# 1976 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1976.

## Events

* June 21 – The Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, is opened as a multiracial venue by Barney Simon.
* September 3 – Novelist Antonio di Benedetto is released from prison after 18 months of imprisonment and torture under the National Reorganization Process (military dictatorship) in Argentina.
* September 9 – The Royal Shakespeare Company starts a noted production of Shakespeare's Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leading roles, directed by Trevor Nunn.
* October 25 – The Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank opens in premises designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, with a performance of Goldoni's 18th-century comedy Il Campiello.
* unknown dates
** Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers is established in new premises at Nanterre.
** Mary Ronnie became the world's first female national librarian, at the National Library of New Zealand.

## New books
### Fiction

* Ann Beattie – Chilly Scenes of Winter
* John Braine – Waiting for Sheila
* William F. Buckley – Saving the Queen (the first Blackford Oakes thriller)
* Anthony Burgess – Beard's Roman Women
* Ramsey Campbell – The Height of the Scream
* Brian Garfield – Gundown
* Fănuș Neagu – Frumoșii nebuni ai marilor orașe ("Those Beautiful Lunatics of the Great Cities")

### Children and young people

* Richard Adams – The Tyger Voyage

### Drama

* Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mugo – The Trial of Dedan Kimathi
* Neil Simon – California Suite

## Births

* October 31 – Seth Abramson, American journalist and poet
* unknown dates
** Bora Chung, Korean short story writer and novelist

## Deaths

* January 12 – Agatha Christie, English crime writer (born 1890)
* January 25 – Victor Ehrenberg, German historian (born 1891)
* February 2 – Barbara Euphan Todd, English children's writer (born 1890)
* February 12 – John Lewis, Welsh philosopher (born 1889)
* March 5 – Charles Lederer, American screenwriter and film director (born 1910)
* March 7 – Tove Ditlevsen, Danish poet and fiction writer (suicide, born 1917)
* March 13 – Sergiu Dan, Romanian novelist and journalist (born 1903)
* April 2 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian novelist (born 1913)
* April 28 – Richard Hughes, British novelist (born 1900)
* May 7 – Alison Uttley, English writer of children's books (born 1884)
* July 3 – Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Austrian poet, dramatist and fiction writer (born 1897)
* July 15 – Paul Gallico, American novelist, short story and sports writer (born 1897)
* August 9 – José Lezama Lima, Cuban writer and poet (born [1910)
* August 29 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet (born 1899)
* September 10 – Dalton Trumbo, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1905)
* October 30 – Barbu Solacolu, Romanian poet, translator and economist (born 1897)
* November 4 – Robert Speaight, English actor, biographer and essayist (born 1904)
* November 6 – Patrick Dennis, American novelist (pancreatic cancer, born 1921)
* November 23 – André Malraux, French novelist (born 1901)
* December 21 – Munro Leaf, American children's author (born 1905)
* December 22 – Martín Luis Guzmán, Mexican novelist and journalist (born 1887)
* December 26 – Yashpal, Hindi novelist (born 1903)
* December 29 – G. B. Edwards, Guernsey-born writer (born 1899)