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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2016.
- May 20 – Writers who sign a letter calling for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union include Hilary Mantel, John le Carré, Philip Pullman and Tom Stoppard;[1] nevertheless, the June 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum endorses Brexit.
- May 24 – Hundreds of US writers, including Stephen King, Robert Polito and Nicole Krauss, sign an "open letter to the American people" urging them not to support Donald Trump as a presidential candidate in the November 2016 United States presidential election.[2]
- November 26 – UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy receives the Wilfred Owen Poetry Award.[3]
- January 10 – Fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
- February 1 – 20th anniversary of the publication of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.[4]
- February 22 – 40th anniversary of the publication of Raymond Carver's Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
- February 28 – Centenary of Henry James's death in 1916
- March 28 – 75th anniversary of the death of Virginia Woolf in 1941
- April 3 – 25th anniversary of Graham Greene's death in 1991
- April 12 – Centenary of the birth of Beverly Cleary, American children's author
- May 21 – Centenary of the birth of Harold Robbins, American novelist dubbed one of "the world's bestselling authors."[5]
- May 28 – Centenary of the birth of Walker Percy, National Book Award-winning American novelist (The Moviegoer, published 55 years ago in 1961)
- April 21 – Bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë's birth in 1816
- April 22 – 400th anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes.[6]
- April 23 – Possible 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death
- April 24 – Centenary of the Easter Rising in Dublin, which inspired W. B. Yeats's poem "Easter, 1916"
- July 1 – Centenary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, in which those fighting included Robert Graves, Ford Madox Ford and JRR Tolkien
- July 14 – Centenary of the birth of Natalia Ginzburg, Italian author
- September 13 – Centenary of the birth of Roald Dahl, Welsh-born children's author
- September 17 – Centenary of the birth of Mary Stewart (Mary Rainbow), English romantic suspense novelist
- September 28 – Fiftieth anniversary of the death of André Breton, French poet, essayist and theorist; the leading exponent of Surrealism in literature
- October 3 – Centenary of the birth of James Herriot (James Alfred Wight), English writer and veterinary surgeon
- October 22 – 90 years ago, Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises is published in a first edition consisting of 5090 copies, selling at $2.00 per copy
- December 14 – Centenary of the birth of Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer
- December 29 – Centenary of the publication in book form of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, in New York
The date after each title indicate the U.S. publication date, unless otherwise stated.
Fiction
- Naomi Alderman – The Power (UK, October)
- Mohammed Hasan Alwan – A Small Death (موت صغير, Lebanon, May)
- Fernando Aramburu – Patria (Spain)
- Anuk Arudpragasam – The Story of a Brief Marriage (UK)
- Margaret Atwood – Hag-Seed (October)[7]
- Sebastian Barry – Days Without End (October)[8]
- Gary Barwin – Yiddish for Pirates (April 8)[9]
- Mike Binder – Keep Calm (February 2)[10]
- Pierce Brown – Morning Star (February 9)[11]
- Graeme Macrae Burnet – His Bloody Project (UK)
- Marcia Clark – Blood Defense (May 1)[12]
- J. M. Coetzee – The Schooldays of Jesus (UK, September 27)
- Jean-Baptiste Del Amo – Règne animal (France, August 18)
- Emma Donoghue – The Wonder (September)[13]
- Paul Goldberg – The Yid (February 2)[14]
- Linda Grant – The Dark Circle (UK only, November 3)
- Mark Greaney – Back Blast
- Yaa Gyasi – Homegoing
- Michael Helm – After James (September 13)[15]
- Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson – Navigators of Dune (September 13)[16]
- Vigdis Hjorth – Arv og miljø (Wills and Testaments, Norway)
- Anosh Irani – The Parcel
- Alexandra Kleeman – Intimations: Stories (September 13)
- Christian Kracht – The Dead (Die Toten, Germany, September 8)
- László Krasznahorkai – Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming (Báró Wenckheim hazatér, Hungary, September)
- Shari Lapena – The Couple Next Door
- Deborah Levy – Hot Milk (UK, March 24)[17]
- Édouard Louis – Histoire de la violence (History of Violence, France, January 7)
- Mike McCormack – Solar Bones (UK, May 5)[18]
- Elizabeth McKenzie – The Portable Veblen
- C. E. Morgan – The Sport of Kings
- Sayaka Murata – Convenience Store Woman (コンビニ人間, Konbini ningen, Japan, July 27)
- Maggie O'Farrell – This Must Be the Place (UK, May 17)[19]
- Chibundu Onuzo – Welcome to Lagos (UK)
- Stef Penney – Under A Pole Start
- Sarah Perry – The Essex Serpent (UK, May 27)[20]
- Kerry Lee Powell – Willem de Kooning's Paintbrush
- Christoph Ransmayr – Cox
- David Adams Richards – Principles to Live By
- Steven Rowley – Lily and the Octopus (June 7)[21]
- Joss Sheldon – The Little Voice (UK, November 23)[22][23]
- Leïla Slimani – Chanson douce (France, August 18, translated as Lullaby or The Perfect Nanny)
- Ali Smith – Autumn (UK, October 20)[24]
- Zadie Smith – Swing Time
- Botho Strauß – Oniritti Höhlenbilder (Germany, October 10)
- David Szalay – All That Man Is (linked short stories, UK, April 7)[25]
- Yasuko Thanh – Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains (Canada)[26]
- Madeleine Thien – Do Not Say We Have Nothing (October 11)[27]
- Rose Tremain – The Gustav Sonata (UK, May 19)[28]
- Katherena Vermette – The Break (Canada)[26]
- Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad
- Zoe Whittall – The Best Kind of People (August 27)[29]
- Corrina Wycoff – Damascus House (May 25)
Children and young people
- Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (with Mahlon F. Craft and Kinuko Y. Craft) – Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête)
- Jo Ellen Bogart – The White Cat and the Monk
- Paula Bossio – The Pencil (original El Lapiz, 2011)
- Peter Brown – The Wild Robot
- Maxine Beneba Clarke – The Patchwork Bike
- Brian Conaghan – The Bombs that Brought Us Together
- Mem Fox and Judy Horacek – Ducks Away!
- Denise Fleming – 5 Little Ducks
- Jory John and Lane Smith – Penguin Problems
- Dav Pilkey – Dog Man (first in the eponymous series of 10 books)
- J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – The Navajo Code Talkers
- Sophie Piper (with Anne Yvonne Gilbert) – Jesus is Born
- Dave Rudden – Knights of the Borrowed Dark[30]
- Francesca Simon – The Monstrous Child[31]
- Maggie Stiefvater – The Raven King (last book in The Raven Cycle series)[32]
- Jacqueline Wilson – Rent a Bridesmaid[33]
- Toni Yuly – Cat Nap (Yuly book)
Poetry
- Matthew and Michael Dickman – Brother
- Alice Oswald – Falling Awake
- Jacob Polley – Jackself
Drama
- Caryl Churchill
- Martyna Majok – Cost of Living
- Suman Pokhrel – Yajnaseni[36]
- J. T. Rogers – Oslo (June)
- Zlatko Topčić – Silvertown
- Alex Vickery-Howe – Out of the Ordinary
Non-fiction
- Jimmy Barnes – Working Class Boy
- Daniel Beer – The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars (UK)
- Paul Cartledge – Democracy: A Life (UK, March 24)[37]
- Nicholas Crane – The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present
- Daisy Deomampo – Transnational Reproduction[38]
- Susan Faludi – In the Darkroom (June 14)[39]
- Christopher Goscha – The Penguin History of Vietnam
- John Guy – Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years (UK, May 5)[citation needed]
- Jock Haswell (with John Lewis-Stempel) – A Brief History of the British Army (UK, May 26)
- Gareth Stedman Jones – Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion (UK, August)[40]
- Daniel Levitin – A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age
- John Lewis-Stempel
- The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland (UK, June 20)
- Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, The Great War (UK)
- John McWhorter – Words on the Move: Why English Won't – and Can't – Sit Still (Like, Literally)
- Rajiv Malhotra
- Hisham Matar – The Return (UK, June 30)[41]
- Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack – The Index Card (January 5)[42]
- Patrick Phillips – Blood at the Root
- John Preston – A Very English Scandal (UK, May 5)[43]
- Chris Smith – The Daily Show (The Book)
- Kassia St. Clair – The Secret Lives of Colour
- J.D. Vance - Hillbilly Elegy
- Gary Younge – Another Day in the Death of America
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in literature" article:
- January 11 – Gunnel Vallquist, Swedish writer and translator (born 1918)[44]
- January 18 – Michel Tournier, French writer, 91 (born 1924)[45]
- January 20 – David G. Hartwell, American anthologist, author and critic (b. 1941)
- February 8 – Margaret Forster, English novelist and biographer, 77 (born 1938)[46]
- February 18 – Yūko Tsushima (津島 佑子), Japanese author, 68 (born 1947)[47]
- February 19
- Umberto Eco – Italian philosopher and novelist (The Name of the Rose), 84 (born 1932)[48]
- Harper Lee – American author (To Kill a Mockingbird), 89 (born 1926)[49]
- February 29 – Louise Rennison, English author and comedian (born 1951)[50]
- March 1 – Carole Achache, French writer, photographer and actress, 63, (born 1952)[51]
- March 4 – Pat Conroy, American novelist (The Prince of Tides), 70 (born 1945)[52]
- March 8 - Enrique Estrázulas, Uruguayan writer, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist and diplomat, 74 (born 1942)[53]
- March 21 – Tomás de Mattos, Uruguayan writer and librarian, 68 (born 1947)[54]
- March 31 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian writer and the 2002 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 86 (born 1929)[55]
- April 3 – Lars Gustafsson, Swedish writer and scholar, novelist and poet, 79 (born 1936)[56]
- April 5 – E. M. Nathanson, American author (The Dirty Dozen), 87 (born 1928)[57]
- April 12 – Sir Arnold Wesker, English dramatist, 83 (born 1932)[58]
- April 30 – Daniel Berrigan, American Jesuit priest, poet, peace activist and recidivist, won the 1957 Lamont Prize in Poetry, 94 (born 1921)[59]
- June 6 – Sir Peter Shaffer, English playwright (Amadeus), 90 (born 1926)[60]
- June 25 – Adam Small, 79, South African writer and poet, winner of the Hertzog Prize (born 1936)[61]
- June 30 – Sir Geoffrey Hill, English poet, 84 (born 1932)[62]
- July 1 – Yves Bonnefoy, French poet, 93 (born 1923)[63]
- July 2 – Elie Wiesel, American Jewish author (Night) and 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner (born 1928)[64]
- July 14 – Péter Esterházy, Hungarian writer, 66 (born 1950)[65]
- July 19 – Carlos Gorostiza, Argentine playwright, theatre director and novelist, 96 (born 1920)
- August 24 – Michel Butor, French essayist, novelist, critic and a leading figure of 1950s Nouveau Roman group, 89 (born 1926)[66]
- September 4 :
- Isidore Okpewho, Nigerian novelist and critic, 74 (born 1941)[67]
- Cyril C. Perera, Sri Lankan author and translator, 93 (born 1923)
- September 16
- Edward Albee, American playwright (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), 88 (born 1928)[68]
- W. P. Kinsella, Canadian author (Shoeless Joe), 81 (born 1935)[69]
- September 28 – Gloria Naylor, African-American novelist and academic (The Women of Brewster Place), 66, (born 1950)[70]
- October 13 – Dario Fo, Italian playwright and the 1997 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 90 (born 1926)[71]
- October 31 – Natalie Babbitt, American author (Tuck Everlasting), 84 (born 1932)[72]
- November 7 – Leonard Cohen, Canadian poet, novelist and songwriter, 82 (born 1934)[73]
- November 10 – Francisco Nieva, Spanish playwright, novelist and short story writer, 91 (born 1924)
- November 11 – Sir James McNeish, New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer, 85 (born 1931)[74]
- November 20 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer, 88 (born 1928)[75]
- December 12 – Shirley Hazzard, Australian novelist and short story writer, 85 (born 1931)[76]
- December 24 – Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down), 96 (born 1920)[77]
- December 28 – Michel Déon, French novelist, 97 (born 1919)
In alphabetical order of prize names:
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: Mary Morris for The Jazz Palace
- Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction: Lisa McInerney, The Glorious Heresies[78]
- Baillie Gifford Prize: Philippe Sands, East West Street[79]
- Booker Prize: Paul Beatty, The Sellout (first American winner)[80]
- Caine Prize for African Writing: Lidudumalingani Mqombothi, "Memories We Lost"
- Camões Prize: Raduan Nassar[81]
- Costa Book Awards: Sebastian Barry, Days Without End (novel and overall winner); Francis Spufford, Golden Hill (first novel); Alice Oswald, Falling Awake (poetry); Keggie Carew, Dadland (biography); Brian Conaghan, The Bombs that Brought us Together (children's)
- Danuta Gleed Literary Award: Heather O'Neill, Daydreams of Angels
- Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Leah Horlick[82]
- Desmond Elliott Prize: Lisa McInerney, The Glorious Heresies[83]
- DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy, India
- Dylan Thomas Prize: Max Porter, Grief is the Thing with Feathers[84]
- European Book Prize: Javier Cercas, The Impostor and, Erri De Luca, Le Plus et le Moins
- Folio Prize: No prize awarded[85]
- German Book Prize: Bodo Kirchhoff, Widerfahrnis[86]
- Goldsmiths Prize: Mike McCormack, Solar Bones[87]
- Gordon Burn Prize: David Szalay, All That Man Is[88]
- Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing
- Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Dominique Fortier, Au péril de la mer
- Governor General's Awards, other categories: See 2016 Governor General's Awards.
- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre Le Dernier des nôtres
- International Booker Prize: Han Kang, The Vegetarian[89]
- International Dublin Literary Award: Family Life by Akhil Sharma
- International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Rabai al-Madhoun, Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Naqba
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction: Eimear McBride, The Lesser Bohemians
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography: Laura Cumming, The Vanishing Man
- Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award: Anne Enright, The Green Road[90]
- Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 28th Lambda Literary Awards.
- Miguel de Cervantes Prize: Eduardo Mendoza
- Miles Franklin Award: A. S. Patrić, Black Rock White City[91]
- National Biography Award: Brenda Niall for Mannix
- National Book Award for Fiction: Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
- National Book Critics Circle Award: Louise Erdrich, LaRose
- Nike Award: Bronka Nowicka, Nakarmić kamień
- Nobel Prize in Literature: Bob Dylan
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: James Hannaham, Delicious Foods
- PEN Center USA Fiction Award:
- Premio Planeta de Novela:
- Premio Strega: Edoardo Albinati, La scuola cattolica
- Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing: Hew Strachan
- Prix Goncourt: Leïla Slimani, Chanson douce
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer[92]
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Peter Balakian, Ozone Journal[93]
- RBC Taylor Prize: Rosemary Sullivan, Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva[94]
- Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Yasuko Thanh, Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains
- Russian Booker Prize:
- Scotiabank Giller Prize: Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing[95]
- Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings:
- Walter Scott Prize: Simon Mawer, Tightrope[96]
- W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction: Ralph Peters, Valley of the Shadow[97]
- Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: Lars Gustafsson[98]
- Information on the literary calendar at Books in 2016: a literary calendar |Books |The Guardian
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