2013 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2013.

List of years in literature (table)
… 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 …
In poetry 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

Events

• 21 January – An annual Orwell Day is instituted.^[1]
• 26 January – Fleeing Islamist insurgents set fire to library buildings in Timbuktu containing manuscripts, mostly in Arabic, dating back to 1204.^[2]
• 7 March – World Book Day becomes a UNESCO-designated event marked in more than 100 countries.^[3]
• April – J. K. Rowling publishes a detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, with the U.K. publisher Sphere Books. The author's identity is revealed by the media in July.^[4]
• 23 April – World Book Night.^[3]
• 28 April – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Simon Stephens' stage adaptation of a novel by Mark Haddon, wins a record seven awards at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards in London.^[5]
• 1 July – Publisher Penguin Random House is created by a merger.
• 3 September – The new Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in the U.K., is opened by Malala Yousafzai.^[6] Its public spaces are integrated with those of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
• October – Jo Nesbø reveals himself as Tom Johansen, author of three forthcoming novels.^[7]
• 28 November – Three unpublished works by J. D. Salinger (died 2010), including "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls", are leaked onto the internet.^[8]

Anniversaries

• 11 February
  • 50th anniversary of the death of Sylvia Plath in 1963^[3]
  • 200th anniversary of the birth of Harriet Jacobs in 1813^[9]
• 28 January – 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813^[3]
• 5 May – 200th anniversary of the birth of Søren Kierkegaard in 1813^[3]
• 2 June – 100th anniversary of the birth of Barbara Pym^[10]
• 29 June – 400th anniversary of the burning of the Globe Theatre during a production of Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII in 1613^[3]
• 2 August – 25th anniversary of the death of US short story writer Raymond Carver
• 7 November – 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Camus^[3]
• 22 November – 50th anniversary of the death of Aldous Huxley^[3]

New books

Fiction

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah
• José Eduardo Agualusa – A General Theory of Oblivion (Teoria Geral do Esquecimento)
• Jacob M. Appel – The Biology of Luck
• Kate Atkinson – Life After Life
• Dan Brown – Inferno
• Adam Christopher – The Burning Dark
• J. M. Coetzee – The Childhood of Jesus
• Troy Denning – Crucible
• Doug Dorst – S.
• Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North
• Aminatta Forna – The Hired Man
• Frederick Forsyth – The Kill List
• Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane
• Elizabeth Graver – The End of the Point
• David G. Hartwell (ed.) – Year's best SF 18
• Neamat Imam – The Black Coat
• Reinhard Jirgl – Nichts von euch auf Erden
• Stephen King – Doctor Sleep
• Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers
• Pierre Lemaitre – Au revoir là-haut (The Great Swindle)
• Eimear McBride – A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing
• Alex Miller – Coal Creek
• Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹) – Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年, Tsukuru to, kare no junrei no toshi)
• Adam Nevill – House of Small Shadows
• Nnedi Okorafor – Kabu-Kabu: Stories
• Chuck Palahniuk – Doomed
• Ruth Ozeki - A Tale for the Time Being
• Rick Riordan – The House of Hades
• Veronica Roth – Allegiant
• J. K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) – The Cuckoo's Calling
• Ahmed Saadawi – Frankenstein in Baghdad (فرانكشتاين في بغداد)
• M. G. Sanchez – The Escape Artist: a Gibraltarian novel
• George Saunders – Tenth of December: Stories
• John Scalzi – The Human Division
• Sjón – Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was (Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til)
• Marivi Soliven – The Mango Bride
• Robert Stone – Death of the Black-Haired Girl
• Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
• Zlatko Topčić – Dagmar
• Laura van den Berg – The Isle of Youth (short story collection)
• Peter Watts – Beyond the Rift (collected stories)
• Tim Winton – Eyrie

Children's and young people

• David Almond – Mouse Bird Snake Wolf
• Janeen Brian – I'm A Dirty Dinosaur
• Nick Bromley – Open Very Carefully
• Laura Dockrill – Darcy Burdock
• Anthony Horowitz – Russian Roulette^[11]
• John Hornor Jacobs – The Twelve-Fingered Boy
• Chris Lynch – Dead in The Water
• Patricia MacLachlan – Cat Talk
• Nikki McClure – How To Be A Cat
• Rhode Montijo - The Gumazing Gum Girl! Book 1: Chews Your Destiny (August 20)
• Chris Raschka – Daisy Gets Lost
• Rainbow Rowell
  • Eleanor & Park
  • Fangirl
• Maggie Stiefvater – The Dream Thieves (second book in The Raven Cycle)
• Amy Tintera – Reboot

Drama

• Annie Baker – The Flick
• Elfriede Jelinek – Die Schutzbefohlenen
• Lucy Kirkwood – Chimerica
• Stefano Massini – The Lehman Trilogy
• Edward Petherbridge and Kathryn Hunter – My Perfect Mind
• Roger Williams – Tir Sir Gâr

Poetry

Main article: 2013 in poetry

Non-fiction

• Saroo Brierley – A Long Way Home
• Kate Christensen – Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites
• Pat Conroy – The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son
• Jared Diamond – The World Until Yesterday
• Craig Dworkin – No Medium
• Peter Freeman – The Wallpapered Manse
• Malcolm Gladwell – David and Goliath
• Ben Goldacre – Bad Pharma
• Temple Grandin – The Autistic Brain
• Michael Kimmel – Angry White Men^[12]
• Mark Levin – The Liberty Amendments
• Peter H. Maguire – Thai Stick^[13]
• Diane Muldrow – Everything I Need To Know I Learned From A Little Golden Book
• Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse – The Neanderthals Rediscovered
• Thomas Piketty – Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Le Capital au XXIe siècle)^[14]
• Lisa Randall – Higgs Discovery
• Sheryl Sandberg – Lean In
• Nina Stibbe – Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life
• Jeff VanderMeer – The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

Deaths

• 2 January
  • Alexei Rudeanu, Romanian writer (born 1939)^[15]
  • Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and writer (born 1944)^[16]
• 7 January – Maruša Krese, Slovene poet, writer and journalist (born 1947)^[17]
• 10 January – Evan S. Connell, American novelist, poet and short story writer (born 1924)
• 11 January – Robert Kee, English writer, journalist and broadcaster (born 1919)^[18]
• 18 January – Jacques Sadoul, French novelist, book editor and non-fiction writer (born 1934)^[19]
• 20 January
  • Yemi Ajibade, Nigerian playwright and actor (born 1929)
  • Dolores Prida, Cuban-American journalist and playwright (born 1943)
  • Toyo Shibata (柴田トヨ), Japanese poet (born 1911)^[20]
• 24 January – Richard G. Stern, American novelist and educator (born 1928)
• 2 February – Sirajul Haq Memon, Pakistani author, journalist and scholar in Sindhi (born 1933)^[21]
• 3 February – Robert Anthony Welch, Irish author and academic (born 1947)^[22]
• 4 February – Margaret Frazer (Gail Lynn Brown), American historical novelist (born 1946)^[23]
• 5 February – Leda Mileva, Bulgarian writer, translator, and diplomat (born 1920)^[24]
• 7 February
  • Niki Marangou, Cypriot writer and painter (born 1948)^[25]
  • Jonathan Rendall, English author (born 1964)^[26]
• 8 February – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American screenwriter and author (born 1934)^[27]
• 10 February – W. Watts Biggers, American novelist (born 1927)^[28]
• 12 February – Barnaby Conrad, American author (born 1922)^[29]
• 13 February – Oswald LeWinter, Austrian-born American writer (born 1931)^[30]
• 14 February
  • Glenn Boyer, American author (born 1924)^[31]
  • Mary Brave Bird, American Lakota writer and activist (born 1954)^[32]
  • Friedrich Neznansky, Russian writer (born 1932)^[33]
• 17 February
  • William Bridges, American author and business consultant (born 1933)^[34]
  • Manoranjan Das, Indian playwright (born 1923)^[35]
  • Debbie Ford, American motivational author (born 1955)^[36]
• 23 February
  • Maurice Rosy, Belgian comics writer (born 1927)^[37]
  • Sylvia Smith, English writer (born 1945)^[38]
• 24 February – Mahmoud Salem, Egyptian author (born 1931)^[39]
• 26 February
  • Jan Howard Finder, American science fiction writer (born 1939)^[40]
  • Stéphane Hessel, German-born French author and diplomat (born 1917)^[41]
• 27 February
  • Molly Lefebure, English writer (born 1919)^[42]
  • Imants Ziedonis, Latvian poet (born 1933)^[43]
• 10 March – Robert Chrisman, American poet, scholar, and critic, co-founder of The Black Scholar (born 1937)
• 1 April – Kildare Dobbs, Canadian author (born 1923)
• 11 April – Adam Galos, Polish historian (born 1924)^[44]
• 13 April – Nick Pollotta, American science fiction author (born 1954)^[45]
• 20 April
  • Jocasta Innes, China-born English non-fiction writer (born 1934)^[46]
  • E. L. Konigsburg, American children's novelist and illustrator (born 1930)^[47]
• 22 April – Clément Marchand, Canadian poet and journalist (born 1912)^[48]
• 1 May – Gregory Rogers, Australian children's author and illustrator (born 1957)
• 12 May – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian (born 1932)
• 23 May – William Demby, American author (born 1922)
• 26 May – Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer (born 1916)
• 6 June – Tom Sharpe, English comic novelist (born 1928)^[49]
• 9 June – Iain Banks, Scottish novelist (born 1954)^[50]
• 23 June – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (born 1926)^[51]
• 12 July – Elaine Morgan, Welsh writer on anthropology (born 1920)^[52]
• 2 September – Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer (born 1919)^[53]
• 18 September – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-born German literary critic (born 1920)
• 21 September – Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian poet (shot dead, born 1935)^[54]
• 23 September
  • Christopher Koch, Australian novelist (born 1932)^[55]
  • Álvaro Mutis, Colombian poet, novelist and essayist (born 1923)^[56]
  • Luciano Vincenzoni, Italian screenwriter (born 1926)^[57]
• 1 October – Tom Clancy, American thriller writer (born 1947)^[58]
• 25 November – Joel Lane, English author, poet, and critic (born 1963)
• 11 December – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author (born 1929)

Awards

• Akutagawa Prize (Early): Kaori Fujino for Tsume to Me (爪と目) "Nails and Eyes"
• Caine Prize for African Writing: Tope Folarin, "Miracle"
• Camões Prize: Mia Couto^[59]
• Danuta Gleed Literary Award: (announced 11 June 2013)
• David Cohen Prize: Hilary Mantel
• Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, C. E. Gatchalian; honours of distinction, Anand Mahadevan, Barry Webster
• Dylan Thomas Prize: Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins^[60]
• European Book Prize: Eduardo Mendoza, An Englishman in Madrid, and Arnaud Leparmentier, The French, gravediggers of the euro
• German Book Prize: Terézia Mora, Das Ungeheuer
• Goldsmiths Prize: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride^[61]
• Gordon Burn Prize: Pig Iron by Ben Myers^[62]
• Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
• Governor General's Award for French-language fiction: Quand les guêpes se taisent by Stéphanie Pelletier
• Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Plonger by Christophe Ono-dit-Biot
• Hugo Award for Best Novel: John Scalzi for Redshirts
• International Dublin Literary Award: City of Bohane by Kevin Barry^[63]
• International Prize for Arabic Fiction: The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi
• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2013 Lambda Literary Awards
• Man Booker Prize: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
• Miles Franklin Award: Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser^[64][65]
• National Biography Award (5 August): The Two Frank Thrings by Peter Fitzpatrick^[66]
• National Book Award for Fiction: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Nobel Prize in Literature: Alice Munro
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Premio Planeta de Novela: El cielo ha vuelto by Clara Sánchez
• Premio Strega: Resistere non serve a niente by Walter Siti
• Pritzker Military Library Literature Award: to Tim O'Brien^[67]
• Prix Goncourt: Au revoir là-haut by Pierre Lemaitre
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds
• Russian Booker Prize: Возвращение в Панджруд (Return to Panjrud) by Andrei Volos
• SAARC Literary Award: Suman Pokhrel, Abhay K, Daya Dissanayake, Farheen Chaudhary, Abdul Khaliq Rashid
• Samuel Johnson Prize: (announced November 2013) The Pike by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: Lynn Coady, Hellgoing^[68]
• Whiting Awards: Fiction: Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams (fiction/nonfiction), Amanda Coplin, Jennifer duBois, C.E. Morgan, Stephanie Powell Watts; Nonfiction: Morgan Meis, Clifford Thompson; Plays: Virginia Grise; Poetry: Ishion Hutchinson, Rowan Ricardo Phillips
• Women's Prize for Fiction: May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
• Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: W.S. Merwin^[69]

References

1. "George Orwell Day begins annual commemoration". The Guardian. London. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
2. Harding, Luke (28 January 2013). "Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
3. "2013: the year ahead in books". The Guardian. London. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
4. Lyall, Sarah (14 July 2013). "This Detective Novel's Story Doesn't Add Up". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
5. . Olivier Awards. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
6. Brown, Graeme (20 March 2012). "Opening date for new Library of Birmingham revealed". Birmingham Post.
7. . booktrade.info. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
8. Payne, Ed; Friedman, Chandler (1 December 2013). "Report: Unpublished J.D. Salinger stories leak online". CNN. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
9. "Harriet Jacobs | American abolitionist and author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
10. "Philip Hensher toasts the novelist Barbara Pym", 2 June 2013. Accessed 23 September 2013.
11. Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (Second ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780198715542.
12. Rosin, Hanna (22 November 2013). "Even Madder Men". The New York Times.
13. Courtwright, David T. (August 2015), "Book Review: Maguire and Ritter, Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade", Pacific Historical Review, 84 (3), University of California Press: 400–401, doi:10.1525/phr.2015.84.3.400
14. Éric Toussaint (19 January 2014). "Que faire de ce que nous apprend Thomas Piketty sur Le Capital au XXI siecle" (in French).
15. "Scriitorul Alexei Rudeanu a DECEDAT la vârsta de 73 de ani". România Liberă. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
16. (in Polish). Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
17. "Umrla je Maruša Krese". Delo (in Slovenian). 8 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
18. "Author Robert Kee dies aged 93". BBC News. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
19. "Mort de l'éditeur Jacques Sadoul". Le Figaro (in French). Agence France-Presse. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
20. "Granny poet marks 100th birthday with verse for victims". asahi.com. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
21. Siraj Memon, an icon of Sindhi literature, passes away at 79, The Express Tribune.
22. Robert Welch obituary, guardian.co.uk. 1 March 2013.
23. Gail Lynn Frazer obituary, legacy.com, 6 February 2013.
24. На 93 години почина Леда Милева (in Bulgarian)
25. Σκοτώθηκε στην Αίγυπτο η συγγραφέας Νίκη Μαραγκού lifo.gr (in Greek)
26. Jonathan Rendall dies, The Times, 7 February 2013.
27. Bergan, Ronald (14 February 2013). "Alan Sharp obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
28. W. Watts Biggers, Creator of 'Underdog' Cartoon, Dies at 85
29. Barnaby Conrad, Man of Many Hats and a Cape, Dies at 90, The New York Times, 16 February 2013
30. Oswald Le Winter – Holly Hill, thetandd.com, 18 February 2013.
31. Glenn Boyer, author of trilogy on Wyatt Earp dies azcentral.com
32. Mary Ellen Bird dies 5 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, kvsh.com, 18 February 2013.
33. ДНИ.РУ ИНТЕРНЕТ-ГАЗЕТА ВЕРСИЯ 5.0/Умер писатель Фридрих Незнанский.
34. William Bridges, Larkspur author of books on life changes, dies at 79 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Marin Independent Journal.
35. , The Times of India, 19 February 2013.
36. Debbie Ford, Author of Self-Help Books, Is Dead at 57 NY Times.
37. Décès du céramiste Maurice Savoie (in French)
38. Sylvia Smith, telegraph.co.uk
39. "Egyptian author Mahmoud Salem dies age 84" Daily News Egypt.
40. Jan Howard Finder, #1 fan, dies at 73.
41. Best-selling French author Stephane Hessel dies at 95 4 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine themalaysianinsider.com.
42. Memory of Molly Lefebure.
43. Miris dzejnieks Imants Ziedonis|Diena.lv.
44. Zmarł profesor Adam Galos, wybitny wrocławski historyk.
45. SF Site News " Obituary: Nick Pollotta.
46. Jocasta Innes.
47. The Washington Post.
48. Décès du poète et éditeur Clément Marchand, ledevoir.com.]
49. Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue novelist, dies aged 85.
50. Kelly, Stuart (15 June 2013). "Iain Banks: the final interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
51. Kellogg, Carolyn (24 June 2013). "'I Am Legend' author Richard Matheson has died at 87". Los Angeles Times.
52. Fishlock, Trevor (16 July 2013). "A writer who brought out the flavour of Wales". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
53. Jonas, Gerald (3 September 2013). "Frederik Pohl, Science Fiction Master Who Vaporized Utopias, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
54. "Prof. Awoonor dies in Al-Shabab attack in Kenyan Mall". citifmonline. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
55. Miles Franklin Award winning novelist Christopher Koch dead at 81.
56. Álvaro Mutis muere a la edad de 90 años en México (in Spanish)
57. Addio a Luciano Vincenzoni, scrisse "Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo" (in Italian)
58. Kite, Lorien (2 October 2013). "Thriller writer Tom Clancy dies". FT.com. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
59. "Award: Mia Couto recipient of the 2013 Camões Prize for Literature – Brazil | Portuguese American Journal". Portuguese American Journal. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
60. "Dylan Thomas Prize: US writer Claire Vaye Watkins wins £30,000". BBC News. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
61. Maughan, Philip (13 November 2013). "Goldsmiths Prize awarded to debut novelist Eimear McBride for A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
62. Bury, Liz (21 October 2013). "Benjamin Myers claims inaugural Gordon Burn prize". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
63. Lea, Richard (7 June 2013). "Kevin Barry wins Impac award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
64. 2013 Winner, Michelle de Kretser 25 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Miles Franklin Literary Awards.
65. Michelle de Kretser wins Miles Franklin Award for her book Questions of Travel, ABC News, Wed 19 Jun 2013.
66. Steger, Jason (5 August 2013). "Frank Thring double bill wins biography award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
67. "Tim O'Brien: 2013 Pritzker Literature Award Winner | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". Pritzkermilitary.org. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
68. "Lynn Coady Wins The 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize". www.scotiabank.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
69. "W. S. Merwin Granted International Herbert Award". Retrieved 12 March 2019.

External links

• 2013: the year ahead in books at The Guardian
• Most popular 2013 book articles viewed on Wikipedia, with user comments on traffic jumps – can be found on