1986 in literature

Last updated July 03, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1986.

Events

April 29 – A major fire at Los Angeles Public Library caused by arson destroys 400,000 volumes.^[1]
July 21 – Michael Grade, Controller of BBC1, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play .^[2]
September 29 – Bloomsbury Publishing is set up in London by Nigel Newton.^[3]
October 9 – The Phantom of the Opera , having been the longest running Broadway show ever, opens at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
December 19 – The Soviet dissident author Andrei Sakharov is allowed to return to Moscow after six years' internal exile.

New books

Poetry

Kama Sywor Kamanda – Chants de brumes (Songs of twilight)

Non-fiction

Dave Stieb (with Kevin Boland) - Tomorrow I'll be Perfect
Martin Amis – The Moronic Inferno: And Other Visits to America
Bernard Bailyn – Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution
Frank Barlow – Thomas Becket
Marjorie Chibnall – Anglo-Norman England 1066–1166
Richard Dawkins – The Blind Watchmaker
Karlheinz Deschner – Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums (Criminal History of Christianity)
Adrian Edmondson et al. – How to be a Complete Bastard
Sita Ram Goel – History of Hindu–Christian Encounters, AD 304 to 1996
Temple Grandin (with Margaret Scariano) – Emergence: Labeled Autistic
Patience Gray – Honey from a Weed (cookery)
Robert Irwin – The Middle East in the Middle Ages: The Early Mamlúk Sultanate 1250–1382
Kumari Jayawardena – Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World
Mark Mathabane – Kaffir Boy
Farley Mowat – My Discovery of America
Harvey Pekar – American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar (graphic autobiography)
Marc Reisner – Cadillac Desert
Richard Rhodes – The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Jonathan Riley-Smith – The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading
Roger Scruton – Sexual Desire: A Philosophical Investigation
Art Spiegelman – Maus: A Survivor's Tale (I: My Father Bleeds History) (graphic biography/autobiography)
Jean Vercoutter – The Search for Ancient Egypt
Mary Wilson – Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme

Births

January 24 - Aimee Carter, American young-adult fiction writer
June 6 - Rachelle Dekker, American science-fiction writer
July 3 – Chris Bush, English playwright, artistic director and comedian
unknown dates
- Caroline Bird, English poet and dramatist^[10]
- Chigozie Obioma, Nigerian novelist

Deaths

January 1 – Lord David Cecil, English critic and biographer (born 1902)^[11]
January 4 – Christopher Isherwood, English-born novelist (born 1904)
January 7
- P. D. Eastman, American author and illustrator (born 1909)
- Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer, screenwriter and photographer (born 1917)
January 9 – W. S. Graham, Scottish poet (born 1918)
January 24 – L. Ron Hubbard, American science fiction writer, founder of Scientology (born 1911)
January 26 – Nicholas Moore, English poet (born 1911)
February 4 – Phyllis Shand Allfrey, Dominican writer (born 1908)
February 9 – Dora Oake Russell, Newfoundland writer, diarist and journalist (born 1912)
February 11 – Frank Herbert, American science fiction novelist (born 1920)
February 27 – Nancy Brysson Morrison, Scottish novelist (born 1903)
February 28 – Edith Ditmas, English archivist, historian and writer (born 1896)
March 4
- Ding Ling, Chinese fiction writer (born 1904)
- Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and novelist (born 1913)
March 15 – Pandelis Prevelakis, Greek novelist, poet, dramatist and essayist (born 1909)
March 18 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist (born 1914)
April 12 – Valentin Kataev, Russian novelist and dramatist (born 1897)
April 14
- Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and feminist writer (born 1908)
- Jean Genet, French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist and political activist (born 1910)
April 17 – Bessie Head, Botswanan fiction writer (born 1937)
April 22 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian, philosopher and novelist (born 1907)
May 15 – Theodore H. White, American journalist, historian and novelist (born 1915)
June 14 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (born 1899)
July 16 – Stephen Coulter, English writer (born 1914)
August 1 – Lena Kennedy, English romantic novelist (born 1914)
August 3 – Beryl Markham, English-born Kenyan aviator and author (born 1902)
August 18 – Vivian Stuart, English novelist (born 1914)
August 20 – Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer and playwright (born 1923)
September 11 – Noel Streatfeild, English novelist and children's writer (born 1895)^[12]
October 28 – John Braine, English novelist (born 1922)
December 17 – J. F. Hendry, Scottish poet (born 1912)
December 19 – V. C. Andrews, American novelist (born 1923)
December 28 – John D. MacDonald, American novelist and short story writer (born 1916)

Awards

Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka

Australia

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Robin Walton, Glace Fruits
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Rhyll McMaster, Washing the Money and John A. Scott, St. Clair
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Robert Gray Selected Poems 1963–83
Mary Gilmore Prize: Stephen Williams, A Crowd of Voices
Miles Franklin Award: Elizabeth Jolley, The Well

Canada

See 1986 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

Prix Goncourt: Michel Host, Valet de nuit
Prix Médicis French: Pierre Combescot, Les Funérailles de la Sardine
Prix Médicis International: John Hawkes, Aventures dans le commerce des peaux en Alaska

United States

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Robley Wilson, Kingdoms of the Ordinary
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Sidney Kingsley
Frost Medal: Allen Ginsberg / Richard Eberhart
Nebula Award: Orson Scott Card, Speaker For the Dead
Newbery Medal for children's literature: Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall
Prometheus Award: Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Henry Taylor, The Flying Change
Whiting Awards: Fiction: Kent Haruf, Denis Johnson, Padgett Powell, Mona Simpson; Poetry: John Ash, Hayden Carruth, Frank Stewart, Ruth Stone; Nonfiction: Darryl Pinckney (nonfiction/fiction); Plays: August Wilson

Elsewhere

Premio Nadal: Manuel Vicent, Balada de Caín

References

↑ Orlean, Susan (2018). The Library Book. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-4018-8.
↑ Ian Curteis (1987). The Falklands Play: A Television Play. Hutchinson. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-09-170611-1.
↑ Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain) (1988). RSA Journal. Royal Society of Arts. p. 163.
↑ Dominic Head (26 January 2006). The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-521-83179-6.
1 2 Studies in Medievalism. D.S. Brewer. 1992. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-85991-348-5.
↑ "Books of the Times". The New York Times. 1987-06-02.
↑ Gay, Jane (2003). Languages of theatre shaped by women. Bristol, UK Portland, OR: Intellect. ISBN 9781871516784.
↑ Erskine, Thomas (2000). Video versions : film adaptations of plays on video. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 312. ISBN 9780313301858.
↑ George C. Schoolfield (1998). A History of Finland's Literature. University of Nebraska Press. p. 240.
↑ "Caroline Bird". Poetry Foundation. 2020-11-02. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
↑ The George Eliot, George Henry Lewes Newsletter. West Midlands College, English Division. 1986. p. 4.
↑ Patricia Burgess; Trish Burgess (1 August 1989). Annual Obituary, 1986. St James Press. p. 556. ISBN 978-1-55862-013-1.

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[1] Orlean, Susan (2018). The Library Book. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-4018-8.

[2] Ian Curteis (1987). The Falklands Play: A Television Play. Hutchinson. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-09-170611-1.

[3] Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain) (1988). RSA Journal. Royal Society of Arts. p. 163.

[4] Dominic Head (26 January 2006). The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-521-83179-6.

[Peters-5] 1 2 Studies in Medievalism. D.S. Brewer. 1992. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-85991-348-5.

[6] "Books of the Times". The New York Times. 1987-06-02.

[7] Gay, Jane (2003). Languages of theatre shaped by women. Bristol, UK Portland, OR: Intellect. ISBN 9781871516784.

[8] Erskine, Thomas (2000). Video versions : film adaptations of plays on video. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 312. ISBN 9780313301858.

[9] George C. Schoolfield (1998). A History of Finland's Literature. University of Nebraska Press. p. 240.

[10] "Caroline Bird". Poetry Foundation. 2020-11-02. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-11-02.

[11] The George Eliot, George Henry Lewes Newsletter. West Midlands College, English Division. 1986. p. 4.

[12] Patricia Burgess; Trish Burgess (1 August 1989). Annual Obituary, 1986. St James Press. p. 556. ISBN 978-1-55862-013-1.

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