2013 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2013.

Events

21 January – An annual Orwell Day is instituted.
26 January – Fleeing Islamist insurgents set fire to library buildings in Timbuktu containing manuscripts, mostly in Arabic, dating back to 1204.
7 March – World Book Day becomes a UNESCO-designated event marked in more than 100 countries.
April – J. K. Rowling publishes a detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, with the U.K. publisher Sphere Books. The author's identity is revealed by the media in July.
23 April – World Book Night.
28 April – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Simon Stephens' stage adaptation of a novel by Mark Haddon, wins a record seven awards at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards in London.
1 July – Publisher Penguin Random House is created by a merger.
3 September – The new Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in the U.K., is opened by Malala Yousafzai. Its public spaces are integrated with those of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
October – Jo Nesbø reveals himself as Tom Johansen, author of three forthcoming novels.
28 November – Three unpublished works by J. D. Salinger, including "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls", are leaked onto the internet.

Anniversaries

11 February
*50th anniversary of the death of Sylvia Plath in 1963
*200th anniversary of the birth of Harriet Jacobs in 1813
28 January – 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813
5 May – 200th anniversary of the birth of Søren Kierkegaard in 1813
2 June – 100th anniversary of the birth of Barbara Pym
29 June – 400th anniversary of the burning of the Globe Theatre during a production of Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII in 1613
2 August – 25th anniversary of the death of US short story writer Raymond Carver
7 November – 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Camus
22 November – 50th anniversary of the death of Aldous Huxley

New books

Deaths

2 January
*Alexei Rudeanu, Romanian writer
*Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and writer
7 January – Maruša Krese, Slovene poet, writer and journalist
10 January – Evan S. Connell, American novelist, poet and short story writer
11 January – Robert Kee, English writer, journalist and broadcaster
18 January – Jacques Sadoul, French novelist, book editor and non-fiction writer
20 January
*Yemi Ajibade, Nigerian playwright and actor
*Dolores Prida, Cuban-American journalist and playwright
*Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet
24 January – Richard G. Stern, American novelist and educator
2 February – Sirajul Haq Memon, Pakistani author, journalist and scholar in Sindhi
3 February – Robert Anthony Welch, Irish author and academic
4 February – Margaret Frazer, American historical novelist
5 February – Leda Mileva, Bulgarian writer, translator, and diplomat
7 February
*Niki Marangou, Cypriot writer and painter
*Jonathan Rendall, English author
8 February – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American screenwriter and author
10 February – W. Watts Biggers, American novelist
12 February – Barnaby Conrad, American author
13 February – Oswald LeWinter, Austrian-born American writer
14 February
*Glenn Boyer, American author
*Mary Brave Bird, American Lakota writer and activist
*Friedrich Neznansky, Russian writer
17 February
*William Bridges, American author and business consultant
*Manoranjan Das, Indian playwright
*Debbie Ford, American motivational author
23 February
*Maurice Rosy, Belgian comics writer
*Sylvia Smith, English writer
24 February – Mahmoud Salem, Egyptian author
26 February
*Jan Howard Finder, American science fiction writer
*Stéphane Hessel, German-born French author and diplomat
27 February
*Molly Lefebure, English writer
*Imants Ziedonis, Latvian poet
10 March – Robert Chrisman, American poet, scholar, and critic, co-founder of The Black Scholar
1 April – Kildare Dobbs, Canadian author
11 April – Adam Galos, Polish historian
13 April – Nick Pollotta, American science fiction author
20 April
*Jocasta Innes, China-born English non-fiction writer
*E. L. Konigsburg, American children's novelist and illustrator
22 April – Clément Marchand, Canadian poet and journalist
1 May – Gregory Rogers, Australian children's author and illustrator
12 May – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian
23 May – William Demby, American author
26 May – Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer
6 June – Tom Sharpe, English comic novelist
9 June – Iain Banks, Scottish novelist
23 June – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter
12 July – Elaine Morgan, Welsh writer on anthropology
2 September – Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer
18 September – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-born German literary critic
21 September – Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian poet
23 September
*Christopher Koch, Australian novelist
*Álvaro Mutis, Colombian poet, novelist and essayist
*Luciano Vincenzoni, Italian screenwriter
1 October – Tom Clancy, American thriller writer
25 November – Joel Lane, English author, poet, and critic
11 December – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author

Awards

Akutagawa Prize : Kaori Fujino for Tsume to Me "Nails and Eyes"
Caine Prize for African Writing: Tope Folarin, "Miracle"
Camões Prize: Mia Couto
Danuta Gleed Literary Award: '
David Cohen Prize: Hilary Mantel
Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, C. E. Gatchalian; honours of distinction, Anand Mahadevan, Barry Webster
Dylan Thomas Prize: Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins
European Book Prize: Eduardo Mendoza, An Englishman in Madrid, and Arnaud Leparmentier, The French, gravediggers of the euro
Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Svetlana Alexievich
German Book Prize: Terézia Mora, Das Ungeheuer
Goldsmiths Prize: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
Gordon Burn Prize: Pig Iron by Ben Myers
Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Quand les guêpes se taisent by Stéphanie Pelletier
Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Plonger by Christophe Ono-dit-Biot
Hugo Award for Best Novel: John Scalzi for Redshirts
International Dublin Literary Award: City of Bohane by Kevin Barry
International Prize for Arabic Fiction: The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi
Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2013 Lambda Literary Awards
Man Booker Prize: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Miles Franklin Award: Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser
National Biography Award : The Two Frank Thrings by Peter Fitzpatrick
National Book Award for Fiction: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
National Book Critics Circle Award: to Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Nobel Prize in Literature: Alice Munro
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Premio Planeta de Novela: El cielo ha vuelto by Clara Sánchez
Premio Strega: Resistere non serve a niente by Walter Siti
Pritzker Military Library Literature Award: to Tim O'Brien
Prix Goncourt: Au revoir là-haut by Pierre Lemaitre
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds
Russian Booker Prize: Возвращение в Панджруд by Andrei Volos
SAARC Literary Award: Suman Pokhrel, Abhay K, Daya Dissanayake, Farheen Chaudhary, Abdul Khaliq Rashid
Samuel Johnson Prize: ' The Pike by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Scotiabank Giller Prize: Lynn Coady, Hellgoing
Whiting Awards: Fiction: Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams, Amanda Coplin, Jennifer duBois, C.E. Morgan, Stephanie Powell Watts; Nonfiction: Morgan Meis, Clifford Thompson; Plays: Virginia Grise; Poetry: Ishion Hutchinson, Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Women's Prize for Fiction: May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: W.S. Merwin

2013 in literature

Events

Anniversaries

New books

Fiction

Children's and young people

Drama

Non-fiction

Deaths

Awards