1903 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1903 in literature involved some significant new books.
Events
- October 24 - Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
moves to Florence. - The first Goncourt Prize for French literature is awarded to John Antoine NauJohn Antoine NauJohn Antoine Nau , real name Eugène Léon Édouard Torquet, was a French poet and writer most famous for his novel Enemy Force, which won the first Prix Goncourt in 1903.-Life:...
. - The AmbassadorsThe AmbassadorsThe Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review . This dark comedy, one of the masterpieces of James's final period, follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of Chad, his widowed fiancée's supposedly...
by Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
is serialized in twelve installments, from January to December. - Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
's novel The Call of the WildThe Call of the WildThe Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events leads to his serving as a sled dog in the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, in which sled dogs...
is serialized in the Saturday Evening Post.
New books
- L. Frank BaumL. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
- The Enchanted Island of YewThe Enchanted Island of YewThe Enchanted Island of Yew: Whereon Prince Marvel Encountered the High Ki of Twi and Other Surprising People is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Fanny Y... - René BoylesveRené BoylesveRené Boylesve , born René Marie Auguste Tardiveau, was a French author.-Works:* Le Médecin des Dames de Néans ,* Mademoiselle Cloque ,* La Becquée ,...
- Enfant à la Balustrade - Samuel Butler - The Way of All FleshThe Way of All FleshThe Way of All Flesh is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler which attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the Pontifex family. It represents a relaxation from the religious outlook from a Calvinistic approach, which is presented as...
- Robert Erskine ChildersRobert Erskine ChildersRobert Erskine Childers DSC , universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish...
- The Riddle of the SandsThe Riddle of the SandsThe Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service is a 1903 novel by Erskine Childers. It is an early example of the espionage novel, with a strong underlying theme of militarism... - Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
- Typhoon and Other StoriesTyphoon (novel)Typhoon is a novel by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine January to March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by Putnam in 1902 and was published in Britain in Typhoon and Other Stories by Heinemann in 1903.-Plot summary:It is a classic sea yarn that... - John Fox, Jr.John Fox, Jr.John Fox, Jr. was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer.-Biography:Born in Stony Point, Bourbon County, Kentucky, to John William Fox, Sr., and Minerva Worth Carr, Fox studied English at Harvard University. He graduated in 1883 before becoming a reporter in New York City...
- The Little Shepherd of Kingdom ComeThe Little Shepherd of Kingdom ComeThe Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come is a 1961 film directed by Andrew McLaglen. It stars Jimmie Rodgers and Luana Patten. It is based on the 1903 novel of the same title by John Fox, Jr.-Cast:*Jimmie Rodgers as Chad*Luana Patten as Melissa Turner... - Mary E. Wilkins Freeman - The Wind in the Rose Bush
- George GissingGeorge GissingGeorge Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.-Early life:...
- The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft - Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
- The AmbassadorsThe AmbassadorsThe Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review . This dark comedy, one of the masterpieces of James's final period, follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of Chad, his widowed fiancée's supposedly... - Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
- The Call of the WildCall Of The Wild-Track listing:All songs written by Ted Nugent, except where indicated:#"Call of the Wild" – 4:51#"Sweet Revenge" – 4:06#"Pony Express" – 5:21#"Ain't It the Truth" – 4:57#"Renegade" – 3:33... - John Antoine NauJohn Antoine NauJohn Antoine Nau , real name Eugène Léon Édouard Torquet, was a French poet and writer most famous for his novel Enemy Force, which won the first Prix Goncourt in 1903.-Life:...
- Force ennemieForce ennemieForce ennemie is a novel by French author John Antoine Nau. It won the inaugural Prix Goncourt in 1903.In 2010 Michael Shreve adapted it into English as Enemy Force.-Plot summary:... - Frank NorrisFrank NorrisBenjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague , The Octopus: A Story of California , and The Pit .-Life:Frank Norris was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1870...
- The PitThe Pit-Places:* The Pit , the main indoor arena at the University of New Mexico* Elder 'The Pit' Stadium, the football stadium at Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio* The Pit, a 200-seat studio theatre at the Barbican Arts Centre in the City of London... - Marmaduke PickthallMarmaduke PickthallMarmaduke Pickthall was a Western Islamic scholar, noted as an English translator of the Qur'an into English. A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious leader...
- Said the Fisherman - Beatrix PotterBeatrix PotterHelen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
- The Tale of Squirrel NutkinThe Tale of Squirrel NutkinThe Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in August 1903. The story is about an impertinent red squirrel named Nutkin and his narrow escape from an owl called Old Brown. The book followed Potter's hugely... - Bram StokerBram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
- The Jewel of Seven StarsThe Jewel of Seven StarsThe Jewel of Seven Stars is a horror novel by Bram Stoker, first published in 1903. The story is about an archaeologist's plot to revive Queen Tera, an ancient Egyptian mummy.-Second edition:... - Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
- Traveling ScholarshipsTraveling ScholarshipsTraveling Scholarships is an adventure novel written by Jules Verne.The novel has not been translated to English as of 2009.-Plot summary:Antilian School is a renowned London college, which hosts only young European people born in the Caribbean... - Mary Augusta WardMary Augusta WardMary Augusta Ward née Arnold; , was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward.- Early life:...
- Lady Rose's DaughterLady Rose's DaughterLady Rose's Daughter is a 1920 silent film drama starring Elsie Ferguson and David Powell with directing being from Hugh Ford. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures. The film was based on a stage play performed in 1903 on Broadway. Both the film and the... - Kate Douglas WigginKate Douglas WigginKate Douglas Wiggin was an American educator and author of children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878...
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook FarmRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her two stern aunts in the village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy for life inspires her aunts, but she faces many trials in her young life, gaining... - Emile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
- Vérité
New drama
- Dusé Mohamed AliDusé Mohamed AliDusé Mohamed Ali , , was an African nationalist. He was also an actor, historian, journalist, editor, lecturer, traveller, publisher, a founder of the Comet Press Ltd. and The Comet newspaper .-Early life:He was born in Alexandria, Egypt...
- The Jew's Revenge - J.M. Synge - In the Shadow of the GlenIn the Shadow of the GlenIn the Shadow of the Glen is a one-act play written by Irish playwright J. M. Synge, first performed in Molesworth Hall, Dublin on October 8, 1903. It was the first play by Synge to be performed on stage...
Poetry
- Giovanni PascoliGiovanni PascoliGiovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli was an Italian poet and classical scholar.- Biography :Giovanni Pascoli was born at San Mauro di Romagna , into a well-to-do family. He was the fourth of ten children of Ruggero Pascoli and Caterina Vincenzi Alloccatelli...
, Canti di Castelvecchio - Thomas TraherneThomas TraherneThomas Traherne, MA was an English poet and religious writer. His style is often considered Metaphysical.-Life:...
, Poetical Works (posthumous) - William Butler YeatsWilliam Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, In the Seven WoodsIn the Seven WoodsIn the Seven Woods is a volume of poems by William Butler Yeats, published in 1903 by Elizabeth Yeats's Dun Emer Press.This is the first book of Yeats' "middle period," in which he eschewed his previous Romantic ideals and preference for pre-Raphaelite imagery, in favor of a more spare style and an...
, Ideas of Good and Evil
Non-fiction
- Ada CambridgeAda CambridgeAda Cambridge , later known as Ada Cross, was an English writer.Overall she wrote more than twenty-five works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works...
- Thirty Years in Australia - W. E. B. Du Bois - The Souls of Black FolkThe Souls of Black FolkThe Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history....
- G. E. Moore - Principia EthicaPrincipia EthicaPrincipia Ethica is a monograph by philosopher G. E. Moore, first published in 1903. It is one of the standard texts of modern ethics, and introduced the term naturalistic fallacy.-External links:* of Principia Ethica....
Births
- February 11 - Alan PatonAlan PatonAlan Stewart Paton was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist.-Family:Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province , the son of a minor civil servant. After attending Maritzburg College, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal in his hometown, followed...
, South African writer (d. 1988) - February 13 - Georges SimenonGeorges SimenonGeorges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 200 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known for the creation of the fictional detective Maigret.-Early life and education:...
, BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
writer (d. 1989) - February 21 - Raymond QueneauRaymond QueneauRaymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
, French poet (d. 1976) - February 22 - Morley CallaghanMorley CallaghanMorley Callaghan, was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, TV and radio personality.-Biography:...
, CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
writer (d. 1990) - June 8 - Marguerite YourcenarMarguerite YourcenarMarguerite Yourcenar was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist. Winner of the Prix Femina and the Erasmus Prize, she was the first woman elected to the Académie française, in 1980, and the seventeenth person to occupy Seat 3.-Biography:Yourcenar was born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie...
, Belgian novelist (d. 1987) - June 18 - Raymond RadiguetRaymond RadiguetRaymond Radiguet was a French author whose two novels were noted for their explicit themes and writing style and tone.-Early life:...
, French author (d. 1923) - July 10 - John WyndhamJohn WyndhamJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
, BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer (d. 1969) - October 17 - Nathanael WestNathanael WestNathanael West was a US author, screenwriter and satirist.- Early life :...
, US novelist and screenwriter (d. 1940)
Deaths
- January 22 - Augustus HareAugustus HareAugustus John Cuthbert Hare was an English writer and raconteur.He was the youngest son of Francis George Hare of Herstmonceux, East Sussex, and Gresford, Flintshire, Wales, and nephew of Augustus William Hare and Julius Hare...
, biographer and travel writer - February 8 - Ada Ellen BaylyAda Ellen Bayly-Biography:Bayly was born in Brighton, the youngest of four children of a barrister. At an early age, she lost both her parents and she spent her youth with an uncle in Surrey and in a Brighton private school...
, novelist - March 6 - Gaston ParisGaston ParisBruno Paulin Gaston Paris , known as Gaston Paris, was a French writer and scholar.He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 1902 and 1903.-Biography:Paris was born at Avenay...
, literary critic and scholar - March 14 - Ernest LegouvéErnest LegouvéGabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé was a French dramatist.-Biography:Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé , he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately afterwards his father was removed to a lunatic asylum. The child, however, inherited a considerable fortune,...
, dramatist - May 12 - Richard Henry StoddardRichard Henry StoddardRichard Henry Stoddard was an American critic and poet.-Biography:Richard Henry Stoddard was born on July 2, 1825, in Hingham, Massachusetts. His father, a sea-captain, was wrecked and lost on one of his voyages while Richard was a child, and the lad went in 1835 to New York City with his mother,...
, critic and poet - May 25 - Max O'RellMax O'RellMax O'Rell was the pen name of Léon Paul Blouet , French author and journalist.He was born in Brittany. He served as a cavalry officer in the Franco-German War, was captured at Sedan, but was released in time to join the Versaillist army which overcame the Paris Commune, and was severely wounded...
, journalist - April 29 - Paul du ChailluPaul du ChailluPaul Belloni du Chaillu was a French-American traveler and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas and the Pygmy people of central Africa. He later researched the prehistory of Scandinavia.-Early life:His date and place of...
, travel writer - July 11 - William HenleyWilliam Ernest HenleyWilliam Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus".-Life and career:...
, British poet - September 1 - Charles Bernard RenouvierCharles Bernard RenouvierCharles Bernard Renouvier was a French philosopher.-Biography:Charles B. Renouvier was born in Montpellier and educated in Paris at the École Polytechnique. He took an early interest in politics...
, philosopher - October 4 - Otto WeiningerOtto WeiningerOtto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter , which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23...
, philosopher - November 1 - Theodor MommsenTheodor MommsenChristian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...
, German classical scholar and historian - December 28 - George GissingGeorge GissingGeorge Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.-Early life:...
, British novelist
Awards
- Goncourt Prize: John Antoine NauJohn Antoine NauJohn Antoine Nau , real name Eugène Léon Édouard Torquet, was a French poet and writer most famous for his novel Enemy Force, which won the first Prix Goncourt in 1903.-Life:...
for Force ennemie - Nobel Prize for Literature: Bjørnstjerne BjørnsonBjørnstjerne BjørnsonBjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...