1936 in literature

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Last updated June 05, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1936.

Events

January 8 – Jewish booksellers throughout Nazi Germany are deprived of their Reich Publications Chamber membership cards, without which no one can sell books.^[2]
May – The Greek poet and Communist activist Yiannis Ritsos is inspired to write his poem Epitaphios by a photograph of a dead protester at a massive tobacco workers' demonstration in Thessaloniki. It is published soon after. In August, the right-wing dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas comes to power in Greece and copies are burned publicly at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens.^[3]
May 16–17 – About 30 left-wing writers of the Second Polish Republic gather at the Lviv Anti-Fascist Congress of Cultural Workers.
August 3 – George Heywood Hill establishes the Heywood Hill bookshop in London's Mayfair.
August 18 – The 38-year-old Spanish dramatist, Federico García Lorca, is arrested by Francoist militia during the White Terror and never seen alive again. His brother-in-law, Manuel Fernández-Montesinos, the leftist mayor of Granada, is shot on the same day.^[4]^[5] Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba (La casa de Bernarda Alba), completed on June 19, will not be performed until 1945.
November 6 – After United States publication in 1934, the U.K. authorities decide they will not prosecute or seize copies of James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses .^[6]
November 23 – Life magazine begins to appear as a weekly news magazine in the United States, under the management of Henry Luce.
unknown dates
- The New Theatre, Sydney, in Australia, attempts to stage Clifford Odets' anti-Nazi drama Till the Day I Die ; the German Consul General in the country complains to the Commonwealth Government and the play is banned; but the theatre stages the play in private premises.^[7]
- The first lighthearted crime novel by Scottish-born university teacher of English literature J. I. M. Stewart, writing as Michael Innes, is published: Death at the President's Lodging , set in Oxford. It introduces his long-running character Detective Inspector John Appleby of Scotland Yard.^[8]
- The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is inaugurated by the Library Association in the United Kingdom. The first winner is Arthur Ransome for Pigeon Post .^[9]

New books

Poetry

W. H. Auden – Look, Stranger! ^[13]
Gottfried Benn – Ausgewählte Gedichte (Selected Poems)
T. S. Eliot – Collected Poems 1909–35^[13] including "Burnt Norton", first of the Four Quartets
Patrick Kavanagh – Ploughman, and Other Poems
Michael Roberts (ed.) – The Faber Book of Modern Verse
Dylan Thomas – Twenty-five Poems^[13]
W. B. Yeats (ed.) – The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935

Non-fiction

A. J. Ayer – Language, Truth, and Logic
John Dickson Carr – The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey
Victor Hugo Green – The Negro Motorist Green Book (1st edn)
Graham Greene – Journey Without Maps
Richard Foster Jones – Ancients and Moderns: A Study of the Background of The Battle of the Books
Carl Gustav Jung – The Idea of Redemption in Alchemy (Die Erlösungsvorstellungen in der Alchemie)
John Maynard Keynes – The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
Osbert Lancaster – Progress at Pelvis Bay
F. R. Leavis – Revaluation: Tradition and Development in English Poetry
C. S. Lewis – The Allegory of Love
Karl Mannheim – Ideology and Utopia
Edwin Muir – Scott and Scotland
George Orwell – "Bookshop Memories"
Olavi Paavolainen – Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraana (Guest of the Third Reich)
J. R. R. Tolkien – "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" (version of a lecture)

Births

January 5 – Florence King, American writer (died 2016)
January 10 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian (died 2002)
January 28 – Ismail Kadare, Albanian novelist and poet (died 2024)
February 12 – Shawkat Ali, Bangladeshi writer (died 2018)
February 18 – Jean M. Auel, American historical novelist
March 1 – Jean-René Huguenin, French novelist and literary critic (died in 1962)
March 7 – Georges Perec, French novelist, filmmaker and essayist (died 1982)
March 28
- Peter Mayer, English-born publisher (died 2018)
- Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian writer, politician, journalist and essayist, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (died 2025)
March 31 – Marge Piercy, American poet and activist
April 12 – Frankétienne, Haitian writer (died 2025)
April 13 – Choi In-hun, South Korean writer (died 2018)
April 30 – Viktor Likhonosov, Soviet Russian writer and editor (died 2021)
May 10 – Anthea Bell, English translator (died 2018)
May 23 – Ian Kennedy Martin, English scriptwriter and novelist
May 27 – Ivo Brešan, Croatian playwright, novelist, screenwriter and satirist (died 2016)
June 3
- Duff Hart-Davis, English biographer and journalist
- Larry McMurtry, American novelist, essayist and screenwriter (died 2021)
June 9 – Nell Dunn, English playwright and author
June 18 – Dick Wimmer, American novelist (died 2011)
June 23 – Richard Bach, American novelist and non-fiction writer
June 24 – J. H. Prynne, English poet
June 29 – David Rudkin, English playwright
July 5 – Valerie Flint, English medieval historian (died 2009)
July 6 – Abidullah Ghazi, Indian-American author, educator and poet (died 2021)
August 8 – Jan Pieńkowski, Polish-born British children's writer and illustrator (died 2022)
August 24 – A. S. Byatt, English novelist (died 2023)
August 27 – Philippe Labro, French writer, journalist and film director (died 2025)
September 1 – Roderick Thorp, American novelist (died 1999)
September 2 – Károly Krajczár, Hungarian Slovene teacher, writer and collector (died 2018)
September 10 – Peter Lovesey, English crime fiction and short story writer (died 2025)
September 20 – Andrew Davies, Welsh novelist and screenwriter
September 26 – Victor Watson, English children's writer and academic
October 1 – Kailayar Sellanainar Sivakumaran, Sri Lankan writer, art and literary critic, journalist and radio and TV personality
October 5 – Václav Havel, Czech dramatist and first president of Czech Republic (died 2011)
November 4 – C. K. Williams, American poet (died 2015)
November 17 – John Wells, English satirical writer and actor (died 1998)
November 18 – Suzette Haden Elgin, American science fiction writer (died 2015)^[14]
November 20 – Don DeLillo, American novelist
November 25 – William McIlvanney, Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet (died 2015)
November 27 – Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (died 2005)
December 1 – Ma Văn Kháng, Vietnamese writer
December 2 – Hebe Uhart, Argentine writer (died 2018)
December 5
- James Lee Burke, American writer
- Lewis Nkosi, Zulu writer (died 2010)
December 11 – Ingvar Moe, Norwegian poet, novelist and children's writer (died 1993)
December 17 – Frank Martinus Arion, Curaçaoan novelist and poet (died 2015)

Deaths

January 4 – James Churchward, British writer (born 1851)
January 5 – Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Spanish dramatist and novelist (born 1866)
January 17 – Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian novelist and poet (stroke, born 1885)
January 18 – Rudyard Kipling, English writer and Nobel laureate (born 1865)
February 7 – Elizabeth Robins Pennell, American biographer and critic based in London (born 1855)
February 8 – Rahel Sanzara, German dancer, actress and novelist (cancer, born 1894)
February 23 – Lidia Veselitskaya (V. Mikulich), Russian novelist, memoirist and translator (born 1857)
March 1 – Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian poet, musician and novelist (born 1872)
March 9 – A. de Herz, Romanian playwright and journalist (hemoptysis, born 1887)
March 16 – Marguerite Durand, French actress and journalist (born 1864)
April 30 – A. E. Housman, English poet (born 1859)
June 11 – Robert E. Howard, American fantasy writer (suicide, born 1906)
June 12:
- M. R. James, English ghost story writer and scholar (born 1862)
- Karl Kraus, Austrian writer and journalist (born 1874)
June 14 – G. K. Chesterton, English novelist, poet and Catholic apologist (born 1874)
June 18 – Maxim Gorky, Russian dramatist (born 1868)
July 25 – Donald Maxwell, English travel writer and illustrator (born 1877)
July 26 – F. J. Harvey Darton English children's literature historian and publisher (born 1878)
August 8 – Mourning Dove, Native American writer (born 1884)
August 15 – Grazia Deledda, Sardinian-born novelist and Nobel laureate (born 1871)
August 19 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish dramatist and poet (shot, born 1898)
August 26 – Juliette Adam, French author (born 1836)^[15]
October 5 – J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist (born 1898)
October 9 – Harriette A. Keyser, American industrial reformer (born 1841)
November 12 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish horror writer (born 1887)
December – Emma Sheridan Fry, American actor, playwright, and drama teacher (born 1864)
December 10 – Luigi Pirandello, Italian dramatist and novelist (born 1867)
December 24 – Frances Garnet Wolseley, 2nd Viscountess Wolseley, English horticulturist and garden writer (born 1872)
December 27 – Kristína Royová, Slovak novelist, religious writer and poet (born 1860)
December 28 – John Cornford, English poet (killed in action, born 1915)^[16]
December 31 – Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish novelist, poet and scholar (born 1864)
date unknown – Bertha M. Wilson, American playwright, critic and actress (born 1874)

Awards

Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Winifred Holtby, South Riding
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Edward Sackville West, A Flame in Sunlight: The Life and Work of Thomas de Quincey
Newbery Medal for children's literature: Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn
Nobel Prize in Literature: Eugene Gladstone O'Neill
Prix Goncourt: Maxence Van Der Meersch, L'Empreinte de Dieu^[17]
Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Robert E. Sherwood, Idiot's Delight
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Robert P. Tristram Coffin, Strange Holiness
Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: Harold L. Davis, Honey in the Horn

References

↑ Gibson, Ian (1992). Lorca's Granada. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-16489-7.
↑ Schultz, Sigrid (1936-01-09). "Beef Shortage Drives Germany to Frozen Meat". Chicago Daily Tribune . p. 13.
↑ Baker, Kenneth (2016). On the Burning of Books. London: Unicorn. pp. 66–68. ISBN 978-1-910787-11-3.
↑ Gibson, Ian (1983). The Assassination of Federico García Lorca. London: Penguin Books. p. 164.
↑ Gibson, Ian (1996). El assasinato de García Lorca (in Spanish). Barcelona: Plaza and Janes. p. 255. ISBN 978-84-663-1314-8.
↑ Birmingham, Kevin (2014). The most dangerous book: the battle for James Joyce's Ulysses. London: Head of Zeus. ISBN 9781784080723.
↑ "New Theatre proves that art IS a weapon". Tribune . No. 746. New South Wales, Australia. 25 June 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-05-15– via National Library of Australia.
1 2 Keating, H. R. F. (1982). Whodunit? – a guide to crime, suspense and spy fiction. London: Windward. ISBN 0-7112-0249-4.
↑ The Bookseller. J. Whitaker. 1957. p. 1964.
↑ Sutherland, John (2007). Bestsellers: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-19-921489-1.
↑ "Winifred Holtby | Hull History Centre". www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
↑ Library of Congress. Copyright Office (1936). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. p. 1171.
1 2 3 Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.
↑ "Authors : Elgin, Suzette Haden : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
↑ Crecelius, Kathryn J.; Offen, Karen (1991). "Juliette Adam". In Wilson, Katharina M. (ed.). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers Volume 1. New York: Garland. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-82408-547-6.
↑ Haycock, David Boyd (2012). I Am Spain. Brecon. pp. 143–44.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies by a Number of Scholars. CUP Archive. p. 119.

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[1] Gibson, Ian (1992). Lorca's Granada. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-16489-7.

[2] Schultz, Sigrid (1936-01-09). "Beef Shortage Drives Germany to Frozen Meat". Chicago Daily Tribune . p. 13.

[3] Baker, Kenneth (2016). On the Burning of Books. London: Unicorn. pp. 66–68. ISBN 978-1-910787-11-3.

[4] Gibson, Ian (1983). The Assassination of Federico García Lorca. London: Penguin Books. p. 164.

[5] Gibson, Ian (1996). El assasinato de García Lorca (in Spanish). Barcelona: Plaza and Janes. p. 255. ISBN 978-84-663-1314-8.

[6] Birmingham, Kevin (2014). The most dangerous book: the battle for James Joyce's Ulysses. London: Head of Zeus. ISBN 9781784080723.

[7] "New Theatre proves that art IS a weapon". Tribune . No. 746. New South Wales, Australia. 25 June 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-05-15– via National Library of Australia.

[Whodunit-8] 1 2 Keating, H. R. F. (1982). Whodunit? – a guide to crime, suspense and spy fiction. London: Windward. ISBN 0-7112-0249-4.

[9] The Bookseller. J. Whitaker. 1957. p. 1964.

[10] Sutherland, John (2007). Bestsellers: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-19-921489-1.

[11] "Winifred Holtby | Hull History Centre". www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.

[12] Library of Congress. Copyright Office (1936). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. p. 1171.

[COCEL-13] 1 2 3 Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.

[14] "Authors : Elgin, Suzette Haden : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 April 2019.

[15] Crecelius, Kathryn J.; Offen, Karen (1991). "Juliette Adam". In Wilson, Katharina M. (ed.). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers Volume 1. New York: Garland. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-82408-547-6.

[16] Haycock, David Boyd (2012). I Am Spain. Brecon. pp. 143–44.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[17] The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies by a Number of Scholars. CUP Archive. p. 119.

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1936 in literature

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