1950 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
*Bertolt Brecht
- The Tutor
Events
- Kazuo Shimada (1907–1996) wins the "Mystery Writer Of Japan" award for his book Shakai-bu Kisha (City Reporter).
- Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
has his first novel published. - Aleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
is sent to a "special camp" for political prisoners in KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... - Dalton TrumboDalton TrumboJames Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
co-writes the script of Gun Crazy under the pseudonym Millard Kaufman because of his imprisonment for contempt of court. - Adrian BellAdrian BellAdrian Bell was an English journalist and farmer, who was the first compiler of The Times crossword.-Life:The son of a newspaper editor, he was born in London and educated at Uppingham School in Rutland...
begins writing his Countryman’s Notebook column in the Eastern Daily PressEastern Daily PressThe Eastern Daily Press, commonly referred to as the EDP, is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, and northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK....
.
New books
- Marguerite de AngeliMarguerite de AngeliMarguerite de Angeli was a bestselling author and illustrator of children's books including the 1950 Newbery Award winning book The Door in the Wall...
- The Door in the WallThe Door in the WallThe Door in the Wall is a 1949 novel by Marguerite de Angeli that received the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1950.-Plot summary:... - Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
- I, RobotI, RobotI, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are... - Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
- The Martian ChroniclesThe Martian ChroniclesThe Martian Chronicles is a 1950 science fiction short story collection by Ray Bradbury that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically devastated Earth, and the conflict between aboriginal Martians and the new colonists... - Gwen BristowGwen BristowGwen Bristow was an American author and journalist.Bristow became interested in writing while reporting junior high school functions for her local newspaper. After studying at Columbia University, she wrote for a number of literary magazines and journals...
- Jubilee TrailJubilee TrailJubilee Trail is a novel written by Gwen Bristow, copyrighted in 1950. It follows the adventures of two strong women in the mid-19th century as they travel across the United States to the then-Mexican territory of California. The novel is still in print, with forewords included by Nancy E... - Pearl S. BuckPearl S. BuckPearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu , was an American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932...
- The Child Who Never Grew - John Dickson CarrJohn Dickson CarrJohn Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
- The Bride of NewgateThe Bride of NewgateThe Bride of Newgate, first published in 1950, is a historical whodunnit story by John Dickson Carr which does not feature any of Carr's series detectives. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a whodunnit and also a historical novel set in 1815 in England...
- Night at the Mocking WidowNight at the Mocking WidowNight at the Mocking Widow is a mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr , who published it under the name of Carter Dickson...
(as by Carter Dickson)
- The Bride of Newgate
- Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
- A Murder is AnnouncedA Murder is AnnouncedA Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
- Three Blind Mice and Other StoriesThree Blind Mice and Other StoriesThree Blind Mice and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1950...
- A Murder is Announced
- William CooperWilliam Cooper (novelist)Harry Summerfield Hoff was an English novelist, writing under the name William Cooper.-Life:H.S.Hoff was born in Crewe, the son of elementary school teachers , and read natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge...
- Scenes from Provincial Life - A. J. CroninA. J. CroninArchibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
- The Spanish GardenerThe Spanish GardenerThe Spanish Gardener is a 1950 novel by A. J. Cronin which tells the story of a British diplomat, Harrington Brande, who is posted to Catalonia, Spain after his marriage collapses. The overbearing father becomes jealous of the evolving friendship between his young son, Nicholas, and the... - L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
and P. Schuyler MillerP. Schuyler MillerPeter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
- Genus HomoGenus Homo (novel)Genus Homo is a science fiction novel by L. Sprague de Camp and P. Schuyler Miller. It was first published in the science fiction magazine Super Science Stories for March, 1941, and subsequently published in book form in hardcover by Fantasy Press in 1950 and in paperback by Berkley Books in 1961... - L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
and Fletcher PrattFletcher PrattMurray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...
- The Castle of IronThe Castle of IronThe Castle of Iron is the title of a fantasy novella by science fiction and fantasy authors L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, and to the novel into which it was later expanded by the same authors. It was the third story in their Harold Shea series... - Daphne du MaurierDaphne du MaurierDame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
- The ParasitesThe ParasitesThe Parasites is a novel by Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1949.-Plot:In this novel, Miss du Maurier tells the story of the Delaney family... - Ford Madox FordFord Madox FordFord Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature...
- Parade's EndParade's EndParade's End is a tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford published between 1924 and 1928. It is set mainly in England and on the Western Front in World War I, where Ford served as an officer in the Welch Regiment, a life vividly depicted in the novels.In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Parade's End 57th on... - Hugh GarnerHugh GarnerHugh Garner was a Canadian novelist.Born in Batley, Yorkshire, England, Garner came to Canada in 1919 with his parents, and was raised in Toronto, Ontario. During the Great Depression, he rode the rails in both Canada and the United States, and then joined the International Brigades in the Spanish...
- Cabbagetown - Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth CareyErnestine Gilbreth CareyErnestine Moller Gilbreth Carey was an American author.-Biography:Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Lillian Moller Gilbreth and Frank Bunker Gilbreth, early 20th-century pioneers of time and motion study and what would now be called organizational behavior...
- Belles on Their ToesBelles on Their ToesBelles on Their Toes is a 1950 book written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. This book was the follow-up to the 1948 book Cheaper by the Dozen which covered the period before Frank Gilbreth Sr died. Belles on Their Toes was written about the family after the death of... - Giovanni Guareschi - The Little World of Don Camillo
- Frank HardyFrank HardyFrancis Joseph Hardy, or Frank, was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He also was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky...
- Power Without GloryPower Without GloryPower Without Glory is a 1950 novel written by Australian writer Frank Hardy. It was later adapted into a mini-series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission .- Publication :... - Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
- Across the River and Into the TreesAcross the River and Into the TreesAcross the River and Into the Trees is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in September 1950. Prior to publication the novel was serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine. The title is derived from the last words of Confederate General Thomas J... - John HerseyJohn HerseyJohn Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
- The Wall - Patricia HighsmithPatricia HighsmithPatricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
- Strangers on a Train - Robert E. HowardRobert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
- Conan the Conqueror - MacKinlay KantorMacKinlay KantorMacKinlay Kantor , born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several based on the American Civil War, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville, about the Confederate prisoner of war camp...
- Lee and Grant at AppomattoxLee and Grant at AppomattoxLee and Grant at Appomattox is an historical fiction children’s novel by MacKinlay Kantor. It was originally published in 1950 by Random House, and later published in paperback by Sterling Point Books.-Plot summary:... - Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
- The Town and the CityThe Town and the CityThe Town and the City is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Harcourt Brace in 1950. This was the first major work published by Kerouac, who later became famous for his second novel On the Road . Like all of Jack Kerouac's major works, The Town and the City is essentially an autobiographical... - Frances Parkinson KeyesFrances Parkinson KeyesFrances Parkinson Keyes was an American author, and a convert to Roman Catholicism, whose works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."-Life and career:...
- Joy Street - Doris LessingDoris LessingDoris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
- The Grass Is SingingThe Grass Is SingingThe Grass Is Singing is the first novel, published in 1950, by British Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing. It takes place in Rhodesia , in southern Africa, during the 1940s and deals with the racial politics between whites and blacks in that country... - C. S. LewisC. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
- The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Published in 1950 and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series'... - Rose MacaulayRose MacaulayDame Emilie Rose Macaulay, DBE was an English writer. She published thirty-five books, mostly novels but also biographies and travel writing....
- The World My WildernessThe World My WildernessThe World My Wilderness is a novel published in 1950 by the English novelist, biographer and traveller Rose Macaulay , the last but one of her novels.-Plot summary:... - Juan Carlos OnettiJuan Carlos OnettiJuan Carlos Onetti was an Uruguayan novelist and author of short stories.A high school drop-out, Onetti's first novel, El pozo, published in 1939, met with his close friends' immediate acclaim, as well as from some writers and journalists of his time...
- La vida breveLa vida breveLa vida breve is an opera in two acts and four scenes by Manuel de Falla to an original Spanish libretto by Carlos Fernández-Shaw...
(A Brief Life) - Cesare PaveseCesare PaveseCesare Pavese was an Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator; he is widely considered among the major authors of the 20th century in his home country.- Early life and education :...
- La Luna e i Falò - Barbara PymBarbara PymBarbara Mary Crampton Pym was an English novelist. In 1977 her career was revived when two prominent writers, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin, nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century...
- Some Tame GazelleSome Tame GazelleSome Tame Gazelle is Barbara Pym's début novel, first published in 1950. It is considered a remarkable first novel, because of the way in which the youthful Pym - who began the book while a student at Oxford before World War II - imagined herself into the situation of a middle-aged spinster,... - Ellery QueenEllery QueenEllery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
- Double, DoubleDouble, Double (Ellery Queen novel)Double, Double is a novel that was published in 1949 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set in the imaginary New England town of Wrightsville, USA.-Plot summary:... - Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
- The Town - Henry Morton RobinsonHenry Morton RobinsonHenry Morton Robinson was an American novelist, best known for A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake written with Joseph Campbell and his 1950 novel The Cardinal, which Time magazine reported was "The year's most popular book, fiction or nonfiction."-Biography:Robinson was born in Boston and graduated...
- The CardinalThe CardinalThe Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by Henry Morton Robinson.... - Cezaro RossettiCezaro RossettiCezaro Rossetti was a Scottish Esperanto writer.Of Italian-Swiss derivation, he was born in Glasgow and lived in Britain. Together with his younger brother, Reto Rossetti, he learned Esperanto in 1928...
- Kredu min, sinjorino!Kredu min, sinjorino!Kredu min, sinjorino! is the title of a novel originally written in Esperanto by Cezaro Rossetti. It is listed in William Auld's Basic Esperanto Reading List and was published for the first time in 1950, the same year in which Rossetti died.... - Budd SchulbergBudd SchulbergBudd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the...
- The Disenchanted - Nevil ShuteNevil ShuteNevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...
- A Town Like AliceA Town Like AliceA Town Like Alice is a novel by the British author Nevil Shute about a young Englishwoman in Malaya during World War II and in outback Australia post-war.... - Rex StoutRex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
- Three Doors to DeathThree Doors to DeathThree Doors to Death is a collection of Nero Wolfe mystery novellas by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1950 — itself collected in the omnibus volume Five of a Kind... - Rex StoutRex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
- In the Best FamiliesIn the Best FamiliesIn the Best Families is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1950... - Edith TempletonEdith TempletonEdith Templeton was a novelist, who also wrote under the pseudonym Louise Walbrook.Edith Templeton was born in Prague in 1916. She was educated at the French lycée in Prague and left the city in 1938 to marry an Englishman. Her short stories began to appear in The New Yorker in the 1950s...
- Summer In The Country - James ThurberJames ThurberJames Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
- The 13 ClocksThe 13 ClocksThe 13 Clocks is a fantasy tale written by James Thurber in 1950 in Bermuda, while he was completing one of his other novels. It is written in a unique cadenced style, in which a mysterious prince must complete a seemingly impossible task to free a maiden from the clutches of an evil duke... - A. E. van VogtA. E. van VogtAlfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century: the "Golden Age" of the genre....
- The Voyage of the Space BeagleThe Voyage of the Space BeagleThe Voyage of the Space Beagle is a classic novel of science fiction by A. E. van Vogt in the space opera subgenre.The novel is a "fix-up" compilation of four previously published SF stories:... - Mika WaltariMika WaltariMika Toimi Waltari was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel The Egyptian .- Early life :...
- The Adventurer - Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
- HelenaHelena (1950 novel)Helena, published in 1950, is the sole historical novel of Evelyn Waugh.It follows the quest of Helena to find the relics of the cross on which Christ was crucified. Helena, a Christian, was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine I.... - Kathleen WinsorKathleen WinsorKathleen Winsor was an American author, best known for the romance novel Forever Amber.-Biography:Winsor was born October 16, 1919 in Olivia, Minnesota but raised in Berkeley, California. At the age of 18, Winsor made a list of her goals for life. Among those was her hope to write a best-selling...
- Star Money - Frank YerbyFrank YerbyFrank Garvin Yerby was an African American historical novelist. He is best known as the first African American writer to become a millionaire from his pen, and to have a book purchased by a Hollywood studio for a film adaptation.-Early life:...
- FloodtideFloodtideFloodtide is a 1949 British romantic drama film directed by Frederick Wilson and starring Gordon Jackson, Rona Anderson, John Laurie and Jimmy Logan. A young Scotsman becomes a ship designer instead of following the family tradition and entering farming...
New drama
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
- The Tutor
The Tutor (Brecht)
The Tutor is an adaptation by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of an 18th-century play by Lenz....
- Christopher FryChristopher FryChristopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
- Venus Observed - Kermit HunterKermit HunterKermit Houston Hunter American playwright known primarily for writing outdoor historical dramas.Born in McDowell County, West Virginia in 1910, Hunter went on to Ohio State University where he graduated in 1931. After graduation, he held a number of jobs and joined the U.S. Army in 1940...
- Unto These HillsUnto These HillsUnto These Hills is an outdoor historical drama staged annually at the 2800-seat Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee, North Carolina. It is the second oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after The Lost Colony in Manteo, North Carolina... - William IngeWilliam IngeWilliam Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
- Come Back, Little ShebaCome Back, Little Sheba (play)Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St... - Eugène IonescoEugène IonescoEugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
- The Bald SopranoThe Bald SopranoLa Cantatrice Chauve — translated from French as The Bald Soprano or The Bald Prima Donna — is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on May 11, 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules, Paris...
Poetry
- Leah Bodine DrakeLeah Bodine Drake-External Links:Leah Bodine Drake papers at Kentucky Digital Library...
- A Hornbook for WitchesA Hornbook for WitchesA Hornbook for Witches: Poems of Fantasy is a collection of poems by Leah Bodine Drake. It was released in 1950 and was the author's first book and her only collection published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 553 copies of which 300 were given to the author, making this one of... - Pablo NerudaPablo NerudaPablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
- Canto GeneralCanto GeneralCanto General is Pablo Neruda's tenth book of poems. It was first published in Mexico in 1950, by Talleres Gráficos de la Nación. Neruda began to compose it in 1938....
Non-fiction
- Roland BaintonRoland BaintonRoland Herbert Bainton was a British born American Protestant church historian.-Life:He was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England and came to the United States in 1902. He received an A.B. degree from Whitman College, and B.D. and Ph.D.. degrees from Yale University. He also received a number of...
- Here I Stand:A Life of Martin Luther - E. H. Gombrich - The Story of ArtThe Story of ArtThe Story of Art is an introduction to art, written by E. H. Gombrich.First published in 1950, it is widely regarded both as a seminal work of criticism, and as one of the most accessible introductions to the visual arts. It was originally intended for younger readers...
- Thor HeyerdahlThor HeyerdahlThor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a background in zoology and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands...
- Kon-TikiKon-TikiKon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name... - Octavio PazOctavio PazOctavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
- The Labyrinth of SolitudeThe Labyrinth of SolitudeThe Labyrinth of Solitude , one of Octavio Paz’s most famous works, is a collection of nine essays: ‘The Pachuco and other extremes’, ‘Mexican Mask’, ‘The Day of the Dead’, ‘The Sons of La Malinche’, ‘The Conquest and Colonialism’, ‘From Independence to the Revolution’, ‘The Mexican Intelligence’,... - Lionel TrillingLionel TrillingLionel Trilling was an American literary critic, author, and teacher. With wife Diana Trilling, he was a member of the New York Intellectuals and contributor to the Partisan Review. Although he did not establish a school of literary criticism, he is one of the leading U.S...
- The Liberal Imagination - Raymond WilliamsRaymond WilliamsRaymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
- Reading and Criticism - Cecil Woodham-SmithCecil Woodham-SmithCecil Blanche Woodham-Smith was a British historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era.-Early life:...
- Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
Births
- January 25 - Gloria NaylorGloria NaylorGloria Naylor is an African American novelist and educator.-Early life:Born in New York, she was the first child to Roosevelt Naylor and Alberta McAlpin. As Naylor grew up, her father was a transit worker and her mother was a telephone operator. When Naylor was young, her mother encouraged her to...
, African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
author - February 11 - Mauri KunnasMauri KunnasMauri Tapio Kunnas is a Finnish cartoonist and children's author.Kunnas matriculated in 1969 and graduated from the Finnish Academy of Arts as a graphic designer in 1975. He has worked as a political cartoonist in many Finnish newspapers...
, FinnishFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
children’s author - July - Zhang KangkangZhang KangkangZhang Kangkang is a Chinese writer.She is married to fellow writer Lü Jiamin, who attained international fame with his 2004 novel Wolf Totem.-Works:* The Boundary Line...
, Chinese writer - September 7 - Peggy NoonanPeggy NoonanPeggy Noonan is an American author of seven books on politics, religion, and culture and a weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal...
, columnist, political writer - September 20 - James BlaylockJames BlaylockJames Paul Blaylock is an American fantasy author.He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction....
, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fantasy author - October 17 - David Adams RichardsDavid Adams RichardsDavid Adams Richards, CM, ONB is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, three credits shy of completing a B.A.. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and...
, 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...
author - October 27 - Fran Leibowitz, American writer
- Barbara GowdyBarbara GowdyBarbara Gowdy, CM is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Born in Windsor, Ontario, she is the long-time partner of poet Christopher Dewdney and resides in Toronto.-Literary career:...
- Canadian novelist - Susan Eloise Hinton, American author
Deaths
- January 5 - Basil Williams, historian
- January 21 – George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, novelist - February 13 - Rafael SabatiniRafael SabatiniRafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
, novelist - February 24 - Irving BachellerIrving BachellerAddison Irving Bacheller was an American journalist and writer who founded the first modern newspaper syndicate in the United States.- Birth and education :...
, journalist and writer - March 19 – Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
, Tarzan author - May 6 - Agnes SmedleyAgnes SmedleyAgnes Smedley was an American journalist and writer best known for her semi-autobiographical novelDaughter of Earth. She was also known for her sympathetic chronicling of the Chinese revolution...
, American journalist and writer known for chronicling the Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of... - May 11 - Alfred O. AnderssonAlfred O. AnderssonAlfred Oscar Andersson was the publisher of the Dallas Dispatch and, briefly, of the Dallas Dispatch-Journal, daily afternoon newspapers of general circulation published in Dallas, Texas....
, newspaper publisher - May 13 - F. E. ComptonF. E. ComptonFrank Elbert Compton was a publisher of encyclopedias and other reference works, most notably Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia from 1922, later named Compton's Encyclopedia....
, publisher of reference books - September 6 - Olaf StapledonOlaf StapledonWilliam Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.-Life:...
, philosopher and science-fiction author - October 9 - Nicolai HartmannNicolai Hartmann-Biography:Hartmann was born of German descent in Riga, which was then the capital of the Russian province of Livonia, and which is now in Latvia. He studied Medicine at the University of Tartu , then Philosophy in St. Petersburg and at the University of Marburg in Germany, where he took his Ph.D....
, philosopher - October 19 - Edna St. Vincent MillayEdna St. Vincent MillayEdna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
, poet - November 2 - George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
- November 25 - Johannes Vilhelm JensenJohannes Vilhelm Jensen*Not to be confused with German author Wilhelm Jensen .Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, in Denmark always called Johannes V. Jensen, was a Danish author, often considered the first great Danish writer of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944...
, Danish author - December 28 - Sigizmund KrzhizhanovskySigizmund KrzhizhanovskySigizmund Dominikovich Krzhizhanovsky was a Russian and Soviet short-story writer who described himself as being "known for being unknown"; the bulk of his writings were published posthumously.-Life:...
, short-story writer - December 31 - Xavier VillaurrutiaXavier VillaurrutiaXavier Villaurrutia y González was a Mexican poet and playwright, whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas, called Autos profanos, compiled in the work Poesía y teatro completos published in 1953....
, poet and dramatist - date unknown
- John MooneyJohn Mooney (historian)John Mooney was a Scottish bear and historian. He was a founder of the Orkney Antiquarian Society and the "Let's Go Loca in Yoker!" club.-Biography:...
, Orkney historian - Cezaro RossettiCezaro RossettiCezaro Rossetti was a Scottish Esperanto writer.Of Italian-Swiss derivation, he was born in Glasgow and lived in Britain. Together with his younger brother, Reto Rossetti, he learned Esperanto in 1928...
, Esperanto writer - Helen RowlandHelen RowlandHelen Rowland was an American journalist and humorist.She is often confused with Helen May Rowland, a singer-actress who had a brief radio and recording career in the early 1930s.- Books :...
, journalist and humorist - Cuthbert WhitakerCuthbert WhitakerSir Cuthbert Wilfred Whitaker was editor of Whitaker's Almanack. He held the position for fifty-five years, succeeding his father Joseph Whitaker when he died in 1895, and was in turn succeeded by a nephew on his death....
, editor of Whitaker's Almanack
- John Mooney
Awards
- Carnegie MedalCarnegie MedalThe Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
for children's literatureChildren's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
: Elfrida VipontElfrida VipontElfrida Vipont was the pen name of Elfrida Vipont Foulds , a British children's author. She was also a schoolteacher and a prominent member of the Society of Friends in England.-Parentage and education:...
, The Lark on the Wing - James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction: Robert HenriquesRobert HenriquesRobert David Quixano Henriques was a British writer, broadcaster and farmer. He gained modest renown for two award-winning novels and two biographies of Jewish business tycoons, published during the middle part of the 20th century.-Life and career:Robert Henriques was born in 1905 to one of the...
, Through the Valley - James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for biography: Cecil Woodham-SmithCecil Woodham-SmithCecil Blanche Woodham-Smith was a British historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era.-Early life:...
, Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night... - Newbery MedalNewbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
for children's literatureChildren's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
: Marguerite de AngeliMarguerite de AngeliMarguerite de Angeli was a bestselling author and illustrator of children's books including the 1950 Newbery Award winning book The Door in the Wall...
, The Door in the WallThe Door in the WallThe Door in the Wall is a 1949 novel by Marguerite de Angeli that received the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1950.-Plot summary:... - Newdigate prizeNewdigate prizeSir Roger Newdigate's Prize is awarded to students of the University of Oxford for Best Composition in English verse by an undergraduate who has been admitted to Oxford within the previous four years. It was founded by Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt in the 18th century...
: John Bayley - Nobel Prize for Literature: Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) RussellBertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
- Premio NadalPremio NadalPremio Nadal is a Spanish literary prize awarded annually by the publishing house Ediciones Destino, part of Planeta. It has been awarded every year on January 6 since 1944...
: Elena QuirogaElena QuirogaElena Quiroga de la Válgoma , was a Spanish writer and winner of the Premio Nadal. She was born in Santander, Cantabria and grew up on her father's estate in Barco de Valdeorras, Ourense. Growing up in the region, she felt intimately linked to Galicia...
, Viento del norte - Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
: Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Joshua LoganJoshua LoganJoshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
, South Pacific - Pulitzer Prize for FictionPulitzer Prize for FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
: A. B. Guthrie, Jr.A. B. Guthrie, Jr.Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950 for his novel The Way West. The author called himself "Bud" because he felt that Alfred Bertram "was a sissy name."-Biography:A. B. Guthrie, Jr...
, The Way WestThe Way WestThe Way West is a 1949 western novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. . The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950. The book became the basis for a film starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark.... - Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
: Gwendolyn BrooksGwendolyn BrooksGwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985.-Biography:...
, Annie AllenAnnie AllenAnnie Allen is a book of poetry published by noted poet Gwendolyn Brooks which was published in 1949, and for which she received the Pulitzer Prize. This made her the first African American writer to ever receive a Pulitzer Prize....