1950 in literature

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Last updated February 27, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1950.

Events

January 19 – Isaac Asimov's first full-length novel, Pebble in the Sky , is published in the United States by Doubleday.^[1]
January 26 – For the film noir Gun Crazy , released on this day in the United States, co-writer Dalton Trumbo is billed as Millard Kaufman, due to the former's inclusion on the Hollywood blacklist. This year Trumbo serves 11 months in prison for Contempt of Congress, in the federal penitentiary in Ashland, Kentucky.
February – Jack Kerouac has his first novel, The Town and the City , published in the United States.
April 8 – J. D. Salinger's wartime short story "For Esmé — with Love and Squalor" is published in The New Yorker .
May 11 – Eugène Ionesco's first play, The Bald Soprano is first performed, in Paris.
September 10 – George Bernard Shaw is taken to hospital after fracturing a hip falling out of a tree he was pruning.^[2] He is released from hospital a few weeks later after a successful operation, but suffers kidney failure and dies at his home, Shaw's Corner (Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England), aged 94.
October – Galaxy Science Fiction magazine launches in the United States.
October 2 – The daily comic strip Peanuts , by Charles M. Schulz, makes its debut in nine United States newspapers.
October 16 – C. S. Lewis's children's portal allegorical fantasy novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , illustrated by Pauline Baynes, is published by Geoffrey Bles in London, first of the seven-book The Chronicles of Narnia .^[3]
December 20 – Poet T. S. Eliot expresses concerns about "the television habit" in a letter to The Times (London).^[4]
unknown dates
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is sent to a "special camp" for political prisoners in Kazakhstan.^[5]
- The 13th–14th century Japanese epic poem The Tale of the Heike (平家物語) is retold in modern prose by the historical novelist Eiji Yoshikawa as Shin Heike monogatari (New Tale of the Heike) and published in Asahi Weekly.
- Blackwell's opens the first specialist children's bookshop, in Broad Street, Oxford (England).^[6]
- Adrian Bell begins his Countryman's Notebook column in the Eastern Daily Press (England).^[7]

New books

Births

January 5 – Valentina Tăzlăuanu, Moldovan essayist, journalist and theatre critic (died 2020)
January 17 – Luis López Nieves, Puerto Rican writer
January 19 – Will Weaver, American author
January 20 – Edward Hirsch, American poet
January 22 – Paul Bew, Irish historian and academic
January 24 – Benjamin Urrutia, Ecuadorian author and scholar
January 25 – Gloria Naylor, African-American novelist and academic (died 2016)
February 11 – Mauri Kunnas, Finnish children's author
February 20 – Jean-Paul Dubois, French novelist and journalist
February 26:
- Irena Brežná, Slovak-Swiss writer, journalist and activist writing in German
- Adam Cornford, English poet and essayist
March 17 – Peter Robinson, British-born Canadian novelist (died 2022)
March 19 – Kirsten Boie, German children's writer
March 23 – Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian novelist
April 20 – Steve Erickson, American novelist
May 1 – Aldino Muianga, Mozambican physician and writer
May 27 – Alex Gray, Scottish crime writer
June 21 – Anne Carson, Canadian poet and scholar
June 25 – Barbara Gowdy, Canadian novelist
July 3 – Zhang Kangkang (张抗抗), Chinese writer
July 22 – Susan Eloise Hinton, American novelist
August 9 – Nicole Tourneur, French novelist (died 2011)
August 26 – Carl Deuker, American author
September 7 – Peggy Noonan, American columnist, political writer
September 16 – Henry Louis Gates, American literary critic
September 20 – James Blaylock, American fantasy author
September 28 – Christina Hoff Sommers, American author and philosopher^[10]
October 10 – Nora Roberts, American novelist
October 12 – Edward Bloor, American novelist
October 15 – Teresa Amy, Uruguayan poet and translator (died 2017)
October 17 – David Adams Richards, Canadian author
October 18 – Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (died 2006)
October 27 – Fran Lebowitz, American writer
November 3 – Massimo Mongai, Italian author
November 4 – Charles Frazier, American novelist
December 18 – Leonard Maltin, American film critic and historian
December 20 – Sheenagh Pugh, English-born poet and novelist
December 30 – Timothy Mo, Hong Kong British novelist
unknown dates
- Bandi, North Korean fiction writer
- Greg McGee, New Zealand playwright and crime fiction writer
- Candace Robb, American historical novelist^[11]

Deaths

January 5 – Basil Williams, English historian (born 1867)
January 8 – Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian/American political economist (born 1883)
January 21 – George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), English novelist (tuberculosis, born 1903)^[12]
February 7 – D. K. Broster, English historical novelist (born 1877)
February 13 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-born English-language novelist (born 1875)
February 24 – Irving Bacheller, American journalist and novelist (born 1859)
March 5 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet (born 1868)
March 11 – Heinrich Mann, German novelist (born 1871)
March 19 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author (born 1875)
March 22 – Emmanuel Mounier, French philosopher, journalist and theologian (born 1905)
circa March 30 – Henric Streitman, Romanian essayist and journalist (born 1870)^[13]
April 1 – F. O. Matthiessen, American historian and literary critic (born 1902)
April 4 – Cuthbert Whitaker, English yearbook editor (born 1873)^[14]
April 8 – Albert Ehrenstein, Austrian Expressionist poet (born 1886)
April 27 – H. Bonciu, Romanian novelist, poet and translator (cancer, born 1893)
May 6 – Agnes Smedley, American journalist and writer (born 1892)
May 8 – Cezaro Rossetti, Scottish-born Esperanto writer (born 1901)
May 10 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian (born 1883)^[15]
May 11 – Alfred O. Andersson, English-born American journalist and newspaper publisher (born 1874)
June 4 – George Cecil Ives, German-born English poet, writer and reformer (born 1867)
June 14 – Katharine Glasier, English writer and socialist (born 1867)
July 7 – Guy Gilpatric, American short story writer (suicide, born 1896)
August 27 – Cesare Pavese, Italian poet and novelist (born 1908)
September 6 – Olaf Stapledon, English philosopher and science fiction writer (heart attack, born 1886)
September 18 – Henrik Rytter, Norwegian dramatist, lyricist and translator (born 1887)
October 9 – Nicolai Hartmann, German-Latvian philosopher (born 1882)
October 19 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet (heart attack, born 1892)
October 31 – Herbert Kelly, English religious writer and cleric (born 1860)
November 2 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, critic and activist (born 1856)
November 25 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author (born 1873)
December 28 – Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Soviet short-story writer (born 1887)
December 31 – Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexican poet and dramatist (born 1903)
unknown dates
- Edith Escombe, English fiction writer and essayist (born 1866)
- Helen Rowland, American journalist and humorist (born 1875)

Awards

Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Elfrida Vipont, The Lark on the Wing
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction: Robert Henriques, Through the Valley
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography: Cecil Woodham-Smith, Florence Nightingale
Mystery Writer Of Japan – Kazuo Shimada, Shakai-bu Kisha ("City Reporter")
Newbery Medal: Marguerite de Angeli, The Door in the Wall
Newdigate Prize: John Bayley
Nobel Prize in Literature: Bertrand Russell
Premio Nadal: Elena Quiroga, Viento del norte
Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Joshua Logan, South Pacific
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: A. B. Guthrie Jr., The Way West
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Gwendolyn Brooks, Annie Allen (first African American winner)

References

↑ Isaac Asimov (1957). Pebble in the Sky. Bantam Books.
↑ "George Bernard Shaw treated in Luton after tree fall". Dunstable Today. 2012-03-31. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
↑ "Lucy Barfield: The Real Lucy of Narnia". Into the Wardrobe. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
↑ Asa Briggs (23 March 1995). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition. OUP Oxford. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-19-215964-9.
↑ Andrej Kodjak (1978). Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Twayne Publishers. pp. 11–18. ISBN 978-0-8057-6320-1.
↑ Graham, Malcolm (2014). On foot from Broad Street. Oxford Preservation Trust. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-9576797-1-9.
↑ Richard Hawking (22 April 2019). At The Field's Edge: Adrian Bell and the English Countryside. Crowood. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7198-2907-9.
↑ S. T. Joshi (1990). John Dickson Carr: A Critical Study. Popular Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-87972-477-1.
1 2 Kynaston, David (2007). Austerity Britain 1945–1951. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-7985-4.
↑ Rosenstand, Nina (November 20, 2003). The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780767429108 – via Google Books.
↑ Michelle Kazensky (June 2007). The Writers Directory 2008. Thomson Gale. p. 1670. ISBN 978-1-55862-600-3.
↑ "George Orwell, Author, 46, Dead. British Writer, Acclaimed for His '1984' and 'Animal Farm,' is Victim of Tuberculosis. Two Novels Popular Here, Distaste for Imperialism". The New York Times . 22 January 1950.
↑ "H. St. Streitman, jurnalist-pensionar". Adevărul. 1950-03-31. p. 2.
↑ The Illustrated London News. Illustrated London News & Sketch Limited. April 1960. p. 570.
↑ "Belle da Costa Greene | American librarian and bibliographer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 13 July 2020.

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[1] Isaac Asimov (1957). Pebble in the Sky. Bantam Books.

[2] "George Bernard Shaw treated in Luton after tree fall". Dunstable Today. 2012-03-31. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-11.

[3] "Lucy Barfield: The Real Lucy of Narnia". Into the Wardrobe. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 2010-10-04.

[4] Asa Briggs (23 March 1995). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition. OUP Oxford. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-19-215964-9.

[5] Andrej Kodjak (1978). Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Twayne Publishers. pp. 11–18. ISBN 978-0-8057-6320-1.

[6] Graham, Malcolm (2014). On foot from Broad Street. Oxford Preservation Trust. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-9576797-1-9.

[7] Richard Hawking (22 April 2019). At The Field's Edge: Adrian Bell and the English Countryside. Crowood. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7198-2907-9.

[8] S. T. Joshi (1990). John Dickson Carr: A Critical Study. Popular Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-87972-477-1.

[Kynaston-9] 1 2 Kynaston, David (2007). Austerity Britain 1945–1951. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-7985-4.

[10] Rosenstand, Nina (November 20, 2003). The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780767429108 – via Google Books.

[11] Michelle Kazensky (June 2007). The Writers Directory 2008. Thomson Gale. p. 1670. ISBN 978-1-55862-600-3.

[12] "George Orwell, Author, 46, Dead. British Writer, Acclaimed for His '1984' and 'Animal Farm,' is Victim of Tuberculosis. Two Novels Popular Here, Distaste for Imperialism". The New York Times . 22 January 1950.

[13] "H. St. Streitman, jurnalist-pensionar". Adevărul. 1950-03-31. p. 2.

[14] The Illustrated London News. Illustrated London News & Sketch Limited. April 1960. p. 570.

[15] "Belle da Costa Greene | American librarian and bibliographer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 13 July 2020.

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1950 in literature

Contents

Events

New books

Fiction

Children and young people

Drama

Poetry

Non-fiction

Births

Deaths

Awards

References