2018 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2018.

Events

July – Stormzy's publisher imprint Merky Books is launched in London.
August 11 – Writer V. S. Naipaul, on his deathbed in London, has Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar" read to him by the newspaper editor Geordie Greig.
September 16 – Lady Mary Wroth's pastoral closet drama Love's Victory receives its first fully professional, publicly staged performance, at Penshurst Place in England, where it was probably written about 1618. It is the first known original pastoral drama and thought to be the first original dramatic comedy to be written by a woman.
October 19 – The exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, opening at the British Library, includes the earliest surviving will of an Englishwoman. Written on "a small, stained sheet of parchment", the detailed testament of Wynflæd is thought to date from the mid- to late 10th century.
October 26 – Under the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, a referendum in the Republic approves removing the offence of publishing or uttering blasphemous matter from the Constitution.
November 19 – The Prix littéraire des collégiens in Quebec is suspended after five shortlisted authors condemn its sponsorship by Amazon as "promotion of a multinational that harms bookstores".

New books

''Dates after each title indicate U.S. publication, unless otherwise indicated.''

Fiction

Claudia Amengual - El lugar inalcanzable
Sharon Bala – The Boat People
Jason Barker – Marx Returns
Pat Barker – The Silence of the Girls
Julian Barnes – The Only Story
Paul Goldberg – The Chateau
Belinda Bauer – Snap
John Boyne – A Ladder to the Sky
Anna Burns – Milkman
Jonathan Coe – Middle England
S. A. Cosby – My Darkest Prayer
Tsitsi Dangarembga – This Mournable Body
Patrick deWitt – French Exit
Nick Drnaso – Sabrina
Esi Edugyan – Washington Black
Chris Hammer – Scrublands
Sarah Henstra – The Red Word
Jonas Jonasson – The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man
Stephen King – Elevation
Torsten Krol – Foreverman
Rachel Kushner – The Mars Room
Olivia Laing – Crudo
Ian McDonald – Time Was
Sophie Mackintosh – The Water Cure
Rebecca Makkai – The Great Believers
Daniel Mason – The Winter Soldier
Andrés Neuman – Fractura
Michael Ondaatje – Warlight
Delia Owens – Where the Crawdads Sing
Casey Plett – Little Fish
Richard Powers – The Overstory
Tom Rachman – The Italian Teacher
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld – The Discomfort of Evening
Robin Robertson – The Long Take
Sally Rooney – Normal People
Donal Ryan – From a Low and Quiet Sea
Elif Şafak – On Dakika Otuz Sekiz Saniye
Nic Stone – Dear Martin
Tanya Tagaq – Split Tooth
Zlatko Topčić – Overture
Nico Walker – Cherry
Joshua Whitehead – ''Jonny Appleseed''

Children and young people

Elizabeth Acevedo – The Poet X
Arndís Þórarinsdóttir – Nærbuxnaverksmiðjan
Tomi Adeyemi – Children of Blood and Bone
David Almond – The Colour of the Sun
Ross Burach – Truck Full of Ducks
Connie Glynn – Princess in Practice
Candy Gourlay – Bone Talk
Grace Lin – A Big Mooncake for Little Star
Hilary McKay – The Skylarks War
Patricia McKissack – Who Will Bell the Cat?
Charlotte Pence – Marlon Bundo's: A Day in the Life of the Vice President
Anne Renaud – Fania's Heart
Manon Steffan Ros – Llyfr Glas Nebo
Jill Twiss – A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
David Walliams – ''The Ice Monster''

Drama

Non-fiction

Behrouz Boochani – No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison
Amaranth Borsuk – The Book
James Comey – A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership
Anthony Freeman – One Step Closer: 40 Doses of Motivation, Hacks, and Experiences to Share with Millennial Catholics
Jim Holt – When Einstein Walked with Gödel
Dan Jones – The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850–1960
Michelle McNamara – I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
Omarosa Manigault – Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House
Martin Rees – On the Future
Albert Samaha – Never Ran, Never Will
Julius S. Scott – The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution
Antony Sher – Year of the Mad King: the Lear diaries
Sylvain Tesson – Un été avec Homère
Sander Verhaeg – Working from Within: The Nature and Development of Quine's Naturalism
Tara Westover – Educated: A Memoir
Michael Wolff – Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
Shoshana Zuboff – ''The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power''

Biography and memoirs

Viv Albertine – To Throw Away Unopened
Paul D. Gibson – The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee
Tom Gregory – A Boy in the Water
Lindsey Hilsum – In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin
Jean-Marie Le Pen – Mémoires: fils de la nation
Michelle Obama – Becoming
Bart Van Es – The Cut Out Girl: a story of War and Family, Lost and Found
Clemantine Wamariya with Elizabeth Weil – The Girl Who Smiled Beads
Raynor Winn – The Salt Path
Benjamin Zephaniah – ''The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography''

Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding " in literature" article:

January 1 – Jahn Otto Johansen, Norwegian non-fiction writer and 1982 Cappelen Prize recipient, 83
January 3 – Fred Bass, American bookseller and owner of the Strand Bookstore, 89
*Valery Chalidze, Russian-born American publisher, 79
*Philip Eden FRMetS, English weather historian, 66
*Keorapetse Kgositsile, South African poet and National Poet Laureate, 79
*Ambalavaner Sivanandan, Sri Lankan writer and 1998 Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner in the Best First Book category for Europe and South Asia, 94
January 4 – Aharon Appelfeld, Romanian-born Israeli writer, 85
January 5 – Muntazir Baba, Pakistani Pushto poet, 68
*Rasa Chughtai, Indian-born Pakistani Urdu poet, 89
*Donald D. Evans, Canadian philosopher with an interest in Dostoevsky and Camus, 90
*Carlo Pedretti, Italian historian, 89
*Marina Ripa di Meana, Italian best-selling autobiographer, 76
January 7 – Markku Into, Finnish poet and translator, 72
*Bjørg Vik, Norwegian novelist, short story writer and playwright, co-founder of feminist magazine Sirene, 82
January 8 – J. F. C. Harrison, English historian, 96
*Jenny Joseph, English poet, 85
*Tricia Walker, English best-selling writer, 53
January 9 – Heikki Kirkinen, Finnish historian, 90
*Yılmaz Onay, Turkish writer and translator, 80
*Mario Perniola, Italian philosopher and professor of aesthetics, 76
January 10 – Gordon Hølmebakk, Norwegian publishing editor, essayist and novelist, 89
January 12 – Doodhnath Singh, Indian Hindi language writer, 81
*Heinrich von Stietencron, German Indologist, 84
January 13 – Darmanto Jatman, Indonesian poet, 75
January 14 – Geoffrey Best FBA, English historian, 89
*Pablo García Baena, Spanish poet and 1984 Asturias Prize recipient, 96
*Samuel A. Schreiner Jr., American writer, 96
January 15 – Moussa Diagana, Mauritanian writer, 71
January 17 – Guy Dupré, French writer and publisher, 89
January 18 – Peter Mayle, English best-selling memoirist of A Year in Provence and A Good Year, 78
*Henry Soles Jr., American editor of two books: The Soul Food New Testament and the Children of Color Bible, 82
January 19 – Saqi Farooqi, Pakistani poet, 81
*David M. Knight, English historian of science, 81
January 21 – Jock Haswell, English military historian and intelligence officer, 98
January 22 – Emilio Gastón, Spanish poet, 83
*Ursula K. Le Guin, American science fiction and fantasy author, 88
January 23 – Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet and physicist, 103
January 24 – Matti Rissanen, Finnish philologist with an interest in Old English, director of the project that produced the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts covering 1,000 years of the English language and used widely since its publication in 1991, involved in the translation of Shakespeare, 80
January 25 – Claribel Alegría, Nicaraguan poet, 93
*Shawkat Ali, Bangladeshi writer, 81
*Neagu Djuvara, Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher and novelist, 101
January 29 – Anthony Kemp, English military historian, 78
*Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood, Scottish philosopher of religion, explorer of continental thinkers including Fyodor Dostoevsky, Søren Kierkegaard, Albert Camus and Simone Weil, 76
January 30 – Andreas Gruschke, German writer and sinologist, 57
*Richard Murphy, Irish poet, 90
January 31 – Haim Gouri, Israeli poet, 94
February 1 – André Baudry, French philosophy professor and founder of the homophile review Arcadie, 95
*Niranjan Bhagat, Indian poet in the English and Gujarati languages, 1949 Kumar Suvarna Chandrak recipient, 1953 Narmad Suvarna Chandrak recipient, 1969 Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak recipient, 1998 Premanand Suvarna Chandrak recipient, 1999 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language recipient, 2001 Narsinh Mehta Award winner, 91
*William Whitehead, Canadian writer and longtime partner of fellow writer Timothy Findley, 86
February 3 – Bill Teale, American educator and literacy advocate, 70
February 5 – Gregor Dorfmeister, German novelist, 88
*Mathieu Riboulet, French novelist and 2012 Prix Décembre recipient, 57
February 6 – Liliana Bodoc, Argentine fantasy writer, 59
*Douglas Botting, English biographer, 83
*Jao Tsung-I, Chinese-born Hong Kong sinologist, calligrapher and historian, 100
*James W. Sire, American writer, professor of English literature, philosophy and theology, editor for InterVarsity Press, 84
*John Anthony West, American science fiction writer with an interest in Egypt, 85
*Michael White, English biographer of C. S. Lewis and others, and mystery fiction writer, 58
February 7
* Brahim Akhiat, Moroccan writer, 77
* John Perry Barlow, American internet activist, writer, and lyricist, 70
February 9 – Alfonso Lacadena, Spanish Mesoamerican epigraphist and academic at Complutense University of Madrid, 53
*Edward Pearce, English biographer and playwright, 78
*Keith M. Wilson, English historian
February 10 – Michiko Ishimure, Japanese writer, 90
February 11 – Raymond Vautherin, French-born Italian linguist, patois poet, playwright and translator, 82
February 12 – Bill Crider, American writer of crime, mystery, horror and westerns, 76
*Jack Ludwig, Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist and the basis of the character Valentine Gersbach in Saul Bellow's novel Herzog, 95
*Françoise Xenakis, French writer, 87
February 13 – Ernest Hecht, Czechoslovak-born English publisher and founder of Souvenir Press, 88
*Victor Milán, American libertarian science fiction writer, 63
February 14 – Lerone Bennett Jr., American scholar, chronicler of life for the blacks in that country and editor of Ebony, 89
February 15 – Tosun Bayrak, Turkish writer and translator known for efforts on works of the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi, 92
*Steven Collins, English-born American Buddhist studies scholar, 66
*Iseabail Macleod, Scottish lexicographer and former Director of the Scottish National Dictionary Association, 81
*Daniel Vernet, French writer, 72,
February 16 – Eleanor Winsor Leach, American academic from whom "Vergilians learned much... on the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, her 1974 book on the Eclogues, her two major Roman literature, art, and society, and many articles on Latin poetry and painting and their reception," 80
February 17 – Akinwunmi Isola, Nigerian playwright, novelist and promoter of the Yoruba language, 78
February 18 – John David Morley, English novelist and travel writer, 70
February 20 – Tōta Kaneko, Japanese Person of Cultural Merit, 2005 Cikada Prize recipient, 2015 Asahi Prize recipient, 98
*Roy McDonald, Canadian poet, 80
*Zigmas Zinkevičius, Lithuanian linguist-historian and 1994 Herder Prize recipient, 93
February 21 – Beryl Fletcher, New Zealand feminist novelist, 79
February 22 – Euler Granda, Ecuadorian poet and 2009 Premio Eugenio Espejo recipient, 82
February 23 – Wolfhart Westendorf, German Egyptologist, 93
February 25 – Michael Green, English novelist and playwright, 91
*Cynthia Heimel, American feminist writer of satirical books and playwright, 70
*Penny Vincenzi, English writer of novels and short stories, 78
February 28 – Pierre Milza, French historian and biographer, 85
March 1 – Diana Der Hovanessian, Armenian American poet, translator and professor at Yerevan State University, 83
March 2 – Adela Calva Reyes, Mexican writer and playwright, 50–51
*Gordon Challis, New Zealand poet, 85
*Ota Filip, Czech novelist who wrote both in German and Czech, 87
March 2 – Barbara Kiefer Lewalski, American literary scholar and authority on Renaissance literature known for work on John Milton, 87
March 3 – Jacques Gernet, French sinologist, 96
*Emma Hannigan, Irish writer known for writing about her experience with cancer, 45
*Anthony Lejeune, English writer, 89
*Ivone Ramos, Cape Verdean writer, 91
*Jorge Wagensberg Lubinski, Spanish physicist, academic, writer and aphorist, founder director of CosmoCaixa, 69
March 4 – José Triana, Cuban poet and playwright, 87
March 5 – Robert Assaraf, Moroccan historian, 81
*Derek Bickerton, English-born American linguist, academic and writer of novels, 91
*Clive Sinclair, English fiction writer included in Granta 1983 list of Best Young British Novelists, 70
*Hayden White, American historian in the tradition of literary criticism, 89
March 6 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet and academic, 61
*Peter Nicholls, Australian writer and editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 78
*Indra Bahadur Rai, Indian writer, 91
March 8 – Sir Wilson Harris, Guyanese poet, essayist, and fiction writer, 96
*Jean Jolivet, French philosopher and medievalist, 93
*Gerd Søraa, Norwegian writer of novels and local history, 83
*Peter Temple, Australian crime fiction writer, 71
*Kate Wilhelm, American science fiction, mystery and suspense writer, 89
March 9 – Ulla Nenonen, Finnish missionary and Bible translator, 84
March 10 – Val Mulkerns, Irish writer and poet, 93
March 11 – H. Blair Neatby, Canadian historian, 93
*David W. Noble, American historian, 92
*Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery writer, 65
*Mario Vegetti, Italian historian of philosophy, 81
March 12 – Emily Stipes Watts, American literary historian, 81
March 13 – Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer of novels, children's stories and short story collections, 86
March 14 – Robert L. Bireley, American Jesuit historian of Counter-Reformation Central Europe, 84
*Alfred W. Crosby, American ecological historian, 87
*David Wyman, American historian, 89
March 16 – Russell Freedman, American biographer, non-fiction and children's writer, 88
March 17 – Zdeněk Mahler, Czech writer and biographer, 89
*Sushil Siddharth, Hindi prose and poetry writer, critic, editor and satirist, 59
March 18 – Li Ao, Chinese-Taiwanese essayist and historian, 82
*Michael Rutschky, German writer and 1997 Heinrich Mann Prize recipient, 74
March 19 – Jürg Laederach, Swiss writer and 1997 Austrian State Prize for European Literature recipient, 72
*Luo Fu, Taiwanese poet, 89
*Kedarnath Singh, Indian poet, critic and essayist, 83.
March 20 – Ann-Charlotte Alverfors, Swedish writer, 71
*Tom Griffin, American playwright, 72
March 22 – Khozh-Akhmed Bersanov, Russian Chechen writer and ethnographer, 91
*Jan Kantůrek, Czech translator, 69
*Morten Piil, Danish film critic and translator of Vladimir Nabokov, 75,
*Dariush Shayegan, Iranian cultural theorist and philosopher, winner of the French ADELF award presented by the Association of French Authors in 2004 for his French novel Land of Mirage, 83,
March 23 – Philip Kerr, Scottish writer of historical detective thrillers and children's books, 62
*Alberto Ongaro, Italian writer of historical and adventure books, 92
*Aileen Paterson MBE, Scottish writer and illustrator of children's books, 83
March 24 – John Ehle, American "father of Appalachian literature", 92
March 25 – Bob Biderman, British-American novelist, 77 or 78
March 28 – Clément Rosset, French philosopher and writer, 78
March 29 – Anita Shreve, American novelist, 71
*Ivor Forbes Guest, English historian and writer, 97
*Drue Heinz, American literary publisher and patron, 103
March 31 – Margarita Carrera, Guatemalan philosopher, professor, writer and 1996 laureate of the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature, 88
April 1 – Brian Moynahan, English historian and biographer, 77
*Efraín Trelles, Peruvian historian of Spanish colonialism, 64
April 2 – Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, Egyptian novelist, 55
April 3 – Arrigo Petacco, Italian journalist and writer, 88
April 4 – John Lynch, English historian of Latin America, 91
April 5 – Irina Tokmakova, Russian poet, playwright and translator, 89
April 6 – Daniel Chavarría, Uruguay-born Cuban writer, 84
*Henryk Skolimowski, Polish philosopher, 87
*Edla Van Steen, Brazilian playwright and short story writer, 81
April 7 – Gerd Honsik, Austrian writer, 76
April 8 – Efraín Jara Idrovo, Ecuadorian writer, existentialist poet and 1999 Premio Eugenio Espejo recipient, 92
April 10 – Danarto, Indonesian writer and artist, 76
*J. D. McClatchy, American poet, 72
April 11 – Alexander Welsh, American literary scholar, 84
April 12 – Sergio Pitol, Mexican novelist, translator and 2005 Miguel de Cervantes Prize recipient, 85
April 14 – Frank Bren, Australian actor and playwright, 74
*Sam Hamill, American poet and publisher, 74
*Jon Michelet, Norwegian writer, 73
April 15 – Luise Hercus, German-born Australian linguist, 92
April 16 – Beverley Farmer, Australian novelist and short story writer, 77
April 17 – Joan Chase, American novelist, 81
April 18 – Jean Flori, French medieval historian, 82
*Howard Sachar, American historian, 90
*Willibald Sauerländer, German art historian, 94
April 19 – Arnold Eidslott, Norwegian poet, 91
*Herbert Pilch, German linguist and celtologist, 91
April 20 – Pavel Šrut, Czech poet, writer and translator, 78,
April 21 – Firmin Le Bourhis, French writer, 67
April 22 – Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao, Indian writer, composer and musicologist, 98
April 23 – Edward W. Tayler, American literary scholar, 87
April 24 – Belal Chowdhury, Bangladeshi poet, 79
*Dinu C. Giurescu, Romanian historian, 91
*Emma Smith, English writer whose best-selling novel was republished 50 years later, 94
April 25 – Steven Marcus, American literary critic and scholar, 89
April 26 – Elvira Orphée, Argentine writer, Guggenheim Fellow, 95
April 28 – Yevgeny Titarenko, Russian writer, 82
May 2 – Kottayam Pushpanath, Indian novelist and translator, 80
May 3 – Demetrio Túpac Yupanqui, Peruvian academic and Quechua translator of Don Quixote, 94
May 4 – Renate Dorrestein, Dutch writer and journalist, 64
May 5 – Klaus Dede, German writer and journalist, 82
*Rosemarie Schuder, German writer, 89
May 6 – Cirilo Bautista, Filipino writer and poet, 76
*Jamal Naji, Jordanian fiction writer, 63
May 7 – Andreas Findig, Austrian writer, 56
*Mikhail German, Russian writer, 85
May 9 – Murai Shimako, Japanese playwright, 89
May 10 – Günther Haensch, German linguist and lexicographer, 95
*Adam Parfrey, American writer, editor and publisher, 61
May 11 – Gérard Genette, French literary theorist, 87
*Josh Greenfeld, American playwright and screenwriter, 90
*Peter Mayer, American publisher, 82
May 13 – Balkavi Bairagi, Indian poet and politician, 87
May 14 – John James, Welsh poet, 79
May 15 – Balakumaran, Indian writer, 71
*Tom Murphy, Irish playwright, 83
*Barbara Nawrocka-Dońska, Polish journalist and feminist essayist, 93
May 16 – François Bréda, Romanian writer and literary critic, 62
*Elena Gremina, Russian scriptwriter, director and playwright, 61
*Miriam T. Griffin, American classical scholar, Emeritus Fellow in Ancient History at Somerville College, 82
May 17 – Inger Brattström, Swedish writer, 97
*Craig Harbison, American art historian, 74
May 18 – John Ashdown-Hill, English historian and writer on late medieval English history, focusing on the House of York and Richard III of England, whose work led to the discovery of Richard III's remains, 69
*Liam Ó Muirthile, Irish poet, 68
May 19 – Bernard Lewis, Anglo-American Middle East historian and professor, 101
May 20 – Ramón Chao, Spanish anti-Francoist journalist and writer, 82
May 21 – António Arnault, Portuguese politician, poet and Grand Master of Grande Oriente Lusitano, Minister of Social Affairs, 82
May 22 – Alberto Dines, Brazilian journalist, writer and professor, 86,
May 23 – Vinod Bhatt, Indian humorist and biographer, 80
May 24 – Paul Harris, Scottish writer and publisher, 69
May 26 – Mazhar Kaleem, Pakistani lawyer and novelist, 75
May 27 – Gardner Dozois, American science fiction writer
May 28 – Semavi Eyice, Turkish art historian, 95
May 31 – M. L. Thangappa, Indian writer, 84
June 1
*Poldy Bird, Argentine writer, 76
*Jill Ker Conway, Australian-American scholar and author, 83
*John Julius Norwich, English historian and travel writer, 88
*Michael Andrew Screech, English Renaissance scholar, 92
June 3 – Alessandra Appiano, Italian writer and journalist, 59
*Gilbert Trausch, Luxembourg historian, 86
*Kyra Petrovskaya Wayne, Russian-born American writer, 99
June 4 – Abhimanyu Unnuth, Mauritian writer, 80
June 5 – Daša Drndić, Croatian radio playwright and novelist, 71
June 6 – Mateja Matevski, Macedonian poet, 89
*David McFadden, Canadian poet and travel writer, 77
*Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx, English poet, Spouse of the Prime Minister, 102
June 7 – Philippe de Baleine, French writer, 96.
June 8
* Per Ahlmark, Swedish politician and writer
* Anthony Bourdain, American chef, writer, and television personality
* Liu Yichang, Hong Kong novelist, editor and publisher, a founder of Hong Kong's modern literature, 99
June 15 – Raoul Van Caenegem, Belgian historian, 90
*Macdara Woods, Irish poet, 76
June 17 – Andrei Ivanovich Stepanov, Soviet-born Russian diplomat and writer, 88
June 18 – Paul Gratzik, German writer, 82
*Nathan Shaham, Israeli writer, 93
*Marta Terry González, Cuban librarian, 87
June 19 – Stanley Cavell, American philosopher, 91
*Ivan Drach, Ukrainian poet, screenwriter and politician, member of Verkhovna Rada, 81
*Frank Vickery, Welsh playwright, 67
June 20 – Sándor Kányádi, Hungarian poet and translator, 89
*Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Pakistani banker, writer and humorist, 94
June 21 – Oldřich Král, Czech sinologist and translator, 87
*Eric Stanley, English literary scholar and historian, 94
June 22 – Nahum Korzhavin, Russian-American poet, 92
June 23 – Donald Hall, American poet, former U.S. Poet Laureate, 89
*Richard Lowitt, American historian, 96
*Phan Huy Lê, Vietnamese historian, 84
June 24 – Keith Bosley, English poet and translator, 80
June 26 – Andrey Dementyev, Russian poet, 89
June 28 – François Bluche, French historian, 92
*Domenico Losurdo, Italian Marxist philosopher and historian, 76
*Christine Nöstlinger, Austrian writer, 81
June 30 – Timothy Murphy, American poet, 67
*Fuat Sezgin, Turkish Islamic science historian, 93
July 1 – Bozhidar Dimitrov, Bulgarian historian, 72
July 2 – Meic Stephens, Welsh writer and editor, 79
July 3 – Thérèse Kleindienst, French librarian, 101
July 4 – Rogelio Mangahas, Filipino poet and writer, 79
July 5 – François Budet, French singer-songwriter, novelist, and poet, 78
*Gerald Messadié, French essayist and novelist, 87
*Michel Suffran, French novelist, 87
July 6 – Amritlal Vegad, Indian writer, 89
July 7 – Peter Sawyer, English historian, 90
July 8 – Anthony Kirk-Greene, English historian, 93
July 10 – Clive King, English writer, 94
July 13 – Atukwei Okai, Ghanaian poet and academic, 77
*Claude Seignolle, French writer, 101
July 14 – Petr Weigl, Czech director, playwright and dramaturge, 79
July 17 – Radoslav Nenadál, Czech writer and English-language translator, 88
*Hugh Whitemore, English playwright, 82
July 18 – Anne Olivier Bell, English literary editor and art scholar, member of the Monuments Men Brigade, 102
*Ling Li, Chinese historical novelist and missile engineering technologist, 76
July 26 – Sha Yexin, Chinese playwright and political activist, 79
July 27 – Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian linguist, intellectual and sexologist, 80
August 4 – Lluïsa Forrellad, Spanish writer, 91
*Anita Miller, American writer, publisher and co-founder of Academy Chicago Publishers, 91,
August 5 – Matthew Sweeney, Irish poet, 65
August 6 – Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan, Bangladeshi military officer and writer, 66
*Christian Habicht, German historian, 92
*Leonard Lewinsohn, American Islamic scholar, 64–65
*Anya Krugovoy Silver, American poet, 49
August 7 – Andrew Coburn, American fiction writer, essayist and newspaper columnist, 86
*Joel H. Silbey, American historian, 84
*Robley Wilson, American writer, 88
August 8 or 9 – Mario Alinei, Italian linguist, 91
*Robert Hugh Ferrell, American historian, 97
August 10 – William Corbett, American poet, 75
*Mahmut Makal, Turkish writer, 88
August 11 – Pierre Coustillas, French University of Lille academic and literary scholar specialising in George Gissing, 88
*Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, Trinidad-born British novelist and 2001 Nobel Prize laureate, 85
August 12 – Michael Scott Rohan, Scottish fantasy and science fiction writer, 67
*Steven T. Ross, American military historian, 81
August 13 – John Calder, Canadian-born British publisher who founded Calder Publishing in 1949, 91
*Georges Hausemer, Luxembourg fiction, travelogue and non-fiction writer, and translator from French, English, Spanish and Luxembourgeois into German, who sometimes worked as an illustrator using the pseudonym 'Theo Selmer, 92, 61
*Ann Moss, English literary historian, 80
August 14 – Chemmanam Chacko, Indian poet, 92
*Eduard Uspensky, Russian children's writer, poet, playwright and screenwriter, 80
August 15 – Abu Bakr al-Jazaeri, Algerian Islamic scholar and writer, 97
*Allan Rune Pettersson, Swedish writer, 82
*Sterling Stuckey, American historian specialising in slavery and Afro-American culture, 86
August 16 – Benny Andersen, Danish poet, short story writer, children's writer and pianist, 88
*George Athan Billias, American historian, 99
*Wakako Yamauchi, Japanese American playwright whose works were influential in Asian-American theatre, 93
August 17 – Jeremy Catto, English historian, 79
*Halima Xudoyberdiyeva, Uzbekistani nationalist, liberationist, feminist writer and poet, 71
August 18 – Tom Clark, American poet, biographer and poetry editor of The Paris Review between 1963 and 1973, 77
*Eduard Frolov, Russian historian, Head of Department of History of Ancient Greece and Rome at Saint Petersburg State University in 1971–2015 and member of the Journal of Ancient History editorial board, 85
*Henk Wesseling, Dutch historian, 81
August 20 – Matthew Aid, American military historian specializing in signal intelligence and history of National Security Agency, 60
August 21 – John Christgau, American writer on sports and his country's history, 84
*Vesna Krmpotić, Croatian writer, translator 1999 Vladimir Nazor Award recipient and 2013 Tin Ujević Award recipient, 86
*Hanna Mina, Syrian novelist, 94
August 22 – Jesús Torbado, Spanish writer and 1965 Alfaguara Prize recipient, 75
August 23 – Cindy Haug, Norwegian writer, 61
*Ann Ireland, Canadian novelist, writing instructor and past president of PEN Canada, 65
*Franck Venaille, French poet and 1996 Prix Mallarmé recipient, 81
August 24 – Stanley Morgan, English thriller writer, 88
*Ciril Zlobec, Slovene poet, 93
August 26 – Hamsad Rangkuti, Indonesian short story writer, 75
*Neil Simon, American playwright, 1991 Pulitzer Prize winner and 1965, 1985 and 1991 Tony winner, 91
August 28 – Josep Fontana, Spanish historian and Pompeu Fabra University academic, 86
August 29 – Carilda Oliver Labra, Cuban poet, 96
August 30 – Peter Corris, Australian academic, historian, journalist and novelist of historical and crime fiction, 76
August 31 – Ian Jones, author and television writer and director, 86
*Amanda Kyle Williams, American novelist of crime fiction, 61
September 1 – Margit Sandemo, Norwegian Swedish writer of historical fantasy works such as The Legend of the Ice People, 94
*Mykola Shytyuk, Ukrainian historian, 64
*Ehsan Yarshater, Iranian historian, linguist and Iranologist who was director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, 98
September 3 – Rama Chowdhury, Bangladeshi writer, 81
September 5 – Bhagwatikumar Sharma, Indian Gujarati writer and journalist, 84
*Priscila Uppal, Canadian poet, novelist, playwright and teacher of creative writing, 43
September 6 – Salawat Gallyamov, Russian linguist, 58
*Gilbert Lazard, French linguist, Iranologist and translator of classical Persian poetry, 98
September 7 – Gaston-Armand Amaudruz, Swiss neo-fascist political philosopher, 97
September 8 – Christopher Harper-Bill, English medieval historian focusing on "the ecclesiastical history of England from the Norman Conquest to the eve of the Reformation" and editing episcopal and monastic records, 71
September 9 – Adrian C. Louis, American Lovelock Paiute tribe writer whose work focused on poverty, alcoholism and social problems, 72
*John W. Rogerson, English Anglican priest, theologian, biblical scholar and Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, 83
September 10 – Paul Virilio, French philosopher of aesthetics, cultural theorist and urbanist, 86
September 12 – Ronald Carter, English linguist and founding member of the Poetics and Linguistics Association, 71
*Albert Ullin, German Australian children's bookseller and founder of Australia's first children's bookstore-The Little Bookroom, 88
September 13 – Guido Ceronetti, Italian poet, philosopher, playwright, puppeteer and translator, 91
*Albrecht Wellmer, German philosopher and 2006 Theodor W. Adorno Award recipient, 85
*John Wilcock, 91, English travel writer and co-founder of The Village Voice, 91
September 14 – Rudolf Schieffer, German historian specialising in medieval history and president of Monumenta Germaniae Historica between 1994 and 2012, 71
September 15 – Joris Borghouts, Dutch Egyptologist who in 1999 was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 79
*David Lowenthal, American historian and geographer known for his work on cultural heritage, 95
*Lionello Puppi, Italian art historian, 86
*Charles Rappleye, American writer, editor and co-founder of the art magazine Artillery, 62
*David Rubadiri, Malawi poet, playwright, novelist, academic and diplomat, 88
September 16 – John Molony, Australian historian and Emeritus Professor of History at Australian National University, 91
September 17 – Stephen Jeffreys, English playwright who gave Thomas Shadwell's The Libertine a modern adaptation, 68
*Daniel N. Robinson, American philosopher, 81
September 18 – Marceline Loridan-Ivens, French memoirist, 90
September 19 – Vishnu Khare, Indian Hindi poet and translator, 78
*Kondapalli Koteswaramma, Indian feminist writer, 100
*David Wong Louie, Chinese American novelist and short story writer, 63
*Pavel Řezníček, Czech poet, novelist, short story writer and translator from French, 76
September 20 – John Cunliffe, English children's writer, 85
*Inge Feltrinelli, German-born Italian publisher and photographer, 87
*, Chinese children's writer, 98
September 21 – Herbert Meier, Swiss writer, translator of French classical and modern plays into German and 1964 Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize recipient, 90
*Zinaida Mirkina, Russian poet, essayist and translator of Sufi poetry as well as works by Rabindranath Tagore and Rainer Maria Rilke, 92
September 23 – Olav Angell, Norwegian poet, jazz musician, novelist, translator of James Joyce's Ulysses, and 2002 Riksmål Society Literature Prize and 2006 Bastian Prize recipient, 86
*Jane Fortune, American feminist art historian, 76
*Derek Wheatley QC, English barrister and novelist-The Silent Lady , 92
September 24 – Arnold Krammer, American historian specialising in German and American history, 77
September 25 – Ismail Fahd Ismail, Kuwaiti novelist, short story writer and literary critic, 78
September 27 – Kavita Mahajan, Indian feminist Marathi fiction and non-fiction writer, children's writer and translator focusing on social issues, 51
September 28 – Tamaz Chiladze, Georgian dramatist, poet and novelist , 87
*Joe Masteroff, American playwright and 1967 Tony winner, 98
September 29 – Pascale Casanova, French literary critic rejected by French academia after her PhD but secured a posting at the United States Duke University, 59
September 30 – John J. McDermott, American philosopher, 86
October 1 – Donald Read, English historian, 88,
*Antoine Sfeir, Franco-Lebanese journalist and professor who wrote books such as The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, 69
October 2 – Smilja Avramov, Serbian academic and educator, 100
October 3 – Fang Nanjiang, Chinese writer of military-themed novels and major general of the People's Armed Police, 75
*Heo Su-gyeong, South Korean poet, 54
October 6 – James Cowan, Australian author, 76
*Ira Gasman, American playwright and lyricist, 76
*Michel Vovelle, French historian specialising in French Revolution, 85
October 7 – Oleg Pavlov, Russian writer, 48
October 8 – David Wise, American spy novelist, writer of non-fiction and 1975 Orwell Award recipient, 88
October 9 – Robert Bausch, American novelist and short story writer, 73
October 11 – Fatos Arapi, Albanian poet and 2008 Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath recipient, 89
*Pran Nevile, Indian historian, 95
*Hebe Uhart, Argentine writer, 81
October 12 – Jan Jakob Tønseth, Norwegian biographer, essayist, member of the Norwegian Academy, novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, 1977 Gyldendal's Endowment recipient, 2002 Cappelen Prize recipient and 2007 Dobloug Prize recipient, 71
October 13 – Sue Hubbell, American librarian and essayist who wrote about beekeeping, 83
October 14 – H. G. Jones, American archivist, 94
October 15 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish novelist, 76
October 16 – David Helwig, Canadian editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet, short story writer and translator, 80
*Even Hovdhaugen, Norwegian linguist, 77
October 18 – Anthea Bell OBE, English translator of Asterix, Austerlitz, Freud and Kafka, 82
*Hideo Osabe, Japanese essayist, novelist and 1973 Naoki Prize recipient, 84
October 20 – Gaétan Gervais, Canadian historian and co-designer of the Franco-Ontarian flag, 74
October 21 – Robert Faurisson, British-born French professor of literature and historian, 89
*François Montmaneix, French poet, writer and 2003 Prix Guillaume Apollinaire recipient, 80
*Eleanor Witcombe, Australian screenwriter and playwright, 95
October 22 – Anne Fairbairn, Australian poet, journalist and expert in Arab culture, 90
*Raymond Fraser, Canadian biographer, editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet and short story writer, 77
*Robert Saladrigas, Catalan literary critic, 1991 Premi Sant Jordi de novel·la recipient and 2004 Josep Pla Award recipient, 78
October 23 – Tony Hoagland, American poet, 64
*John Hostettler, English writer of legal histories and biographies, 93
*Louis O'Neill, Canadian writer, professor and politician, MNA, 93
*Rein Põder, Estonian writer and publisher, 75
October 23 – Alojz Rebula, Italian-born Slovene writer, playwright, essayist and 2005 Kresnik Award recipient, 94
October 24 – Anatoly Gladilin, Russian writer who defected to Paris, 83
October 25 – John Taylor Gatto, American teacher and writer on that country's modern education system, 82
October 26 – György Károly, Hungarian poet and writer, 65
October 27
*Angela Bianchini, Italian-born woman critic and literary critic who defected to the United States during the 1940s, 97
*Ntozake Shange, American black feminist playwright and poet
October 28 – Luis Miguel Enciso Recio, Spanish historian and politician, Senator, 88
*Peter Everwine, American poet, Professor Emeritus of English at Fresno State and translator, 88
*David Kenneth Fieldhouse FBA, English historian of the British Empire, 93
*I. John Hesselink, American theologian, 90
*Erno Polgar, Hungarian writer, 64
October 29 – Klaas Bruinsma, lecturer in English and history at Drachten and West Frisian language translator from Dutch, Spanish, Latin and Greek among others—, 87
*Dave Duncan, Scottish-born Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer, 85
*Li Xifan, Chinese literary scholar and redologist, 90
October 30 – Yashwant Dev, Indian Marathi poet and composer, 91
*María Irene Fornés, Cuban-American playwright who led Off-Off-Broadway and engaged in a sexual liaison with Susan Sontag, 88
*Jin Yong, Hong Kong wuxia novelist, essayist and newspaper proprietor, 94
October 30 – Sangharakshita, British Buddhist teacher and writer from the Triratna Buddhist Community, 93
October 31 – Louise DeSalvo, American writer on Italian-American culture and scholar of Virginia Woolf, 76
November 2 – Jane H. Hill, American anthropologist and linguist working with Native American languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family and anthropological linguistics of North American communities, 79
November 3 – Alistair Elliot, English librarian, poet, translator of Euripides's Medea and 2000 Cholmondeley Award recipient, 86
*Eric Schiller, American writer on chess and player of it, 63
November 4 – Bertil Mårtensson, Swedish writer of crime, fantasy and science fiction, 73
*Grant R. Osborne, American theologian and New Testament scholar, 76
*Ali Squalli Houssaini, Moroccan children's writer and lyricist of the national anthem, 86
November 6 – Coşkun Büktel, Turkish playwright, novelist and translator of D. H. Lawrence, 67
*Frances M. López-Morillas, American translator of Spanish literature into English and wife of Professor Juan López-Morillas of the Departments of Spanish and Comparative Literature at Brown University, 1000
November 7 – Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Scottish-born American editor, obituarist and book reviewer, 84
*Alan Watson, Scottish legal scholar, one of the world's foremost authorities on Roman law, comparative law, legal history and law and religion, credited with coining the term "legal transplants", 85
November 8 – Bartolomé Bennassar, French historian specializing in Spanish and Latin American history, 1987 Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise recipient and 2005 Grand prix Gobert recipient, 89
*Chin Yang Lee, Chinese-born American bestselling writer of The Flower Drum Song, 102
November 9 – Janet Paisley, Scottish writer and poet in Scots and English, 70
*Barre Toelken, American folklorist president of the American Folklore Society between 1977 and 1978 and editor of the Journal of American Folklore and Western Folklore, 83
November 10 – Liu Xuyi, Chinese historian specialized in American studies, 105
*Marc Wilmet, Belgian linguist, 80
November 11 – Olga Harmony, Mexican playwright, 90
*Donald McCaig, American novelist, 78
*Alun Morgan, Welsh jazz critic noted for plain, lucid prose, 90
*Zeng Shiqiang, Taiwanese sinologist noted for his study of the oldest of the Chinese classics I Ching, 84
*Fred Patten, American contributor to the fantasy and science fiction genres, 77
November 12 – Stan Lee dies in Los Angeles, California.
November 14 – Prabhat Nalini Das, Indian academic, Professor of English and translator into English, 91
*Fernando del Paso, Mexican novelist, essayist, poet, member of El Colegio Nacional de México since 1996, 1966 Xavier Villaurrutia Award, 1982 Rómulo Gallegos Prize, 2007 FIL Award, 2013 Alfonso Reyes International Prize and 2015 Miguel de Cervantes Prize recipient, 83
November 15 – E. D. Blodgett, Canadian poet, literary critic and translator, 83
*Aldyr Schlee, Brazilian short story writer and translator noted for designing the jersey of the Brazil national football team, 83
November 16 – Paul Ferris, Welsh biographer of Dylan Thomas,, Thomas's wife and Northcliffe, 89
*William Goldman, American writer in the fantasy and thriller genres who turned to screenwriting, 87
November 17 – Ajin Panjapan, Thai writer, 91
November 18 –, Ukrainian linguist, literary critic, professor and translator from English and Italian, 96
*Iain Moireach, Scottish Gaelic editor, novelist, poet and short story writer, 80
November 19 – Shiao Yi, Taiwanese-American wuxia novelist, 83
November 20 – James H. Billington, American academic, history teacher and former Librarian of Congress, 89
November 21 – Meena Alexander, Indian-born American feminist poet and scholar, 67
*Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani feminist poet, 72
November 22 – Judith Rodriguez, Australian editor, lecturer, librettist and poet who was the wife of Thomas Shapcott, 82
November 23 – Jean-Loup Rivière, French playwright and drama critic, 70
November 24 – Ikeogu Oke, Nigerian poet and writer of children's literature who received the 2017 Nigeria Prize for Literature, 51
November 25 – Paul Ellingworth, Scottish biblical scholar and translator, 87
*Philip Levine, American classicist, 96
*Claude Péloquin, Québécois poet, 76
November 26 – Luc Deflo, Belgian writer, 60
*Iravatham Mahadevan, Indian epigraphist noted for his successful decipherment of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and expertise on Indus Valley civilisation epigraphy, 88
*Leo P. Ribuffo, American historian, 72–73
*Goran Stefanovski, Macedonian playwright, 66
*Barbara Brooks Wallace, American writer of children's literature, 95
November 28 – Thomas J. J. Altizer, American radical theologian noted for his contribution to the short-lived "God is dead" cultural moment experienced by that country, 91
*Blaže Ristovski, Macedonian folklorist, historian, linguist and member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 87
*Harry Leslie Smith, English memoirist, 95
November 29 – Elisa Brune, Belgian writer, 52
*Altaf Fatima, Pakistani Urdu novelist and short story writer, 91
*Miguel Romero Esteo, Spanish professor and playwright, 88
November 30 – Attash Durrani, Pakistani linguist and scholar noted for his work on Urdu language and literature, 66
December 1
*Ivan Katardžiev, Macedonian historian, 92
*Pauls Putniņš, Latvian playwright, journalist and politician, 81
December 2 – Séry Bailly, Ivorian writer and politician, 70
December 3
*Andrei Bitov, Russian novelist and short story writer of Circassian ancestry, 81
*Justin Cartwright, South African-born British Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, 75
*Hans-Günther Thalheim, German linguist and writer noted for work on the eighteenth century, 94
December 4 – Nh. Dini, Indonesian feminist novelist, 82
December 5 – Julia Vinograd, American street poet, graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and Berkeley's unofficial poet laureate, 74
December 6
*Kuslan Budiman, Indonesian poet and fiction writer, 83
*Joseph Joffo, French novelist noted for a widely translated memoir, A Bag of Marbles, 87
*Murray Murphey, American historian, philosopher and advocate of social sciences, 90
December 8 – Jamal Nebez, Iraqi Kurdish linguist, mathematician and translator of Gogol and Shakespeare into Kurdish, 85
December 9
*William Blum, American historian, 85
*Tor Fretheim, Norwegian writer of children's literature and recipient of the 1986 Norwegian Critics Prize for Best Children's Book, 72
December 10
*Mushirul Hasan, Indian historian, 69
*Robert Spaemann, German Roman Catholic philosopher seen as a member of the Ritter school, whose work focused on Christian ethics, 91
*Xavier Tilliette, French philosopher and theologian, 97
December 11
*Harold L. Kahn, American historian focusing on Imperial China, 88
*Lia Wyler, Brazilian translator of Harry Potter'' series, 84
December 12
*Wilhelm Genazino, German novelist, 2004 Georg Büchner Prize recipient and 2007 Kleist Prize recipient, 75
*Meng Lang, Chinese poet and promoter of dissidents such as Liu Xiaobo, 57
December 15
*Eryue He, Chinese historical fiction writer, 73
*Jacques Verdier, French novelist, 61
December 19 – Bhai, Surinamese poet, 83
December 20 – F. W. Bernstein, German poet and 2008 Wilhelm Busch Prize recipient, 80
December 21 – Tom Leonard, Scottish poet writing in Glaswegian dialect, 74
December 22
*Gary N. Knoppers, Canadian theologian noted for work on 1 Chronicles, 62
*Jane Langton, American writer of children's literature and detective fiction, 95
*Roger Owen, English historian noted for work on Middle East, 83
December 23 – Eileen Battersby, American-born Irish literary critic known for advocating fiction in translation, 60
December 24 – Osvaldo Bayer, Argentine "ultra-pacifist anarchist" novelist, 91
December 25
*Nirendranath Chakravarty, Indian poet and writer about the fictional detective Bhaduri Moshai, 94
*Baldur Ragnarsson, Icelandic poet and writer of Esperanto works, 88
*Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, American writer on African American women, 77
*Terence Wheeler, English novelist and playwright, 82
December 26 – Elizabeth Zachariadou, Greek historian of Turkish studies, notably the early Ottoman Empire, 87
December 27 – Wilfred Shuchat, Canadian scholar and rabbi, 98
December 28
*Seydou Badian Kouyaté, Malian novelist and lyricist of his country's national anthem "Le Mali", 90
*Amos Oz, Israeli novelist, memoirist, etc., recipient of 2005 Goethe Prize and 2013 Franz Kafka Prize, 79
December 30 – Edgar Hilsenrath, German novelist ranged from the grotesque to the poetic, 92
December 31 – Gülriz Sururi, Turkish novelist, memoirist and essayist, 89

Awards

The following list is arranged alphabetically:

Folio Prize: Richard Lloyd Parry, Ghosts Of The Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone
Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Aleida and Jan Assmann
German Book Prize: Inger-Maria Mahlke for Archipel
Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: Sarah Henstra, The Red Word
Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Karoline Georges, De synthèse
International Prize for Arabic Fiction:
Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 30th Lambda Literary Awards.