1984 in literature

Last updated August 15, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1984.

Events

April 4 – The narrative of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) begins and causes widespread discussion. G. K. Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904) is also set in this year; and Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 (いちきゅうはちよん, Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon, 2009–2010) is set in a parallel version of it.
June 16 – Cirque du Soleil is founded in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.^[1]
July – Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities begins serialization in Rolling Stone .
December 19 – Ted Hughes' appointment as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom is announced in succession to Sir John Betjeman,^[2] Philip Larkin having turned down the post.
unknown dates
- Prvoslav Vujčić's second poetry collection, Kastriranje vetra (Castration of the Wind), written during a week's imprisonment in Tuzla for criticising the state, is banned in Yugoslavia.
- Of Mice and Men , the 1937 novel by John Steinbeck, is removed from Tennessee public schools, when the School Board Chair promises to oust all "ostensibly filthy" books from public school curricula and libraries.^[3]
- Redu in Belgium becomes a book town.
- Saqi Books, an independent U.K. publisher, is founded by Mai Ghoussoub.

New books

Poetry

John Ashbery – A Wave
Louise Erdrich – Jacklight
Christopher Gilbert – Across the Mutual Landscape
Paulette Jiles – Celestial Navigation
Sharon Olds – The Dead and the Living

Non-fiction

Charles Berlitz – Atlantis: The Eighth Continent
Church in Wales – Book of Common Prayer for use in the Church in Wales
Morrill Cody and Hugh Ford – The Women of Montparnasse, the Americans in Paris
Roald Dahl – Boy an autobiography
Louise Hay – You Can Heal Your Life
Lee Iacocca – Iacocca: An Autobiography
Pauline Kael – Taking It All In
Steven Levy – Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
Audre Lorde – Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Robin Morgan (ed.) – Sisterhood Is Global
M. Alice Ottoboni – The Dose Makes the Poison: A Plain-Language Guide to Toxicology
Derek Parfit – Reasons and Persons
Joan Peters – From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine
Dan Simonescu – Contribuții: literatura română medievală (Contributions: Medieval Romanian Literature)
Herbert Jay Stern – Judgment in Berlin ^[5]
E. O. Wilson – Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species

Births

February 19 - Marissa Meyer, American science-fiction author
April 16 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American novelist
May 9 – Ezra Klein, American journalist and columnist
May 21 – Jackson Pearce, American young-adult novelist
June 5 – Simon Rich, American humorist, novelist and screenwriter
July 11 - Marie Lu, American young-adult novelist
July 12 – Amanda Hocking, American fantasy novelist
August 8 – Owen Jones, English columnist and author and commentator
October 13 - Lauren DeStefano, American young-adult author
November 20 – Halley Feiffer, American playwright and actress
December 10 – Helen Oyeyemi, English novelist and playwright

Deaths

February 12 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine novelist, short story writer and essayist (born 1914)
February 21 – Michail Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
February 22
- Uwe Johnson, German writer in England (born 1934)
- Jessamyn West, American novelist (born 1902)
March 4 – Odd Bang-Hansen, Norwegian novelist and children's writer (born 1908)
March 8 – Eleanor Graham, English children's writer and editor (born 1896)
March 12 – Arnold Ridley, English playwright and actor (born 1896)
March 26 – Branko Ćopić, Bosnian Serb writer (suicide, born 1915)
April 1 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (born 1900)
April 15
- William Empson, English literary critic and poet (born 1906)
- Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (born 1925)
April 21
- Marcel Janco, Romanian–Israeli artist, art theorist, essayist and poet (born 1895)
- Manuel Mujica Láinez, Argentine novelist (born 1910)
April 24 – Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish writer (born 1891)
May 16 – Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (born 1913)
May 19 – John Betjeman, English poet laureate (born 1906)
June 6
- A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian soldier and author (born 1912)
- Hugh Sykes Davies, English poet and novelist (born 1909)
June 10 – Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Turkish poet and novelist (born 1901)
June 30 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright (born 1905)^[6]
July 6 – Denys Val Baker, Welsh novelist and short story writer (born 1917)
July 9 – Margaret Wetherby Williams (Margaret Erskine), English crime novelist (born 1901)
August 14 – J. B. Priestley, English novelist and playwright (born 1894)
August 25 – Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons), American fiction writer (born 1924)
September 7 – Liam O'Flaherty, Irish novelist and short story writer (born 1896)
October 31 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian playwright (born 1900)
November 6 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist and dramatist (born 1929)
November 10 – Xavier Herbert, Australian novelist (born 1901)
November 12 – Chester Himes, American writer (born 1909)
December 4 – Ștefan Voitec, Romanian politician and journalist (born 1900)
December 6 – Gray Barker, American writer on paranormal (born 1925)
December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature: Jaroslav Seifert

Australia

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Kate Grenville, Lilian's Story
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Les Murray, The People's Other World
Miles Franklin Award: Tim Winton, Shallows

Canada

See 1984 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

Prix Goncourt: Marguerite Duras, L'Amant
Prix Médicis French: Bernard-Henri Lévy, Le Diable en tête
Prix Médicis International: Elsa Morante, Aracoeli

Spain

Miguel de Cervantes Prize: Ernesto Sabato

United Kingdom

Betty Trask Award, established by Society of Authors, Prize: Ronald Frame, Winter Journey, Clare Nonhebel, Cold Showers
Booker Prize: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Margaret Mahy, The Changeover
Cholmondeley Award: Michael Baldwin, Michael Hofmann, Carol Rumens
Eric Gregory Award: Martyn Crucefix, Mick Imlah, Jamie McKendrick, Bill Smith, Carol Ann Duffy, Christopher Meredith, Peter Armstrong, Iain Bamforth
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: J. G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun , and Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Lyndall Gordon, Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life
Whitbread Best Book Award: James Buchan, A Parish of Rich Women

United States

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Arthur Smith, Elegy on Independence Day
Frost Medal: Jack Stadler
Nebula Award: William Gibson, Neuromancer
Newbery Medal for children's literature: Beverly Cleary, Dear Mr. Henshaw
Pulitzer Prize for Drama: David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: William J. Kennedy – Ironweed
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mary Oliver: American Primitive

Elsewhere

Premio Nadal: José de Tomás García – La otra orilla de la droga^[7]

References

↑ Bélanger, Brigitte (1999-04-14). "Cirque du Soleil". Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
↑ Howard, Philip (1984-12-20). "'True poet' Ted Hughes is Laureate". The Times . No. 62017. London. p. 1.
↑ "Of Mice and Men, 1937 – Information about the Book". SwissEduc.
↑ Europa Publications (2003). International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. Psychology Press. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-1-85743-179-7.
↑ David D. Hall (1990). Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England. Harvard University Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-674-96216-3.
↑ "Lillian Hellman | American playwright". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
↑ José Luis de Tomás García (1985). La otra orilla de la droga. Ediciones Destino. ISBN 978-84-233-1363-1.

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[1] Bélanger, Brigitte (1999-04-14). "Cirque du Soleil". Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2013-07-20.

[2] Howard, Philip (1984-12-20). "'True poet' Ted Hughes is Laureate". The Times . No. 62017. London. p. 1.

[3] "Of Mice and Men, 1937 – Information about the Book". SwissEduc.

[4] Europa Publications (2003). International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. Psychology Press. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-1-85743-179-7.

[5] David D. Hall (1990). Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England. Harvard University Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-674-96216-3.

[6] "Lillian Hellman | American playwright". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

[7] José Luis de Tomás García (1985). La otra orilla de la droga. Ediciones Destino. ISBN 978-84-233-1363-1.

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