This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1999.

Events

* May 1 – Andrew Motion is appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for ten years. * June 19 –

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

is hit by a van while taking a walk. He is hospitalized for three weeks and only resumes writing his next book, '' On Writing'', in July. * September 7 – Black Diamond, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, is inaugurated as an extension to the

Royal Danish Library Royal Danish Library () is a merger of the two previous national libraries in Denmark: the State and University Library in Aarhus and the Royal Library in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, wit ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. *''unknown date'' – Persephone Books is founded in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, London, by Nicola Beauman, to reprint mid-20th century fiction and non-fiction, mainly by women.

New books

Fiction

* Isabel Allende – '' Daughter of Fortune (Hija de la fortuna)'' * Aaron Allston **'' Solo Command'' **'' Starfighters of Adumar'' * Laurie Halse Anderson – '' Speak'' * Max Barry – ''

Syrup In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...

'' *

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American science fiction writer. His work covered themes of Interstellar_war, galactic conflict (''The Forge of God, Forge of God'' books), parallel universes (''The Way (Greg Bear ...

– '' Darwin's Radio'' * Raymond Benson **'' High Time to Kill'' **''

The World Is Not Enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent Jam ...

'' * Maeve Binchy – '' Tara Road'' * Luther Blissett (pseudonym) – '' Q'' * François Bloemhof – '' Klipgooi'' * Ben Bova – '' Return to Mars'' * Terry Brooks – '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' * Thomas Brussig – '' Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee'' * Bonnie Burnard – '' A Good House'' * Stephen Chbosky – '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' * Tracy Chevalier – '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' *

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Australia, AC Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 ...

– '' Disgrace'' * Matt Cohen – '' Elizabeth and After'' * Bernard Cornwell **'' Sharpe's Fortress'' **'' Stonehenge: A Novel of 2000 BC'' *

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He ...

– '' Miss Wyoming'' *

Robert Crais Robert Crais (pronounced ; born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as '' Hill Street Blues'', '' Cagney & Lacey'', '' Quincy'', '' M ...

– '' L.A. Requiem'' *

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

– ''

Timeline A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representing t ...

'' *

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...

(editor) – ''

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

'' * Marc Dugain – ''La Chambre des Officiers ( The Officers' Ward)'' * Frederic S. Durbin – ''

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

'' *

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack (literary), Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique as a writer is the expression of extreme acts ...

– '' Glamorama'' * Per Olov Enquist – '' The Visit of the Royal Physician (Livläkarens besök)'' * Steve Erickson – '' The Sea Came in at Midnight'' * Sebastian Faulks – '' Charlotte Gray'' * Helen Fielding – '' The Edge of Reason'' * Amanda Filipacchi – ''

Vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R ...

'' * Anna Gavalda – '' Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part'' *

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

– '' The Testament'' * Ha Jin (哈金) – '' Waiting'' * Joanne Harris – '' Chocolat'' * Thomas Harris – ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' *

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

– '' True at First Light'' * Carl Hiaasen – '' Sick Puppy'' * Stewart Home – ''Cunt'' *

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas on 26 February 1956) is a French author of novels, poems, and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker, and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. H ...

– '' Atomised'' * Jerry B. Jenkins and

Tim LaHaye Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian Minister of religion, minister who wrote more than 85 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including the ''Left Behind (series), Left Behind ...

– '' Soul Harvest'' * K. W. Jeter – '' Hard Merchandise'' * Lisa Jewell – ''Ralph's Party'' *

: **'' The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon'' **'' Hearts in Atlantis'' * László Krasznahorkai – '' War and War'' * Jhumpa Lahiri – '' Interpreter of Maladies'' (short stories) * Joe R. Lansdale **'' Veil's Visit: a Taste of Hap and Leonard'' **'' Freezer Burn'' * John le Carré – '' Single & Single'' * Jonathan Lethem – '' Motherless Brooklyn'' * Ray Loriga – '' Tokio ya no nos quiere'' * Frank McCourt -'' 'Tis'' * David Macfarlane – '' Summer Gone'' * Alistair MacLeod – '' No Great Mischief'' * Juliet Marillier – '' Daughter of the Forest'' *

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and

Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist. He was the illustrator and publisher of '' From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), and the creator of the semi-autobiographical ''Alec'' stories collected in ''Alec: ...

– '' From Hell'' (graphic novel) * Jeffrey Moore – ''Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain'' *

Erwin Mortier Erwin Mortier (born 28 November 1965) is a Dutch-language Belgian author. Spending his youth in Hansbeke, he later moved to nearby Ghent, where he became city poet (2005–2006). He wrote as a columnist for newspapers like '' De Morgen'' and p ...

– ''Marcel'' * Chuck Palahniuk **'' Invisible Monsters'' **'' Survivor'' * Tony Parsons – '' Man and Boy'' *

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

– '' The Fifth Elephant'' * Kathy Reichs – '' Death du Jour'' * Matthew Reilly – ''

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

'' * Jennifer Roberson – '' Lady of Sherwood'' *

Louis Sachar Louis Sachar ( ; born March 20, 1954) is an American young-adult mystery-comedy author. He is best known for the ''Wayside School (book series), Wayside School'' series and the novel ''Holes (novel), Holes''. ''Holes'' won the 1998 U.S. Nationa ...

– '' Holes'' * R. A. Salvatore – '' Vector Prime'' * Margit Sandemo – '' Skattejakten'' * Neal Shusterman – '' Downsiders'' *

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

– '' In America'' * Ahdaf Soueif – ''The Map of Love'' * Michael Stackpole – '' Isard's Revenge'' * Matthew Stadler – '' Allan Stein'' * Danielle Steel – '' Irresistible Forces'' *

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

– ''

Cryptonomicon ''Cryptonomicon'' is a 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson, set in two different time periods. One group of characters are World War II–era Allied codebreakers and tactical-deception operatives affiliated with the British Govern ...

'' * Francine Stock – '' A Foreign Country'' * Peter Straub – '' Mr. X'' * Remy Sylado – ''Ca Bau Kan'' (The Courtesan) *

Koushun Takami is a Japanese author and journalist. He is best known for his 1999 in literature, 1999 novel ''Battle Royale (novel), Battle Royale'', which was later adapted into two Battle Royale (film), live-action films, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and fo ...

(高見広春) – '' Battle Royale'' *

Rose Tremain Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Life Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and ...

– '' Music and Silence'' * Miloš Urban – ''Sedmikostelí'' (The Seven Churches) * Andrew Vachss – '' Choice of Evil'' * Jane Vandenburgh – ''The Physics of Sunset'' * Vernor Vinge – '' A Deepness in the Sky'' * Jeanette Winterson – '' The World and Other Places'' * Timothy Zahn – '' The Icarus Hunt'' * Roger Zelazny and

Jane Lindskold Jane M. Lindskold (born September 15, 1962) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short story, short stories and novels. Early life Jane M. Lindskold was born on 15 September 1962, and grew up in Washington, D.C., and the Chesap ...

– '' Lord Demon''

Children and young people

* David Almond – '' Kit's Wilderness'' * Elizabeth Arnold – ''Spin of the Sunwheel'' * Susan Cooper – '' King of Shadows'' * Julia Donaldson (with Axel Scheffler) – '' The Gruffalo'' * Nick Earls – '' 48 Shades of Brown'' * Mem Fox - '' Sleepy Bears'' * Barbara Diamond Goldin – '' Journeys With Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophet'' * Gerald Hausman (with Loretta Hausman and Barry Moser) – ''Dogs of Myth: Tales from Around the World'' * Satoshi Kitamura – '' Me and My Cat?'' * Adeline Yen Mah – '' Chinese Cinderella'' (autobiography) * Robert L. Millet (with James C. Christensen) – ''Parables and other Teaching Stories'' * John Nickle – '' The Ant Bully'' * Andre Norton (with Martin H. Greenberg) – ''Catfantastic V'' * Iona Opie – '' Here Comes Mother Goose'' * Jerry Pinkney ** '' The Little Match Girl'' ** '' The Ugly Duckling'' * Louise Rennison – '' Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging'' * Faith Ringgold – ''If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks'' * J. K. Rowling – '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' *

Lemony Snicket Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler and a fictional character of his creation. Handler has published various children's books under the name, including ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 millio ...

**'' The Bad Beginning'' **'' The Reptile Room'' * Jacqueline Wilson – '' The Illustrated Mum'' * Simms Taback – '' Joseph Had a Little Overcoat''

Drama

* Jon Fosse – '' Dream of Autumn (Draum om hausten)'' *

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

– '' Boston Marriage'' * Frank McGuinness – '' Dolly West's Kitchen'' * Lars Norén – ''7:3'' * Mark O'Rowe – ''Howie the Rookie'' * Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt – '' Hôtel des deux mondes'' * Zlatko Topčić – ''

Refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

'' * August Wilson – '' King Hedley II''

Poetry

* Iona Opie – '' Here Comes Mother Goose'' * Dejan Stojanović – ''Sunce sebe gleda'' (The Sun Watches Itself)

Non-fiction

* Thomas Berry – ''The Great Work: Our Way into the Future'' * David Cairns – ''Berlioz: Volume 2, Servitude and Greatness 1832–1869'' * Wayson Choy – '' Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood'' *The

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

– '' Ancient Wisdom, Modern World'' * Samuel R. Delany – '' Times Square Red, Times Square Blue'' * Laurence des Cars – '' Les Préraphaélites : Un modernisme à l'anglaise'' *

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was a British-American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrix, random matrices, math ...

– '' The Sun, the Genome and the Internet'' * Koenraad Elst – ''Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate'' * Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke – ''Paracelsus: Essential Readings''. * John Steele Gordon – '' The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power: 1653–2000'' * Brian Greene – '' The Elegant Universe'' * Deborah Harkness – ''John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature'' *

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 200 ...

and Todd Brewster – '' The Century'' * S.T. Joshi – ''

Sixty Years of Arkham House ''Sixty Years of Arkham House'' is a bibliography of books published from 1939 to 1999 under the imprints of Arkham House, Mycroft & Moran and Stanton & Lee. It was released in 1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older ...

'' * Winona LaDuke – ''All our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life'' * Bruce Lincoln – ''Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship'' * Jamie Oliver – '' The Naked Chef'' * W. G. Sebald – '' Luftkrieg und Literatur'' (Air War and Literature, translated as ''On the Natural History of Destruction'') * David Southwell – ''Conspiracy Theories'' * Dejan Stojanović – ''Razgovori'' (Conversations) * Jean-Pierre Vernant – '' L'univers, les dieux, les hommes''

Births

* October 13 – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Nigerian–British author and columnist * December 22 – Ameer Idreis, Canadian writer

Deaths

January 11 Events Pre-1600 * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. * 630 – Conquest of Mecca: Muhammad and his ...

–

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

, Scottish novelist and poet (born

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

) *

January 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1458 BC – Hatshepsut dies at the age of 50 and is buried in the Valley of the Kings. * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the R ...

– Dadie Rylands (George Rylands), English Shakespearean scholar (born 1902) *

February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. * 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of ...

– Iris Murdoch, Irish-born novelist and philosopher (born 1919) *

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 pawn (law), pawned by Norway to S ...

–

Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological ...

, English playwright (suicide, born

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

) *

February 22 Events Pre-1600 * 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. * 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Fer ...

– William Bronk, American poet (born

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

) *

February 24 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. * 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence. ...

–

Andre Dubus Andre Jules Dubus II (August 11, 1936 – February 24, 1999) was an American writer of Short story, short stories, Novel, novels, and Essay, essays. Biography Early life and education Andre Jules Dubus II was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, t ...

, American short story writer, essayist and autobiographer (born

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

) *

March 4 Events Pre-1600 * AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth). * 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. * 581 – Yang Jian declares himself Emperor ...

** Del Close, American actor, writer, and teacher (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 ...

) ** Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (born 1921) *

March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Easte ...

– John Figueroa, Jamaican poet (born 1920) *

March 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem '' Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. * 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between ...

– Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine author (born 1914) *

March 13 Events Pre-1600 * 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander. * 624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Mu ...

Lee Falk Lee Falk (), born Leon Harrison Gross (; April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999), was an American cartoonist, writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the comic strips ''Mandrake the Magician'' and ''The Phantom''. At the ...

, American cartoonist, writer, theater director, and producer (born

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

) **

Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his Jewish family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He at ...

, American playwright and screenwriter (born

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

) *

March 28 Events Pre-1600 * AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate. * 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Did ...

– Jim Turner, American editor (born 1945) *

April 13 Events Pre-1600 * 1111 – Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. * 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. * 1455 – Thirteen Years' War: ...

– Knut Hauge, Norwegian novelist, dramatist and children's writer (born

) * May 8 – Soeman Hs, Indonesian novelist (born 1904) *

May 10 Events Pre-1600 * 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China. * 1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of ...

– Shel Silverstein, American children's poet (born 1930) *

May 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed. * 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. * 1153 &nda ...

– Alice Adams, short story writer and novelist (born 1926) * June 14 – J. F. Powers, American writer (born

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

) * July 2 –

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' (1969), which h ...

, American writer (born 1920) * July 14 – Maria Banuș, Romanian poet and translator (born 1914) * September 25 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American writer (born 1930) * October 3 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German novelist (born 1921) * October 19 ** Penelope Mortimer, Welsh-born English novelist and biographer (born

) ** Nathalie Sarraute, Russian-born French writer and lawyer (born

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

) ** E. J. Scovell, English poet (born

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

) *

November 11 Events Pre-1600 * 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor ''emeritus'' Diocletian confers with Galerius, '' Augustus'' of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former ''Augustus'' of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of th ...

– Jacobo Timerman, Soviet-born Argentinian journalist and publisher (born 1923) * November 18 –

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

, American novelist (born 1910) * December 2 – Matt Cohen, Canadian novelist (born

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

) * December 8 – Rupert Hart-Davis, English editor and publisher (born

) * December 12 – Joseph Heller, American novelist (born 1923)

Awards

* Nobel Prize for Literature: Günter Grass * Camões Prize: Sophia de Mello Breyner

Australia

* The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Hsu-Ming Teo, ''Love and Vertigo'' * C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Gig Ryan, ''Pure and Applied'' * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Lee Cataldi, ''Race Against Time'' *

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 (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

: Murray Bail, ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

Canada

* Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Bonnie Burnard, '' A Good House'' *See 1999 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. * Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Michael Poole, '' Romancing Mary Jane''

France

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French List of literary awards, literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or Verse (poetry), verse by male ...

: Maryline Desbiolles, ' *Prix Goncourt: Jean Echenoz, ' *Prix Décembre: Claude Askolovitch, ' *Prix Médicis French: Michel Del Castillo, ' *Prix Médicis Non-Fiction: Christian Oster, ' *Prix Médicis International: Bjorn Larsson, '

United Kingdom

*Booker Prize:

, '' Disgrace'' *Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Aidan Chambers, ''Postcards from No Man's Land'' *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Timothy Mo, ''Renegade, or Halo2'' *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Kathryn Hughes, ''George Eliot: The Last Victorian'' *Cholmondeley Award: Vicki Feaver, Geoffrey Hill, Elma Mitchell, Sheenagh Pugh *Eric Gregory Award: Ross Cogan, Matthew Hollis, Helen Ivory, Andrew Pidoux, Owen Sheers, Dan Wyke *Orange Prize for Fiction: Suzanne Berne, ''A Crime in the Neighborhood'' *Samuel Johnson Prize (first award): Antony Beevor, ''Stalingrad (Beevor book), Stalingrad'' *1999 Whitbread Awards, Whitbread Best Book Award: Seamus Heaney, ''Beowulf''

United States

*Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Daisy Fried, ''She Didn't Mean To Do It'' *Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: George Garrett (poet), George Garrett *Arthur Rense Prize awarded to James L. McMichael, James McMichael by the American Academy of Arts and Letters *Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: J. D. McClatchy, "Tattoos" *Compton Crook Award: James Stoddard (author), James Stoddard, ''The High House'' *Frost Medal: Barbara Guest *Hugo Award for Best Novel: Connie Willis, ''To Say Nothing of the Dog'' *National Book Award for Fiction: to Waiting by Ha Jin *National Book Critics Circle Award: to Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem *Nebula Award: Octavia E. Butler, ''Parable of the Talents (novel), Parable of the Talents'' *Newbery Medal for children's literature:

, ''Holes (novel), Holes''Hahn 2015, p. 658 *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to The Hours (novel), The Hours by Michael Cunningham *Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Margaret Edson, ''Wit (play), Wit'' *Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Michael Cunningham, ''The Hours (novel), The Hours'' *Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mark Strand, ''Blizzard of One'' *Wallace Stevens Award: Jackson Mac Low *Whiting Awards: :Fiction: Ehud Havazelet, Ben Marcus, Yxta Maya Murray, ZZ Packer :Nonfiction: Gordon Grice, Margaret Talbot :Plays: Naomi Iizuka :Poetry: Michael Haskell, Terrance Hayes, Martha Zweig

Elsewhere

*Finlandia Prize: 1999 Kristina Carlson, ''Maan ääreen'' *International Dublin Literary Award: Andrew Miller (novelist), Andrew Miller, ''Ingenious Pain'' *Alfaguara Prize: Manuel Vicent, ''Son de mar'' *Premio Nadal: Gustavo Martín Zarzo, ''Las historias de Marta y Fernando'' *Viareggio Prize: Ernesto Franco, ''Vite senza fine''

Notes

References

External links

{{Year in literature article categories