# 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.

## New books
### 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)
* Rosa da Silva (Sigrid Shreeve) – Jabujicaba (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
* Rona Munro – The James Plays
* 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
* Ruben Flores – Backroads Pragmatists: Mexico's Melting Pot and Civil Rights in the United States
* 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

## 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