1976 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1976.

Events

 * June 21 – The Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, is opened as a multiracial venue by Barney Simon.
 * September 3 – Novelist Antonio di Benedetto is released from prison after 18 months of imprisonment and torture under the National Reorganization Process (military dictatorship) in Argentina.
 * September 9 – The Royal Shakespeare Company starts a noted production of Shakespeare's Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leading roles, directed by Trevor Nunn.
 * October 25 – The Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank opens in premises designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, with a performance of Goldoni's 18th-century comedy Il Campiello.
 * unknown dates
 * Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers is established in new premises at Nanterre.
 * Mary Ronnie became the world's first female national librarian, at the National Library of New Zealand.

Fiction

 * Ann Beattie – Chilly Scenes of Winter
 * John Braine – Waiting for Sheila
 * William F. Buckley – Saving the Queen (the first Blackford Oakes thriller)
 * Anthony Burgess – Beard's Roman Women
 * Ramsey Campbell – The Height of the Scream
 * Brian Garfield – Gundown
 * Fănuș Neagu – Frumoșii nebuni ai marilor orașe ("Those Beautiful Lunatics of the Great Cities")

Children and young people

 * Richard Adams – The Tyger Voyage

Drama

 * Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mugo – The Trial of Dedan Kimathi
 * Neil Simon – California Suite

Births

 * October 31 – Seth Abramson, American journalist and poet
 * unknown dates
 * Bora Chung, Korean short story writer and novelist

Deaths

 * January 12 – Agatha Christie, English crime writer (born 1890)
 * January 25 – Victor Ehrenberg, German historian (born 1891)
 * February 2 – Barbara Euphan Todd, English children's writer (born 1890)
 * February 12 – John Lewis, Welsh philosopher (born 1889)
 * March 5 – Charles Lederer, American screenwriter and film director (born 1910)
 * March 7 – Tove Ditlevsen, Danish poet and fiction writer (suicide, born 1917)
 * March 13 – Sergiu Dan, Romanian novelist and journalist (born 1903)
 * April 2 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian novelist (born 1913)
 * April 28 – Richard Hughes, British novelist (born 1900)
 * May 7 – Alison Uttley, English writer of children's books (born 1884)
 * July 3 – Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Austrian poet, dramatist and fiction writer (born 1897)
 * July 15 – Paul Gallico, American novelist, short story and sports writer (born 1897)
 * August 9 – José Lezama Lima, Cuban writer and poet (born [1910)
 * August 29 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet (born 1899)
 * September 10 – Dalton Trumbo, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1905)
 * October 30 – Barbu Solacolu, Romanian poet, translator and economist (born 1897)
 * November 4 – Robert Speaight, English actor, biographer and essayist (born 1904)
 * November 6 – Patrick Dennis, American novelist (pancreatic cancer, born 1921)
 * November 23 – André Malraux, French novelist (born 1901)
 * December 21 – Munro Leaf, American children's author (born 1905)
 * December 22 – Martín Luis Guzmán, Mexican novelist and journalist (born 1887)
 * December 26 – Yashpal, Hindi novelist (born 1903)
 * December 29 – G. B. Edwards, Guernsey-born writer (born 1899)