1987 in literature

Last updated November 21, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1987.

Events

January 2 – Golliwogs in Enid Blyton children's books are replaced by the British publisher with gnomes after complaints of a racial offence implication.^[1]
April – K. W. Jeter coins the term "Steampunk" in a letter published in Locus: the magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field .
June – Virago Press of London publishes Down the Road, Worlds Away, a collection of short stories ostensibly by Rahila Khan, a young Muslim woman living in England. Three weeks later, Toby Forward, an Anglican clergyman, admits to writing them and the publisher withdraws the book. "He, unlike the editors at Virago, had grown up in precisely the kind of area and social conditions that the book described.... Although the book never claimed to be other than a work of fiction, the publishers destroyed the stock still in the warehouse and recalled all unsold copies from the bookshops, thus turning it into an expensive bibliographical rarity."^[2]
July 31 – The United Kingdom Attorney General takes legal proceedings on security grounds against the London paper The Daily Telegraph to prevent it publishing details of the book Spycatcher .^[3] On September 23, an Australian court lifts its ban on the book's publication.^[4]
August – A new building for the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington opens.
unknown dates
- Tom Wolfe is paid US$5 million for the film rights to his novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (published in book format in October), a record fee to an author at this time.^[5]
- Ian Rankin's Knots and Crosses , first of the Inspector Rebus detective novels set around Edinburgh, is published in London.^[6]

New books

Births

February 11 – Julio Torres, Salvadoran writer, comedian, and actor^[24]
February 27 – Alexandra Bracken, American young-adult novelist
April 12 – Ilana Glazer, American comedian, director, producer, writer, and actress^[25]
December 15 – Mayra Dias Gomes, Brazilian journalist and columnist
unknown dates
- Mina Adampour, Norwegian journalist, politician and activist of Iranian origin
- Katherine Rundell, English children's writer and academic brought up in Zimbabwe and Belgium

Deaths

January 15 – George Markstein, German-born English journalist and thriller writer (kidney failure, born 1926)^[26]
February 2 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish thriller writer (heart attack, born 1922)^[27]
February 4 – Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, Welsh journalist and broadcaster (born 1908)^[28]
February 10 – William Rose, American screenwriter (born 1918)
February 22 – Andy Warhol, American artist, director and writer (cardiac arrhythmia, born 1928)^[29]
March 4 – Maria Jolas (Maria McDonald), American-born French publisher and campaigner (born 1893)
April 4 – C. L. Moore, American science fiction author (born 1911)^[30]
April 7 – John Lehmann, English poet, biographer and publisher (born 1907)
April 11
- Erskine Caldwell, American novelist (born 1903)
- Primo Levi, Italian chemist and writer (born 1919)^[31]
April 12 – Oliver Stonor, English novelist (born 1903)
April 24 – Josephine Bell, English novelist (born 1897)
May 13 – Richard Ellmann, American-born biographer (born 1918)
May 18 – Heðin Brú, Faroese fiction writer and translator (born 1901)
May 30 – Norman Nicholson, English poet (born 1914)^[32]
June 6 – Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor and playwright (born 1922)
June 7 – Humberto Costantini, Argentinian writer (cancer, born 1924)
June 22 – John Hewitt, Northern Irish poet (born 1907)
June 29 – C. Hamilton Ellis, English writer (born 1909)
July 26 – Tawfiq al-Hakim, Egyptian novelist and dramatist (born 1898)^[33]
August 6 – Peter Whigham, English poet and translator (road accident; born 1925)
August 18 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean writer (born 1952)^[34]
September 1 – Alan Reid ("Red Fox"), English-born Australian journalist (cancer, born 1914)
September 25 – Emlyn Williams, Welsh dramatist (born 1905)^[35]
September 30 – Alfred Bester, American science fiction writer (born 1913)
October 3 – Jean Anouilh, French dramatist (born 1910)^[36]
October 8 – Roger Lancelyn Green, English biographer and children's author (born 1918)
October 9 – Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright (born 1903)^[37]
October 31 – Joseph Campbell, American author and mythology expert (born 1904)
November 29 – Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canadian poet (alcohol-related, born 1941)
December 1 – James Baldwin, African American novelist (stomach cancer, born 1924)^[38]
December 4 – Arnold Lobel, American children's writer and illustrator (born 1933)
December 9 – Diana Forbes-Robertson, English writer and biographer (born 1914)
December 17 – Marguerite Yourcenar, French novelist and essayist (born 1903)^[39]

Awards

Nobel Prize for Literature: Joseph Brodsky ^[40]

Australia

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Jim Sakkas, Ilias
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Lily Brett, The Auschwitz Poems
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Philip Hodgins, Blood and Bone
Mary Gilmore Prize: Jan Owen, Boy with Telescope
Miles Franklin Award: Glenda Adams, Dancing on Coral

Canada

See 1987 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

Prix Goncourt: Tahar ben Jelloun, La Nuit sacrée
Prix Médicis French: Pierre Mertens, Les Éblouissements
Prix Médicis International: Antonio Tabucchi, Indian Nocturne

United Kingdom

Booker Prize: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Susan Price, The Ghost Drum ^[41]
Cholmondeley Award: Wendy Cope, Matthew Sweeney, George Szirtes
Eric Gregory Award: Peter McDonald, Maura Dooley, Stephen Knight, Steve Anthony, Jill Maughan, Paul Munden
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: George Mackay Brown, The Golden Bird: Two Orkney Stories
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Ruth Dudley Edwards, Victor Gollancz: A Biography
Whitbread Best Book Award: Christopher Nolan, Under the Eye of the Clock
Sunday Express Book of the Year: Brian Moore, The Colour of Blood

United States

Fiction: Joan Chase, Pam Durban, Deborah Eisenberg, Alice McDermott, David Foster Wallace

Poetry: Mark Cox, Michael Ryan

Nonfiction: Mindy Aloff, Gretel Ehrlich

Plays: Reinaldo Povod

Elsewhere

Europe Theatre Prize: Ariane Mnouchkine, Théâtre du Soleil
Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Hans Jonas
Premio Nadal: Juan José Saer, La ocasión

Notes

Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2nd ed.). Oxford. University Press. ISBN 9780198715542.

References

↑ "1987". Those were the days. Wolverhampton: Express & Star. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
↑ Dalrymple, Theodore (2010). Spoilt Rotten. London: Gibson Square. p. 244.
↑ "Newspaper caught in Spycatcher row". BBC. 1987-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs". BBC. 1987-09-23. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Tom Wolfe". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
↑ John Connolly; Declan Burke (2 October 2012). Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels. Simon and Schuster. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-4516-9658-5.
↑ Philip Darby (31 May 1998). Fiction of Imperialism. A&C Black. pp. 236–. ISBN 978-0-304-70159-9.
↑ Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2nd ed.). Oxford. University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780198715542.
↑ Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists. Taylor & Francis. 2008. p. 129. ISBN 9781134709915.
↑ Hoffman, Alice (31 May 1987). "Summer Reading; Shopping for a New Family". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
↑ Martin Kirby (February 28, 1988). "Wotan Wants His Toys Back". the New York Times . Retrieved April 14, 2019.
↑ Duong Thu Huong (2002). Huy Đường Phan (ed.). Beyond Illusions: A Novel. Hyperion. p. 245. ISBN 9780786864171.
↑ Portuguese Studies Review (in French). Baywolf Press. 2008.
↑ Luke Strongman (2002). The Booker Prize and the Legacy of Empire. Rodopi. p. 116. ISBN 90-420-1488-1.
↑ Harold Bloom (2009). Novelists and Novels. Infobase Publishing. p. 455. ISBN 978-0-7910-9373-3.
↑ "Empire by Gore Vidal". Publishers Weekly . 1987-05-01. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
↑ Elana Gomel (2003). Bloodscripts: Writing the Violent Subject. Ohio State University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8142-0949-3.
↑ Pool, Gail (21 June 1987). "'You Bright and Risen Angels' (Published 1987)". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
↑ Moynahan, Julian (1987). "A Prisoner of War in the Hamptons". The New York Times Book Review . New York. p. 12. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
↑ Hoby, Hermione (10 January 2010). "The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 14
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 206
↑ "Theatre review: Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off / Our Teacher's a Troll / Mull Theatre". the Guardian. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
↑ Yuan, Jada (June 11, 2019). "Julio Torres, Rising Weirdo: SNL's Otherworldly Secret Weapon Is about to Take over HBO". Vulture . Retrieved June 25, 2019.
↑ "Ilana Glazer: Biography". TV Guide . Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
↑ Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. Locus Press. 1987. p. 413.
↑ Norman, Barry (2003). And Why Not?: Memoirs of a Film Lover. NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 211–14. ISBN 978-0684020884 . Retrieved 11 April 2017.
↑ Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died. A. & C. Black. 1981. p. 776. ISBN 978-0-7136-3336-8.
↑ Boorstin, Robert O. (1987-04-13). "Hospital Asserts it Gave Warhol Adequate Care". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-01-02.
↑ Congress, The Library of. "Moore, C. L. (Catherine Lucile), 1911-1987". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
↑ Intern (2012-07-09). "Primo Levi's Last Moments". Boston Review. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
↑ Reference Guide to English Literature: Writers H-Z. St. James Press. 1991. p. 1029.
↑ Arthur Goldschmidt (2000). Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt. Lynne Rienner. p. 67. ISBN 9781555872298.
↑ Dambudzo Marechera (1988). Dambudzo Marechera, 4 June 1952-18 August 1987: Pictures, Poems, Prose, Tributes. Baobab Books. pp. 12–15. ISBN 9780797408388.
↑ Krebs, Albin (September 26, 1987). "Emlyn Williams, Welsh Actor and Writer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
↑ Jane Gross (October 5, 1987). "Jean Anouilh, the French Playwright, Is Dead at 77". New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
↑ "Clare Boothe Luce, one of America's most versatile and..." United Press International. October 9, 1987. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
↑ "James Baldwin: His Voice Remembered". The New York Times. December 20, 1987.
↑ John Taylor (31 December 2011). Paths to Contemporary French Literature. Transaction Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 978-1-4128-0951-1.
↑ Emily Lygo (2010). Leningrad Poetry 1953-1975: The Thaw Generation. Peter Lang. p. 1. ISBN 978-3-03911-370-5.
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 660
↑ Fox, Margalit (24 March 2010). "Sid Fleischman, Children's Author, Dies at 90" . The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "1987". Those were the days. Wolverhampton: Express & Star. Retrieved 2020-01-11.

[2] Dalrymple, Theodore (2010). Spoilt Rotten. London: Gibson Square. p. 244.

[3] "Newspaper caught in Spycatcher row". BBC. 1987-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-02.

[4] "Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs". BBC. 1987-09-23. Retrieved 2007-07-02.

[5] "Tom Wolfe". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2012-10-28.

[6] John Connolly; Declan Burke (2 October 2012). Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels. Simon and Schuster. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-4516-9658-5.

[7] Philip Darby (31 May 1998). Fiction of Imperialism. A&C Black. pp. 236–. ISBN 978-0-304-70159-9.

[8] Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2nd ed.). Oxford. University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780198715542.

[9] Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists. Taylor & Francis. 2008. p. 129. ISBN 9781134709915.

[10] Hoffman, Alice (31 May 1987). "Summer Reading; Shopping for a New Family". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

[11] Martin Kirby (February 28, 1988). "Wotan Wants His Toys Back". the New York Times . Retrieved April 14, 2019.

[12] Duong Thu Huong (2002). Huy Đường Phan (ed.). Beyond Illusions: A Novel. Hyperion. p. 245. ISBN 9780786864171.

[13] Portuguese Studies Review (in French). Baywolf Press. 2008.

[Strongman2002-14] Luke Strongman (2002). The Booker Prize and the Legacy of Empire. Rodopi. p. 116. ISBN 90-420-1488-1.

[15] Harold Bloom (2009). Novelists and Novels. Infobase Publishing. p. 455. ISBN 978-0-7910-9373-3.

[16] "Empire by Gore Vidal". Publishers Weekly . 1987-05-01. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

[17] Elana Gomel (2003). Bloodscripts: Writing the Violent Subject. Ohio State University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8142-0949-3.

[18] Pool, Gail (21 June 1987). "'You Bright and Risen Angels' (Published 1987)". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2021.

[19] Moynahan, Julian (1987). "A Prisoner of War in the Hamptons". The New York Times Book Review . New York. p. 12. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2012.

[20] Hoby, Hermione (10 January 2010). "The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[21] Hahn 2015, p. 14

[22] Hahn 2015, p. 206

[23] "Theatre review: Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off / Our Teacher's a Troll / Mull Theatre". the Guardian. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

[24] Yuan, Jada (June 11, 2019). "Julio Torres, Rising Weirdo: SNL's Otherworldly Secret Weapon Is about to Take over HBO". Vulture . Retrieved June 25, 2019.

[25] "Ilana Glazer: Biography". TV Guide . Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.

[26] Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. Locus Press. 1987. p. 413.

[27] Norman, Barry (2003). And Why Not?: Memoirs of a Film Lover. NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 211–14. ISBN 978-0684020884 . Retrieved 11 April 2017.

[28] Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died. A. & C. Black. 1981. p. 776. ISBN 978-0-7136-3336-8.

[29] Boorstin, Robert O. (1987-04-13). "Hospital Asserts it Gave Warhol Adequate Care". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-01-02.

[30] Congress, The Library of. "Moore, C. L. (Catherine Lucile), 1911-1987". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

[31] Intern (2012-07-09). "Primo Levi's Last Moments". Boston Review. Retrieved 2021-01-12.

[32] Reference Guide to English Literature: Writers H-Z. St. James Press. 1991. p. 1029.

[33] Arthur Goldschmidt (2000). Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt. Lynne Rienner. p. 67. ISBN 9781555872298.

[34] Dambudzo Marechera (1988). Dambudzo Marechera, 4 June 1952-18 August 1987: Pictures, Poems, Prose, Tributes. Baobab Books. pp. 12–15. ISBN 9780797408388.

[35] Krebs, Albin (September 26, 1987). "Emlyn Williams, Welsh Actor and Writer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-18.

[36] Jane Gross (October 5, 1987). "Jean Anouilh, the French Playwright, Is Dead at 77". New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

[37] "Clare Boothe Luce, one of America's most versatile and..." United Press International. October 9, 1987. Retrieved October 7, 2021.

[38] "James Baldwin: His Voice Remembered". The New York Times. December 20, 1987.

[39] John Taylor (31 December 2011). Paths to Contemporary French Literature. Transaction Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 978-1-4128-0951-1.

[40] Emily Lygo (2010). Leningrad Poetry 1953-1975: The Thaw Generation. Peter Lang. p. 1. ISBN 978-3-03911-370-5.

[41] Hahn 2015, p. 660

[42] Fox, Margalit (24 March 2010). "Sid Fleischman, Children's Author, Dies at 90" . The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]