fiction, best known for his '' Seven Wonders'' series and his work on the '' 39 Clues'' series. Life and career Lerangis's work includes ...

– ''

The Sword Thief ''The Sword Thief'' is the third book in '' The 39 Clues'' series. It was written by Peter Lerangis and was published by Scholastic on March 3, 2009.

'' (April 1) * D. J. Machale – ''

The Soldiers of Halla ''The Soldiers of Halla'' is the tenth and final book in the '' Pendragon Adventure'' series by D. J. MacHale. It concludes the battle between the Travelers and Saint Dane. The title was revealed by D. J. MacHale on December 9, 2008, and was ta ...

'' (May 12) *

Joshua Mowll Joshua Mowll (born 1970) is a British writer of children’s fiction. His award-winning '' The Guild of Specialists trilogy'' has been published in 20 countries worldwide. Mowll's book ''The Great Space Race'' was published in the UK on 2 Augu ...

, et al. – '' Operation Storm City'' (May 12) *

Brandon Mull Brandon Mull is an American author best known for his children's fantasy series, ''Fablehaven'', as well as ''Dragonwatch'', ''The Candy Shop War'', the '' Beyonders'' trilogy, and the ''Five Kingdoms'' series.Howard, Chris (March 7, 2008)Interv ...

– '' Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary'' (March 24) *

Robert Muchamore Robert Muchamore (born 26 December 1971) is an English author, most notable for writing the '' CHERUB'' and ''Henderson's Boys'' novels. Early life Robert Muchamore was born in Tufnell Park, London, and is the youngest of four children. Muchamo ...

**'' Henderson's Boys: The Escape'' (February 5) **''

Eagle Day Herman Sidney "Eagle" Day (October 2, 1932 – February 22, 2008) was an American punter (American football), punter in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and quarterback in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blu ...

'' (June 4) *

Marilyn Nelson Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetr ...

– '' Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story Of The Greatest All-Girl Swing Band In The World'' *

Patrick Ness Patrick Ness (born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including t ...

– '' The Ask and the Answer'' (May 4) *

Jenny Nimmo Jenny Nimmo (born 15 January 1944) is a British author of children's books, including fantasy and adventure novels, chapter books, and picture books. Born in England, she has lived mostly in Wales for 40 years. She is probably best known for tw ...

– '' Charlie Bone and the Red King'' * Charles Ogden – ''Split Ends'' (January 27) *

Margie Palatini Margie Palatini is the author of many popular books for young children. She was born in Edison, New Jersey, and today lives in nearby Plainfield, New Jersey. Margie is a graduate of the Moore College of Art and Design. According to her website, a ...

– ''Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes'' *

Catherine Rayner Catherine Rayner is an Edinburgh-based British illustrator and writer of children's books. She was born in Harrogate in 1982, and grew up in Boston Spa, later studying at Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art. She won the Kate Gre ...

– '' Sylvia and Bird'' * Rob Reger – ''Emily the Strange: The Lost Days'' (June 2) *

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

– ''

The Last Olympian ''The Last Olympian'' is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology by Rick Riordan, published on May 5, 2009. It is the fifth and final novel of the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series and serves as the direct sequel to ''The Battle ...

'' (May 5) * Amy Krouse Rosenthal – '' Duck! Rabbit!'' * Carina Rozenfeld – ''Les Clefs de Babel'' *

Carrie Ryan Carrie may refer to: People * Carrie (name), a female given name and occasionally a surname Places in the United States * Carrie, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Carrie, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carrie Glacier, Olympic Nat ...

– ''

The Forest of Hands and Teeth ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (March 9) *

Angie Sage Angie Sage (born 20 June 1952) is an English author of children's literature, including the ''Septimus Heap'' series, the ''TodHunter Moon'' trilogy, and the ''Araminta Spook'' series (''Araminta Spookie'', in the United States). Life According ...

– '' Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers'' (June 23) * Michael Scott – '' The Sorceress'' (May 26) *

Dugald Steer Dugald A. Steer B.A. (Brist), S.A.S.D. (born 1965) is an English children's writer. Biography Early life and education Dugald Steer was born in 1965 and grew up in Surrey. He completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English literature and ...

etc. –''Drake's Comprehensive Compendium of Dragonology'' *

Maggie Stiefvater Margaret Stiefvater ( ; Hummel) is an American writer of young adult fiction, known mainly for her series of fantasy novels '' The Wolves of Mercy Falls'' and ''The Raven Cycle''. She currently lives in Virginia. Life and career Early life ...

– ''

Shiver Shivering (also called shuddering) is a bodily function in response to cold and extreme fear in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered to maintain homeostasis. Skeletal muscles begin to s ...

'' *

Jude Watson Judy Blundell, pseudonym Jude Watson, is an American author of books for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers. She won the annual National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2008 for the young adult novel '' What I Saw and How I L ...

– '' Beyond the Grave'' (June 2) *

Victor Watson Victor Hugo Watson (26 September 1928 – 25 February 2015) was a British businessman and philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of Waddingtons 1977 to 1993. Waddingtons employed over 3,000 people, mainly in Leeds, and were involved in ...

– ''Paradise Barn'' (first in eponymous series of four books) *

Tad Williams Robert Paul "Tad" Williams (born March 14, 1957) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer. He is the author of the multivolume '' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'' series, '' Otherland'' series, and '' Shadowmarch'' series as well as the stan ...

and Deborah Beale – ''The Dragons of Ordinary Farm'' (July 2) *

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her lar ...

– ''

Hetty Feather ''Hetty Feather'' is a book by English author Jacqueline Wilson. It is about a young red-haired girl who was left by her mother at the Foundling Hospital as a baby and follows her story as she lives in a foster home before returning to the Fou ...

'' (first in eponymous series of five books) *

N. D. Wilson Nathan David Wilson (born 1978) is an American author of young adult fiction. Background Wilson is the son of Calvinist minister Douglas Wilson and author Nancy Wilson. He was named after the biblical figures Nathan and David, and was educated ...

– '' Dandelion Fire'' * Izuru Yumizuru and Okiura – ''

Infinite Stratos ''Infinite Stratos'', also written as , is a Japanese light novel series by Izuru Yumizuru with illustrations provided by Okiura (original MF novels) and CHOCO (new Overlap novels). As of October 2013, seven volumes have been published ...

'' (May 31)

Drama

* Jacob M. Appel – ''

Causa mortis A gift, in the law of property, is the voluntary and immediate transfer of property from one person (the donor or grantor) to another (the donee or grantee) without consideration. There are several type of gifts in property law, most notably ' ...

'' *

Jez Butterworth Jeremy "Jez" Butterworth (born March 1969) is an English playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He has written screenplays in collaboration with his brothers, John-Henry Butterworth, John-Henry and Tom. Life and career In March 1969, But ...

– ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

'' * Molly Davies – ''

A Miracle ''A Miracle'' by Molly Davies was her first professionally staged play and was staged first at the upstairs Jerwood Theatre at Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009 as part of the theatre's Young Writers Festival. It starred Russell Tovey, Kate ...

'' *

Ella Hickson Ella Hickson (born 1985) is a British playwright and theatrical director, living in London. Early life Hickson was brought up in Guildford in Surrey and educated at Guildford High School from 1996 to 2003. Career Hickson's first play, '' E ...

– '' Precious Little Talent'' *

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benjam ...

– ''After Miss Julie'' *

Lucy Prebble Lucy Prebble (born 1981) is a British playwright. She is the author of the plays ''The Sugar Syndrome'', '' The Effect'', ''ENRON'' and '' A Very Expensive Poison''. For television she adapted ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' and co-created ''I H ...

– ''

ENRON Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

'' *

Sarah Ruhl Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, professor, and essayist. Among her most popular plays are ''Eurydice'' (2003), ''The Clean House'' (2004), and ''In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)'' (2009). She has been the reci ...

– ''

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) ''In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)'' is a 2009 play by Sarah Ruhl, published by Samuel French. It concerns the early history of the vibrator, when doctors allegedly used it as a clinical device to bring women to orgasm as treatment for " ...

'' *

Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in ''The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series ''Nur ...

– ''Let Me Down Easy'' *

Zlatko Topčić Zlatko Topčić (born 30 April 1955) is a Bosnian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He has written a number of films, including: ''Remake'', '' The Abandoned'', ''Miracle in Bosnia''; theater plays: ''Time Out'', '' I Don't Like Mondays'', ' ...

– ''

I Don't Like Mondays "I Don't Like Mondays" is a song by Irish new wave group the Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from their third album, '' The Fine Art of Surfacing''. T ...

(Ne volim ponedjeljak)''

Poetry

* Christopher Reid – ''A Scattering'' *

Toyo Shibata was a bestselling Japanese poet; her first anthology ''Kujikenaide'' (″Don't lose heart″), published in 2009, sold 1.58 million copies. In comparison, poetry book sales of 10,000 are considered successful in Japan. Her anthology also topped Ja ...

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

Non-fiction

*

Olivier Ameisen Olivier Ameisen (25 June 1953 – 18 July 2013) was a French-American cardiologist who wrote a best-selling book about curing alcoholism using the drug baclofen. Education and career Ameisen began his medical studies in 1969 at age 16 at Unive ...

– ''The End of my Addiction'' (March 5) *

Daniel Ammann Daniel Ammann (born 1963) is a Swiss journalist and author. He was educated at University of Zurich, UC Berkeley and Fondation Post Universitaire Internationale in Paris. He holds an MA in Political Science, History and Constitutional Law. Amma ...

– ''

The King of Oil ''The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich'' is a non-fiction book by Swiss investigative journalist Daniel Ammann. The book was initially released on October 13, 2009 by St. Martin's Press. It became an international bestseller and was publ ...

'' (October 13) *Joshua Blu Buhs – '' Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend'' *

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

– '' Manhood for Amateurs'' (October 6) *

Wendy Doniger Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include, 'The Hindus: an alternative history'; ' ...

– '' The Hindus: An Alternative History'' *

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

– '' Zeitoun'' (July 15) * Christopher M. Fairman – '' Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties'' *

Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-born American comedian, actor, writer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014), for which he won a ...

– ''

American on Purpose ''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot'' is a memoir written by entertainer Craig Ferguson. The book details various experiences over several decades in Ferguson's life from his days in Scotland through his migr ...

'' (September 22) * Brian Floca – ''Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11'' *

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels ''Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works ''Eatin ...

– ''

Eating Animals ''Eating Animals'' is the third book by the American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2009. A ''New York Times'' best-seller, ''Eating Animals'' provides a dense discussion of what it means to eat animals in an industrialized world. It ...

'' (November 2) *

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English television personality. She came to public prominence in 2002 when she appeared on the third series of the Channel 4 reality show '' Big Brother''. She went on to s ...

– ''Forever in My Heart: the Story of My Battle against Cancer'' *

David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and a best-selling author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by D ...

– '' The Lost City of Z'' (February 24) *Michael Jones – '' The Retreat: Hitler's First Defeat'' * Thomas Levenson – ''Newton and the Counterfeiter'' (June 3) *

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...

– '' Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto'' (March 24) *

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

(died 2007) – ''MoonFire'' ($112,500 coffee table edition) * Patricia A. McAnany and

Norman Yoffee Norman Yoffee (25 May 1944) is a senior fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. He was previously professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of ...

- '' Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire'' (November) *

Joel Mokyr Joel Mokyr (born 26 July 1946) is a Netherlands-born American-Israeli economic historian. He is a professor of economics and history at Northwestern University, where he has taught since 1974; in 1994 he was named the Robert H. Strotz Professor o ...

– ''The Enlightened Economy'' * Ram Oren – '' Gertruda's Oath'' *

Eric W. Sanderson Eric W. Sanderson, a Landscape ecology, landscape ecologist anVice President for Urban Conservation Strategyat the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, director of the Mannahatta Project and the author of ''Mannahatta: A Natural History of New ...

– ''Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City'' (May 1) *

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...

– '' The Book of Basketball'' (October 26) *

Peter Sloterdijk Peter Sloterdijk (; ; born 26 June 1947) is a German philosopher and cultural theorist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He co-hosted the German television show ''Im Glashaus: Das Phi ...

– '' You Must Change Your Life (Du mußt dein Leben ändern)'' *

Guy Sorman Guy Sorman (born March 10, 1944, Nérac) is a French-American professor, columnist, author, and public intellectual in economics and philosophy. Biography Guy Sorman has written twenty books that promote the ideals of creativity and modern c ...

– ''

Economics Does Not Lie ''Economics Does Not Lie: A Defense of the Free Market in a Time of Crisis'' (; published in French in 2008) is a non-fiction book by French classical liberal economist and philosopher Guy Sorman. Sorman argues that while the recent world econ ...

'' (July 20) * Joel D. Vaughan - '' The Rise and Fall of the Christian Coalition'' (2009) * William T. Vollmann – ''Imperial'' (July 29) * Helen Waldstein Wilkes – '' Letters from the Lost''

Deaths

*

January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...

–

Johannes Mario Simmel Johannes Mario Simmel (7 April 1924 – 1 January 2009), also known as J. M. Simmel, was an Austrian writer. He was born in Vienna and grew up in Austria and England. He was trained as a chemical engineer and worked in research from 1943 to ...

, Austrian novelist and screenwriter (born 1924) *

January 7 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting. * 1325 – Alfonso IV ...

–

Valerie Flint Valerie Irene Jane Flint (5 July 1936 – 7 January 2009) was a British scholar and historian, specialising in medieval intellectual and cultural history. Biography Early life Flint was born in Derby. She was a pupil at the Rutland Ho ...

, English medieval historian (born

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) *

January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 &ndas ...

– Sheila Walsh, English novelist (born

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

) *

January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...

–

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

, American novelist (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) *

February 18 Events Pre-1600 * 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy. * 1268 &ndas ...

–

Tayeb Salih Tayeb Salih ( ar, الطيب صالح, aṭ-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ; 12 July 1929 – 18 February 2009) was a Sudanese writer, cultural journalist for the BBC Arabic programme as well as for Arabic journals, and a staff member of UNESCO. He is best k ...

, Sudanese fiction writer and cultural commentator (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) *

February 20 Events Pre-1600 *1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated. *1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...

–

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...

, Irish poet and author (choking; born

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

) *

February 25 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. * 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II. ...

–

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

, American science fiction writer (born

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) *

March 13 Events Pre-1600 *624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. *1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. *1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...

–

James Purdy James Otis Purdy (July 17, 1914 March 13, 2009) was an American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and playwright who, from his debut in 1956, published over a dozen novels, and many collections of poetry, short stories, and plays. His work ha ...

, American novelist, poet and playwright (born

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

) *

March 21 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...

–

Winifred Foley Winifred Mary Foley (born Winifred Mason; 25 July 1914 – 21 March 2009) was an English writer. She is known best for an autobiographical account of her childhood in the Forest of Dean: ''A Child in the Forest''. Forest life Winifred Foley ...

, English memoirist (born

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

) *

March 31 Events Pre-1600 * 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian. *1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V� ...

– Michael Cox, English novelist and biographer (

hemangiopericytoma A hemangiopericytoma is a type of soft-tissue sarcoma that originates in the pericytes in the walls of capillaries. When inside the nervous system, although not strictly a meningioma tumor, it is a meningeal tumor with a special aggressive behavior ...

, born 1948) Maurice_Druon_2003_Orenburg_crop

*

April 14 Events Pre-1600 * 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum. * 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...

–

Maurice Druon Maurice Druon (23 April 1918 – 14 April 2009) was a French novelist and a member of the Académie Française, of which he served as "Perpetual Secretary" (chairman) between 1985 and 1999. Life and career Born in Paris, France, Druon was the s ...

, French historical novelist (born

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) *

April 15 Events Pre-1600 * 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings. * 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...

–

Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a German-born British broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany as ...

, German-born English writer and broadcaster (born 1924) *

April 19 Events Pre-1600 * AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. * 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persi ...

–

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass medi ...

, English novelist (born

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *

May 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance. * 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Sp ...

–

Lev Losev Lev Loseff (russian: Лев Влади́мирович Ло́сев; birth name Lev Lifshitz; June 15, 1937 – May 6, 2009) was a Russian poet, literary critic, essayist and educator. Early life and education The son of poet Vladimir Lifshitz, L ...

, Russian American poet (born 1937) *

May 17 Events Pre-1600 *1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army. *1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason. * 1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Flo ...

–

Mario Benedetti Mario Orlando Hardy Hamlet Brenno Benedetti Farrugia (; 14 September 1920 – 17 May 2009), was an Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet and an integral member of the Generación del 45. Despite publishing more than 80 books and being publish ...

, Uruguayan writer (born

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

) *

June 2 Events Pre-1600 * 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks. * 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later. 1601� ...

–

David Eddings David Carroll Eddings (July 7, 1931 – June 2, 2009) was an American fantasy writer. With his wife Leigh, he authored several best-selling epic fantasy novel series, including ''The Belgariad'' (1982–84), ''The Malloreon'' (1987–91), '' The ...

, American novelist (born

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) *

June 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded. *1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England. * 1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coa ...

– Frank Barlow, English historian (born

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

) *

July 6 Events Pre-1600 * 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility. * 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt ...

–

Vasily Aksyonov Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov ( rus, Васи́лий Па́влович Аксёнов, p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ɐˈksʲɵnəf; August 20, 1932 – July 6, 2009) was a Soviet and Russian novelist. He became known in the West as the autho ...

, Russian novelist (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) *

July 14 Events Pre-1600 * 982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy. * 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II. * 142 ...

–

Phyllis Gotlieb Phyllis Fay Gotlieb (née Bloom; May 25, 1926 July 14, 2009) was a Canadian science fiction novelist and poet. Biography Born of Jewish heritage in Toronto, Gotlieb graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in literature in 1948 ...

, Canadian novelist (born 1926) *

July 19 Events Pre-1600 *AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city. * 484 – Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is re ...

–

Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank McC ...

, American memoirist and Pulitzer Prize winner (born 1930) Frank McCourt by David Shankbone

*

July 23 Events Pre-1600 * 811 – Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum's treasury. * 1319 – A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios. 16 ...

–

E. Lynn Harris E. Lynn Harris ( Everette Lynn Jeter; June 20, 1955 – July 23, 2009) was an American author. Openly gay, he was best known for his depictions of African-American men who were on the down-low and closeted. He authored ten consecutive books th ...

, African American novelist (heart disease; born

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

) *

July 25 Events Pre-1600 * 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. * 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. ...

– Stanley Middleton, English novelist (cancer; born

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

) *

July 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. * 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Ste ...

** Aeronwy Thomas, English-born Welsh translator and writer (born

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

)

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

July 31 Events Pre-1600 *30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. * 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...

–

Tim Guest Tim Guest (16 July 1975 – 31 July 2009) (also known as Yogesh and Errol Mysterio) was an English author and journalist. Early childhood When he was four, Guest was left in the UK by his psychologist mother, Anne Geraghty, who went to India an ...

, English writer (drug overdose; born

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

) * August 2 –

Adolf Endler Adolf Endler (20 September 1930 – 2 August 2009) was a lyric poet, essayist and prose author who played a central role in subcultural activities that attacked and challenged an outdated model of socialist realism in the German Democratic Repu ...

, German writer (born

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *

August 4 Events Pre-1600 * 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War: In response to a Goguryeo (Korean) incursion into Liaoxi, Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo during th ...

–

Blake Snyder Blake Snyder (October 3, 1957 – August 4, 2009) was an American screenwriter, consultant, author and educator based in Los Angeles. His screenplays include the comedies '' Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'' (1992) and '' Blank Check'' (1994). Through ...

, American screenwriter and author (born

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

) *

August 5 Events Pre-1600 *AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty. * 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are ...

–

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' and ''The Harder They Fall;'' ...

, American screenwriter and novelist (born

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

) *

August 6 Events Pre-1600 *1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. * 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...

** Jack T. Kirby, American historian (born

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

) ** Willibrordus S. Rendra, Indonesian poet (born

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

) *

August 7 Events Pre-1600 * 461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the ''magister militum'' Ricimer. * 626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Co ...

– Danko Popović, Serbian writer (born

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

) *

August 8 Events Pre-1600 * 685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as th ...

– Alfonso Calderón, Chilean writer and poet (born

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *

August 9 Events Pre-1600 *48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt. * 378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens ...

–

Thierry Jonquet Thierry Jonquet (; January 19, 1954 – August 9, 2009) was a French writer who specialised in crime novels with political themes. He was born in Paris; his most recent and best known novel outside France was ''Mygale'' (1984), then published in th ...

, French writer (born

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

) *

August 10 Events Pre-1600 * 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I. * 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West. * 991 – Battle of Maldon: Th ...

** Josef Burg, Ukrainian writing in Yiddish (born

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) ** Merlyn Mantle, American author (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) *

August 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs. * 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdan ...

– Alistair Campbell, New Zealand poet (born

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) *

August 18 Events Pre-1600 * 684 – Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria. * 707 – Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei. *1304 & ...

** Dic Jones, Welsh poet writing in Welsh (born

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

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

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) **

Fernanda Pivano Fernanda Pivano (18 July 1917 – 18 August 2009) was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and critic. Early life Pivano was born in Genoa in 1917. When she was a teenager she moved with her family to Turin where she attended the Massimo D ...

, Italian writer (born 1917) *

August 20 Events Pre-1600 * AD 14 – Agrippa Postumus, maternal grandson of the late Roman emperor Augustus, is mysteriously executed by his guards while in exile. * 636 – Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take con ...

– Karla Kuskin, American children's author (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) *

August 22 Events Pre-1600 * 392 – Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. * 851 – Battle of Jengland: Erispoe defeats Charles the Bald near the Breton town of Jengland. *1138 – Battle of the Standard between Scotland a ...

–

Elmer Kelton Elmer Stephen Kelton (April 29, 1926Kelton, Elmer (2007). - ''Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer''. - New York, New York: Forge. - p.26. - . – August 22, 2009) was an American journalist and writer, known particularly for hi ...

, American Western novelist (born 1926) Elmer kelton 2007

*

August 25 Events Pre-1600 * 19 – The Roman general Germanicus dies near Antioch. He was convinced that the mysterious illness that ended in his death was a result of poisoning by the Syrian governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, whom he had ordered to ...

** Bob Carroll, American historian and author (born

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) **

Sergey Mikhalkov Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Влади́мирович Михалко́в; 27 August 2009) was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russ ...

, Russian writer and poet (born

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

) *

September 3 Events Pre-1600 *36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate. * 301 – San Marino, one of the s ...

– Christine D'Haen, Belgian poet writing in Flemish (born 1923) Christine D' haen 1990

*

September 4 Events Pre-1600 * 476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire. * 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne ove ...

–

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. Biography Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. H ...

, English author and playwright (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) *

September 6 Events Pre-1600 * 394 – Battle of the Frigidus: Roman emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills Eugenius the usurper. His Frankish ''magister militum'' Arbogast escapes but commits suicide two days later. *1492 – Christopher Colu ...

** Catherine Gaskin, Irish-born Australian romantic novelist (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) **

Nada Iveljić Nada Iveljić (4 April 1931 – 6 September 2009) was a Croatian children's writer. Her work includes eight books of poetry, a short story collection, a novel, over forty books and a series of picture books for children, and several plays, radi ...

, Croatian children's writer (born

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) *

September 10 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. *1419 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France. * 1509 – An eart ...

– Lyn Hamilton, Canadian author (born

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

) *

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...

–

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...

, American writer and poet (born

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) *

September 12 Events Pre-1600 *490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece. * 372 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Ji ...

** William Hoffman, American novelist (born

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) **

Antônio Olinto Antônio Olinto Marques da Rocha (Ubá, MG - May 10, 1919 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ - September 12, 2009) was a Brazilian writer, essayist and translator. Among his work are included poetry, novels, literary criticism, political analysis, child ...

, Brazilian writer (born

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

) *

September 13 Events Pre-1600 * 585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia. * 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...

– Sarah E. Wright, American novelist (born

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

) *

September 15 Events Pre-1600 * 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes. *1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...

–

Trevor Rhone Trevor Dave Rhone (24 March 1940 – 15 September 2009) was a Jamaican writer, playwright and film maker. He co-wrote, with director Perry Henzell, the internationally successful film '' The Harder They Come'' (1972). Life Trevor Rhone, w ...

, Jamaican playwright (born 1940) *

September 19 Events Pre-1600 * 85 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed. * 634 – Siege of Damascus: Th ...

–

Milton Meltzer Milton Meltzer (May 8, 1915 – September 19, 2009) was an American historian and author best known for his nonfiction books on Jewish, African-American, and American history. Since the 1950s, he was a prolific author of history books in the child ...

, American historian and author (born

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

) *

September 21 Events Pre-1600 * 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power. * 1170 – The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders. * 1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian ...

–

Junzo Shono was a Japanese novelist. A native of Osaka, he began writing novels after World War II. He won the 1954 Akutagawa Prize for his book ''Purusaido Shokei'' (''Poolside Scene''). Shōno's other award-winning books include ''Seibutsu'' (''Still Life' ...

(庄野潤三), Japanese author (born

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

) *

September 22 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government. * 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...

–

Kole Čašule Nikola "Kole" Čašule ( cyrl, Коле Чашуле; March 2, 1921 – September 22, 2009) was a Macedonian-Yugoslavian essayist, dramatist, short story writer and ambassador. Chashule was one of the founders of the Macedonian Writers' Associat ...

, Macedonian essayist, dramatist and short story writer (born

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

) *

September 24 Events Pre-1600 *787 – Second Council of Nicaea: The council assembles at the church of Hagia Sophia. *1568 – Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near ...

– Nelly Arcan, Canadian novelist writing in French (suicide; born

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

) *

September 25 Events Pre-1600 * 275 – For the last time, the Roman Senate chooses an emperor; they elect 75-year-old Marcus Claudius Tacitus. * 762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt a ...

– Willy Breinholst, Danish author (born

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) *

September 27 Events Pre-1600 *1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England. * 1331 – The Battle of Płowce is fought, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teuto ...

–

William Safire William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He w ...

, American columnist (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) *

October 1 Events Pre-1600 * 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. * 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated. * 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadwig. ...

** Otar Chiladze, Georgian writer (born 1933) ** Cintio Vitier, Cuban poet (born

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

) *

October 4 Events Pre-1600 *AD 23 – Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion. *1209 – Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III. *1302 – The Byzantine–Venetian War comes t ...

– Veikko Huovinen, Finnish writer (born 1927) *

November 1 Events Pre-1600 * 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities. * 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...

–

Esther Hautzig Esther R. Hautzig ( he, אסתר האוציג, born October 18, 1930 – died November 1, 2009 in America) was a Polish-born American writer, best known for her award-winning book ''The Endless Steppe'' (1968). Esther Hautzig (previously known a ...

, Polish-born American autobiographer (born

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *

November 20 Events Pre-1600 * 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor. * 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels. * 1194 – Palermo is conquered by Henry ...

– Naomi Frankel, German-born Israeli novelist (born

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) *

November 29 Events Pre-1600 * 561 – Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I, divide the Frankish Kingdom. * 618 – The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over t ...

–

Robert Holdstock Robert Paul Holdstock (2 August 1948 – 29 November 2009) was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celts, Celtic, Nordic countries, Nordic, Goths, Gothic and Picts, Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fanta ...

, English fantasy novelist (born

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

)

*

November 30 Events Pre-1600 * 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900 * 1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the Br ...

–

Milorad Pavić Milorad Pavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Павић, ; 15 October 1929 – 30 November 2009) was a Serbian novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary historian. Born in Belgrade in 1929, he published a number of poems, short stories ...

, Serbian writer (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) *

December 2 Events Pre-1600 *1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon. * 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens. 1601–1900 *1697 – St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren followin ...

– Elizabeth Berridge, British novelist (born

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

) *

December 5 Events Pre-1600 *63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations. * 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville. * 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple ...

– William Lederer, American author (born

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) *

December 7 Events Pre-1600 *43 BC – Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated in Formia on orders of Marcus Antonius. * 574 – Byzantine Emperor Justin II, suffering recurring seizures of insanity, adopts his general Tiberius II Constant ...

** Carlene Hatcher Polite, American novelist (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) **

Pyotr Vail Pyotr Lvovich Vail (russian: Пётр Львович Вайль; born 29 September 1949, Riga, Latvian SSR – 7 December 2009, Prague, Czech Republic) was a Russian author, journalist, essayist and deputy director of Radio Liberty's Russia servic ...

, Latvian-born Russian essayist and journalist (born

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) *

December 13 Events Pre-1600 *1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit. * 1545 – The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. * 1577 & ...

– Julian Fane, British author (born 1927) *

December 15 Events Pre-1600 * 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum. * 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theod ...

–

C. D. B. Bryan Courtlandt Dixon Barnes Bryan (April 22, 1936 – December 15, 2009), better known as C. D. B. Bryan, was an American author and journalist. Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich ...

, American author (born

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) *

December 19 Events Pre-1600 *1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey. * 1187 – Pope Clement III is elected. * 1490 – Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy. * 1562 – ...

–

Loren Singer Loren Adelson Singer (March 5, 1923, – December 19, 2009) was an American novelist, known best for his 1970 political thriller ''The Parallax View'', which was made as a successful 1974 movie, of the same name.Grimes, William"Loren Singer ...

, American novelist (born 1923) *

December 20 Events Pre-1600 *AD 69 – Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian. * 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England a ...

–

Vera Rich Vera Rich (born Faith Elizabeth Rich, 24 April 1936 – 20 December 2009) was a British poet, journalist, historian, and translator from Belarusian and Ukrainian. Biography Born in London in April 1936, she studied at St Hilda's College of th ...

, English poet and journalist (born

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

)

*

December 23 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity. * 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks. * 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque. * 962 &ndas ...

–

Grigory Baklanov Grigory Yakovlevich Baklanov (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Бакла́нов) (11 September 1923 – 23 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian writer, well known for his novels about World War II, and as the editor of the ...

, Russian novelist (born 1923) *

December 25 Events Pre-1600 * 36 – Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China. * 274 – A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aureli ...

**

Vrindavanam Venugopalan Vrindavanam Venugopalan (24 October 1935 – 25 December 2009) was an Indian journalist, educationist and writer who wrote in both Malayalam and English. Venugopalan was the editor of ''Viswakeralam Daily'', and an acclaimed biographer. He ...

, Indian journalist (born

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

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

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

) *

December 26 Events Pre-1600 * 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia. * 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Bu ...

**

Dennis Brutus Dennis Vincent Brutus (28 November 1924 – 26 December 2009) was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have South Africa banned from the Olympic Games due to its racial policy of apartheid. ...

, South African poet (born 1924) **

Norval White Norval Crawford White (June 12, 1926 – December 26, 2009) was an American architect, architectural historian and professor. He designed buildings throughout the U.S., but he is best known for his writing, particularly the '' AIA Guide to New Y ...

, American author (born 1926) *

December 30 Events Pre-1600 *534 – The second and final edition of the Code of Justinian comes into effect in the Byzantine Empire. *999 – Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflict a crushi ...

– Jacqueline Sturm, New Zealand poet and writer (born 1927)

Awards

*

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

:

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nițchidorf (german: Nitzkydorf, link=no), Timiș County in Romania, her native language is G ...

Australia

*

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

:

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles ...

, ''

Breath Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

''

Canada

*

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

:

Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes,'' inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the ...

, '' The Book of Negroes'' *

Dayne Ogilvie Prize The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Origina ...

: Main award,

Debra Anderson Debra Anderson is a Canadian writer, who won the 2009 Dayne Ogilvie Prize from the Writers' Trust of Canada for an emerging lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender writer.Greg Kearney Greg Kearney is a Canadian writer. He was a humour columnist for '' Xtra!'' from 1999 to 2005, and published his debut short story collection ''Mommy Daddy Baby'' in 2004. Born in Kenora, Ontario,Edna Staebler Award The Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction is an annual literary award recognizing the previous year's best creative nonfiction book with a "Canadian locale and/or significance" that is a Canadian writer's "first or second published book of ...

for

Creative Non-Fiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

:

Russell Wangersky Russell Wangersky is a Canadian journalist and award-winning writer of creative non-fiction. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in Canada since the age of three, Wangersky was educated at Acadia University. He has been page editor of ''Th ...

, ''

Burning Down the House "Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues''. Inspiration and composition "Burning Down the House" is a new wave and funk s ...

'' *

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

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

Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer. Canada's most lucrative non-fiction prize, the winner re ...

:

Brian Brett Brian Brett (born 28 April 1950) is a Canadian poet, journalist, editor and novelist.Brian Brett< ...

, ''Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life'' *

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. A ...

:

Annabel Lyon Annabel Lyon (born 1971) is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. She has published two collections of short fiction, two young adult novels, and two adult historical novels, ''The Golden Mean'' and its sequel, ''The Sweet Girl''. Life and ...

, ''The Golden Mean'' *

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

:

Linden MacIntyre Linden Joseph MacIntyre (born May 29, 1943) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten Gemini Awards, an International Emmy and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 Scotiabank ...

, '' The Bishop's Man'' *

Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award The Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an established Canadian author to honour their body of work. Presented for the first time in 2008 under the name Notable Author Awar ...

:

David Bergen David Bergen (born January 14, 1957) is a Canadian novelist. He has published nine novels and two collections of short stories since 1993 and is currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His 2005 novel '' The Time in Between'' won the Scoti ...

France

*

Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française Le Grand Prix du Roman is a French literary award, created in 1914, and given each year by the Académie française. Along with the Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French litera ...

:

Pierre Michon Pierre Michon (born 28 March 1945, Châtelus-le-Marcheix, Creuse) is a French writer. His first novel, ''Small lives'' (1984), is widely regarded as a genuine masterpiece in contemporary French literature. He has won several prizes for ''Small ...

, ''Les Onze''

Sweden

*Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award: Tamer Institute for Community Education

United Kingdom

*Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year: ''Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes'', Daina Taimina *Caine Prize for African Writing: E. C. Osondu, "Waiting" *Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Siobhan Dowd, ''Bog Child'' *Man Booker Prize: Hilary Mantel, ''Wolf Hall'' *Orange Prize for Fiction: to ''Home (Robinson novel), Home'' by Marilynne Robinson

United States

*Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2009 Lambda Literary Awards. *National Book Award for Fiction: Colum McCann, ''Let the Great World Spin'' *National Book Critics Circle Award: Hilary Mantel, ''Wolf Hall'' *National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction: Richard Holmes (biographer), Richard Holmes, ''The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science'' *Newbery Medal for children's literature:

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, ''The Graveyard Book'' *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Joseph O'Neill (born 1964), Joseph O'Neill, ''Netherland (novel), Netherland'' *Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Elizabeth Strout, ''Olive Kitteridge'' *Whiting Awards: Fiction: Adam Johnson (writer), Adam Johnson, Nami Mun, Salvatore Scibona, Vu Tran; Nonfiction: Michael Meyer (travel writer), Michael Meyer, Hugh Raffles; Plays: Rajiv Joseph; Poetry: Jericho Brown, Jay Hopler, Joan Kane

Elsewhere

*Camões Prize: Arménio Vieira *European Book Prize: Mariusz Szczygieł, ''Gottland'' and Sylvie Goulard, ''L'Europe pour les Nuls'' *David Cohen Prize: Seamus Heaney *International Dublin Literary Award: Michael Thomas (Man Gone Down author), Michael Thomas, ''Man Gone Down'' *International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Youssef Ziedan, ''Azazel'' *SAARC Literary Award: Jayanta Mahapatra, Uday Prakash, Kamaal Khan

Notes

*

References

2009, Literature {{Year in literature article categories 2009 books, Years of the 21st century in literature

Events

New books

Fiction

Genre fiction

Children and young people

Drama

Poetry

Non-fiction

Deaths

Awards

Australia

Canada

France

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

Elsewhere

See also

Notes

References