2014 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2014.

Events

 * January – Parts of two previously unknown poems by the female Greek poet Sappho are discovered on ancient papyrus. This is reported by several news sources by the end of the month.
 * January 18 – The first books are transferred from the old to the new National Library of Latvia in Riga.
 * March 6 – Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda wins the 2014 edition of Canada Reads.
 * April 24 – Writers including Mark Haddon and Mary Beard join a campaign against a ban on sending books to U.K. prison inmates.
 * May 22 – J. R. R. Tolkien's 1926 translation of Beowulf is first published. (His essay "On Translating Beowulf had appeared in 1940).
 * June 10 – As part of a Northern Iraq offensive, ISIL and aligned Salafi jihadist forces take Mosul, leading to extensive book burning at its libraries, as part of the destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL.
 * November 25 – Discovery of a previously unknown copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays (1623) in the public library at Saint-Omer in northern France is announced.

Anniversaries

 * 28 January – On this day 75 years ago, W. B. Yeats died in Menton, France.
 * 5 February – William Burroughs was born in 1914 (100th Anniversary)
 * 21 February – Christopher Marlowe's 450th birthday celebrated (may or may not be his birthday)
 * 1 March – On this day 100 years ago, Ralph Ellison (author of Invisible Man) was born.
 * 9 March – Charles Bukowski died 20 years ago today (1994).
 * 10 March – On this day 50 years ago, John Updike receives the National Book Award for The Centaur.
 * 31 March – 100th anniversary of the birth of the Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet Octavio Paz in 1914.
 * 4 April – Marguerite Duras was born in 1914 (100th Anniversary)
 * 14 April – On this day 75 years ago, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.
 * 16 April – Ralph Ellison dies on this date 20 years ago in 1994. (see March 1 above for Ellison links)
 * 18 April – On this day 40 years ago (1974) the first printing of J. M. Coetzee's debut novel Dusklands appeared in hardback.
 * 23 April – It is assumed that William Shakespeare was born on this day 450 years ago (because records show that he was baptised on 26 April).
 * 26 April – The centenary of Bernard Malamud's birth (April 26, 1914).
 * May – The 100th anniversary of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons.
 * 16 June – This year's Bloomsday celebration will also mark the 100th anniversary of the publication (June 1914) of Joyce's Dubliners.
 * 21 September – the 50th anniversary of the publication of Herzog by Saul Bellow, the second of his three National Book Award-winning novels.
 * 7 July – Sir Walter Scott's debut novel, Waverley, was published (anonymously) 200 years ago today.
 * 22 September – Alain-Fournier died in action in northern France 100 years ago today, just a year after the publication of his only novel, Le Grand Meaulnes.
 * 27 October – Dylan Thomas was born a hundred years ago.
 * 18 November – Margaret Atwood celebrates her 75th birthday today.
 * 2 December – The Marquis de Sade died 200 years ago today.

Fiction
Dates after each title indicate U.S. publication, unless stated otherwise.
 * Belinda Alexandra – Sapphire Skies (Australia)
 * Jacob M. Appel – Scouting for the Reaper (February 15)
 * Kate Atkinson – A God in Ruins (UK)
 * Margaret Atwood – Stone Mattress – Nine Tales (September 16)
 * Bandi – The Accusation (Korean language short stories, South Korea, May)
 * Natalie Baszile – Queen Sugar (February 6)
 * Pierce Brown – Red Rising (January 28)
 * Jessie Burton – The Miniaturist (UK)
 * Anthony Doerr – All the Light We Cannot See (May 6)
 * Ceridwen Dovey – Only the Animals (April 23)
 * David Grossman – A Horse Walks into a Bar: A novel (In original Hebrew as סוס אחד נכנס לְבָּר (Soos Echad Nechnas L'bar), Israel)
 * John Hornor Jacobs – The Incorruptibles (UK)
 * Marlon James – A Brief History of Seven Killings (October 2)
 * Stephen King
 * Mr. Mercedes (June 3)
 * Revival (November 11)
 * Thomas King – The Back of the Turtle
 * Paul Kingsnorth – The Wake (UK, April?)
 * Herman Koch – Geachte heer M. (Dear Mr. M., Netherlands)
 * Niviaq Korneliussen – Homo Sapienne (Greenland)
 * Laila Lalami – The Moor's Account (September 9)
 * S. E. Lister – Hideous Creatures (UK, May)
 * Édouard Louis (born Eddy Bellegueule) – En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule (translated as The End of Eddy, France, February)
 * Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – Kintu (Ugandan-born author published in Kenya)
 * Emily St. John Mandel – Station Eleven (Canada)
 * Javier Marías – Así empieza lo malo (Thus Bad Begins, Spain)
 * Sean Michaels – Us Conductors (Canada, April 8)
 * Karen Miller – The Falcon Throne (September)
 * Haruki Murakami – Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (translation, August 12)
 * Rick Riordan – The Blood of Olympus (October 7)
 * Rudy Ruiz – Seven for the Revolution
 * Samanta Schweblin – Distancia de rescate (translated as Fever Dream, Argentina)
 * Roger Scruton – Notes from Underground (March 12)
 * Akhil Sharma – Family Life
 * Joss Sheldon – Involution & Evolution (August 4)
 * Leïla Slimani – Dans le jardin de l'ogre (France)
 * Ali Smith – How to Be Both (UK, August 28)
 * Miriam Toews – All My Puny Sorrows
 * Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob (Księgi Jakubowe) (Poland, October)
 * Niall Williams – History of the Rain

Children and young people

 * Chris Van Allsburg – The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie
 * David Almond
 * A Song for Ella Grey
 * The Tightrope Walkers
 * Connah Brecon – There's This Thing
 * A. F. Harrold – The Imaginary
 * John Hornor Jacobs – The Shibboleth
 * J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – Harlem Hellfighters
 * Katherine Rundell – Rooftoppers
 * Jon Scieszka – Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (first in the Frank Einstein series of four books)
 * R. A. Spratt – Friday Barnes
 * Maggie Stiefvater – Blue Lily, Lily Blue (third book in The Raven Cycle, October 21)
 * Zoe Sugg – Girl Online (UK, November 25)

Drama

 * Mike Bartlett – King Charles III
 * John Patrick Shanley – Outside Mullingar

Poetry

 * Rosemary Tonks (posthumous) – Bedouin of the London Evening (selected poetry and prose)

Non-fiction

 * Leo Babauta – The Little Book of Contentment
 * Alan Cumming – Not My Father's Son
 * Lindsay David – Australia: Boom to Bust
 * Mark Felton – Zero Night
 * William H. Frey – Diversity Explosion
 * Michael Gross – House of Outrageous Fortune
 * Christophe Guilluy – La France périphérique
 * Madhu Kishwar – Modi, Muslims and Media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat
 * Naomi Klein – This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
 * Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott – Farmageddon
 * Helen Macdonald – H is for Hawk (UK, July)
 * Rajiv Malhotra – Indra's Net
 * Lucy Mangan – Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory
 * L. A. Paul – Transformative Experience
 * Winifred Phillips – A Composer's Guide to Game Music
 * Claudia Rankine – Citizen: An American Lyric
 * Roger Scruton
 * How to Be a Conservative (UK, September 11)
 * The Soul of the World
 * Douglas Vakoch – Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication
 * Erik Voskuil – Before Mario
 * Erik Voskuil – Before Mario

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in literature" article,
 * January 4 – Jean Metellus, Haitian neurologist, author, poet, and playwright (born 1937)
 * January 14 – Juan Gelman, Argentine poet, 83 (born 1930)
 * January 28 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer, 64 (born 1949)
 * January 29 – Hashem Shabani, Iranian poet, 32, (hanged, born c. 1982)
 * February 18 – Mavis Gallant, Canadian writer of short stories, 91 (born 1923)
 * March 2 – Justin Kaplan, American writer, editor and biographer, 88 (born 1925)
 * March 18 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian researcher and poet,
 * April 2
 * Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (born 1931)
 * Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (born 1938)
 * April 5 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, naturalist and wilderness writer, 86 (born 1927)
 * April 10
 * Doris Pilkington Garimara (Nugi Garimara), Aboriginal novelist, 77 (born 1937)
 * Sue Townsend, English comic novelist and playwright, 68 (born 1946)
 * April 15 – Rosemary Tonks, English poet, prose writer, and children's writer (born 1928)
 * April 17 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian Nobel laureate, 87 (born 1927)
 * April 20 – Alistair MacLeod, Canadian writer, 77 (born 1936)
 * April 24 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer, 92 (born 1921)
 * May 6 – Farley Mowat, Canadian author and environmentalist, 92 (born 1921)
 * May 21 – Ruth Guimarães, Afro-Brazilian classicist, fiction writer and poet, 93 (born 1920)
 * May 28
 * Maya Angelou, American author, poet and civil rights activist, 86 (born 1928)
 * Oscar Dystel, American paperback publisher, 101 (born 1912).
 * June 19 – Josephine Pullein-Thompson, English children's novelist, 90 (born 1924)
 * June 22 – Felix Dennis, English publisher and poet, 67 (born 1947)
 * June 23 – Nancy Garden, American author (born 1938)
 * June 25 – Ana María Matute, Spanish writer, 88 (born 1925)
 * June 29 – Dermot Healy, Irish poet, playwright, fiction writer and memoirist. 66 (born 1947)
 * July 4 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic, 62
 * July 7 – Sheila K. McCullagh, English children's writer (born 1920)
 * July 13 – Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, anti-apartheid activist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 90 (born 1923)
 * July 20 – Thomas Berger, American writer, 93 (born 1924)
 * August 1 – Jan Roar Leikvoll, Norwegian novelist, 40 (brain tumour, born 1974)
 * August 2
 * Billie Letts, American novelist, 73 (born 1938)
 * James Thompson, American-Finnish author, 49 (born 1964)
 * September 4
 * Orunamamu, American-Canadian author, story-teller and educator, 93 (born 1921)
 * Edgar Steele, American lawyer and author, 69 (born 1945)
 * September 21 – Linda Griffiths, Canadian playwright, 60 (born 1953)
 * September 24 – Hugh C. Rae (Jessica Stirling, etc.), Scottish novelist, 79 (born 1935)
 * September 28 – Dannie Abse, Welsh poet and physician, 91 (born 1923)
 * November 27 – P. D. James, English crime writer, 94 (born 1920)
 * November 29 – Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet and writer, United States Poet Laureate, 80 (born 1934)
 * November 30
 * Radwa Ashour, Egyptian writer and academic, 68 (born 1946)
 * Kent Haruf, American novelist, 71 (born 1943)
 * December 3 – Vicente Leñero, Mexican writer and journalist, 81 (born 1933)
 * December 12 – Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, 86 (born 1928)
 * December 24 – Lee Israel, American biographer and literary forger, 75 (born 1939)

Awards

 * Akutagawa Prize: Hiroko Oyamada for Ana (Hole) and Tomoka Shibasaki for Haru No Niwa (Spring Garden)
 * Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
 * Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
 * Caine Prize for African Writing: Okwiri Oduor, "My Father's Head"
 * Camões Prize: Alberto da Costa e Silva
 * Costa Book of the Year: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
 * Danuta Gleed Literary Award: Paul Carlucci, The Secret Life of Fission
 * Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Tamai Kobayashi
 * Desmond Elliott Prize: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
 * DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer by Cyrus Mistry
 * Dylan Thomas Prize: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
 * European Book Prize: Pascale Hugues, Hannah's Dress, and Anthony Giddens, Turbulent and Mighty Continent
 * Folio Prize: Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders
 * German Book Prize: Kruso by Lutz Seiler
 * Goldsmiths Prize: How to Be Both by Ali Smith
 * Gordon Burn Prize: The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
 * Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: Thomas King, The Back of the Turtle
 * Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Andrée A. Michaud, Bondrée
 * Governor General's Awards, other categories: See 2014 Governor General's Awards.
 * Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Adrien Bosc, for Constellation
 * International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
 * International Dublin Literary Award: Juan Gabriel Vásquez, The Sound of Things Falling
 * Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
 * Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 26th Lambda Literary Awards
 * Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award: Steve Erickson
 * Man Booker Prize: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
 * Miles Franklin Award: All The Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
 * National Biography Award: The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer by Alison Alexander
 * National Book Award for Fiction: to Redeployment by Phil Klay
 * Nobel Prize in Literature: to Patrick Modiano
 * PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
 * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri
 * Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows
 * SAARC Literary Award: Tarannum Riyaz
 * Samuel Johnson Prize: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
 * Scotiabank Giller Prize: Sean Michaels, Us Conductors
 * Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings: Ko Un
 * Walter Scott Prize: An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
 * Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: Charles Simic