2002 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2002.

Events

March 16 – Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrest and jail the poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and dismiss a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem "The Corrupt on Earth", which criticizes the state's Islamic judiciary, accusing some judges of being corrupt and issuing unfair rulings for personal benefit.
March 31 – American Writers: A Journey Through History resumes its run on C-SPAN, having been interrupted by the September 11 attacks and their aftermath.
May – The results of a poll of 100 authors conducted in Norway are announced, leading to the Bokklubben World Library beginning publication.
October 16 – Bibliotheca Alexandrina is inaugurated in Alexandria, Egypt.
November – Raymond Benson releases his final James Bond novel, based on the film Die Another Day, bringing to a close an uninterrupted series of novels featuring Ian Fleming's character that started in 1981.
Randell Cottage Writers' Residency established in Wellington for New Zealand and French authors.

New books

Neil Astley – Staying Alive: real poems for unreal times
Jim Dodge – Rain on the River
Linton Kwesi Johnson – Mi Revalueshanary Fren
Grazyna Miller – ''Alibi of a butterfly''

Films

Deaths

January 12 – Lady Violet Powell, British critic and biographer
January 17 – Camilo José Cela, Nobel-winningSpanish writer
January 28 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's author
February 8 – Joachim Hoffmann, German historian
February 21 – A. L. Barker, English novelist
February 27 – Spike Milligan, Indian-born British-Irish comedian, screenwriter and poet
March 21 – Thomas Flanagan, American historical novelist
April 6 – Martin Sperr, German dramatist
April 24 – Ismith Khan, Trinidad-born novelist
April 27 – George Alec Effinger, American science fiction author
May 6 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch political columnist and writer
May 17 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist
May 20 – Stephen J. Gould, American paleontologist, biologist and writer
June 2 – Flora Lewis, American journalist
June 13 – R. W. B. Lewis, American critic
June 20
*Timothy Findley, Canadian novelist and playwright
*Kenneth Kantzer, American theologian
June 24 – John Kincaid McNeillie, Scottish novelist and non-fiction writer
July 23 – Chaim Potok, American writer
August 25 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian poet and playwright
September 17 – Eileen Colwell, English children's librarian
September 20 – Joan Littlewood, English theatre director and biographer
October 13 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian and biographer
October 21 – Harbhajan Singh, Indian Punjabi poet and critic
October 27 – Sesto Pals, Romanian Israeli poet and philosopher
October 28 – Sugathapala de Silva, Sri Lankan dramatist, novelist and translator writing in Sinhalese
November 8 – Jon Elia, Pakistani poet and philosopher writing in Urdu
December 12 – Dee Brown, American novelist and historian
December 24 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author, poet and artist

Awards

2002 in literature

Events

New books

Fiction

Children and young people

Drama

Poetry

Non-fiction

Films

Deaths

Awards

Australia

Canada

France

United Kingdom

United States

Other