2003 in literature

Last updated October 28, 2025

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2003.

Events

February 12 – An invitation from the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, for some poets to attend a conference at the White House is postponed when one of them, Sam Hamill, organizes a "Poets Against the War" group for poetry readings across the United States on the same date.^[1]
February 15 – Anti-war protests occur in London. They are later used as the setting for Ian McEwan's 2005 novel Saturday .^[2]
March – The University of Mosul library is damaged and looted during the Iraq War, but many volumes are removed for protection by staff.
April 14 – The Iraq National Library and Archive is burned down during the Battle of Baghdad.^[3]
April – Nicholas Hytner succeeds Sir Trevor Nunn as artistic director of London's Royal National Theatre.^[4]
November 7 – UNESCO places among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity wayang kulit, a shadow puppet theatre and best known of the Indonesian wayang.^[5]

New books

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Deaths

January 5 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (born 1923)
January 21 – Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet and songwriter (born 1933)
February 16 – Aleksandar Tišma, Serbian novelist (born 1924)
February 26 – Quentin Keynes, English explorer, writer and filmmaker (born 1921)
March 11 – Brian Cleeve, English-born Irish writer and broadcaster (born 1921)
March 12 – Howard Fast, American novelist (born 1914)
March 14 – Lucian Boz, Romanian and Australian literary critic (born 1908)
April 3 – Michael Kelly, American journalist (born 1957)
April 7 – Cecile de Brunhoff, French children's writer (born 1903)
June 21
- George Axelrod, American dramatist and screenwriter (born 1922)
- Leon Uris, American novelist (born 1924)
July 6 – Kathleen Raine, English poet, scholar, and translator (born 1908)^[20]
July 10 – Winston Graham, English novelist (born 1908)^[21]
July 14 – Éva Janikovszky, Hungarian novelist and children's writer (born 1926)
July 15 – Roberto Bolaño, Chilean-born fiction writer (born 1953)
July 16 – Carol Shields, American-born Canadian novelist (breast cancer; born 1935)^[22]
September 3 – Alan Dugan, American poet (born 1923)
September 12 – Profira Sadoveanu, Romanian journalist, memoirist, biographer, editor and translator (born 1906)
September 24 – Derek Prince, English biblical scholar, author and radio presenter (born 1915)
September 25 – Edward Said, Palestinian-American literary critic (born 1935)^[23]
November 9 – Alan Davidson, Northern Irish historian and food writer (born 1924)
December 3 – Sita Ram Goel, Indian historian, publisher and author (born 1921)
December 11 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian writer (born 1927)^[24]
December 12 – Fadwa Toukan, Palestinian poet (born 1917)

Awards

Nobel Prize for Literature: J. M. Coetzee

Australia

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Nicholas Angel, Drown Them in the Sea
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Emma Lew, Anything the Landlord Touches
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Jill Jones, Screens Jets Heaven
Miles Franklin Award: Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country

Canada

Giller Prize: M. G. Vassanji – The In-Between World of Vikram Lall
See 2003 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of the winners of those awards.
Griffin Poetry Prize: Margaret Avison, Concrete and Wild Carrot and Paul Muldoon, Moy sand and gravel
Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Alison Watt, The Last Island ^[25]

Sweden

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award: Maurice Sendak and Christine Nöstlinger ^[26]

United Kingdom

Booker Prize: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
Caine Prize for African Writing: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, "Weight of Whispers"
Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Jennifer Donnelly, A Gathering Light ^[27]
Cholmondeley Award: Ciarán Carson, Michael Donaghy, Lavinia Greenlaw, Jackie Kay
David Cohen Prize: Beryl Bainbridge, Thom Gunn
Eric Gregory Award: Jen Hadfield, Zoë Brigley, Paul Batchelor, Olivia Cole, Sasha Dugdale, Anna Woodford
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: Volume 2 – The Power of Place
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Andrew O'Hagan, Personality
Orange Prize for Fiction: Valerie Martin, Property
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: U. A. Fanthorpe
Whitbread Book of The Year Award: Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel

United States

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: David Shumate, High Water Mark
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry: W. S. Merwin
Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Julie Sheehan, "Brown-headed Cow Birds"
Bollingen Prize for Poetry: Adrienne Rich
Brittingham Prize in Poetry: Brian Teare, The Room Where I Was Born
Compton Crook Award: Patricia Bray, Devlin's Luck
Frost Medal: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Hugo Award: Robert J. Sawyer, Hominids
Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2003 Lambda Literary Awards
National Book Award for Fiction: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire
National Book Critics Circle Award: Edward P. Jones, The Known World
Newbery Medal for children's literature: Avi, Crispin: The Cross of Lead ^[28]
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Sabina Murray, The Caprices
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
Wallace Stevens Award: Richard Wilbur
Whiting Awards:

Fiction: Courtney Angela Brkic (fiction/nonfiction), Alexander Chee, Agymah Kamau, Ann Pancake, Lewis Robinson, Jess Row

Nonfiction: Christopher Cokinos, Trudy Dittmar

Plays: Sarah Ruhl

Poetry: Major Jackson

Other

Camões Prize: Rubem Fonseca
International Dublin Literary Award: Orhan Pamuk My Name is Red
Premio Nadal: Andrés Trapiello, Los amigos del crimen perfecto
SAARC Literary Award: Tissa Abeysekara, Laxman Gaikwad

Notes

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

References

↑ Knowles, Joe (2003-02-14). "Poets Against the War". In These Times. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
↑ Christopher Hitchens (April 2005). "Civilisation and its malcontents". The Atlantic (April 2005). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
↑ Eskander, Saad (December 2004). "The Tale of Iraq's 'Cemetery of Books'". Information Today. 21 (11): 1–54.
↑ "Hytner appointment welcomed". BBC News. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
↑ Indonesian wayang Inscribed in 2003 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
↑ Will Hammond (10 August 2003). "Old London calling". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
↑ Lane, Harriet (1 June 2003). "Ali's in Wonderland". The Observer . Retrieved 31 May 2005.
↑ Young, Richard (2011). Historical dictionary of Latin American literature and theater. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780810874985.
↑ Charlotte Moore (24 May 2003). "Just the facts, ma'am". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
↑ John Homans (March 10, 2003). "The Three Wives Club". New York. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
↑ Stuhr, Rebecca (2009). Reading Khaled Hosseini. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780313355110.
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 21
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 332-333
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 408
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 492
↑ Hahn 2015, pp. 264-265
↑ Olson, Danel (2011). 21st-century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels Since 2000. Scarecrow Press. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-8108-7728-3.
↑ Goodreads, Into the Blue , Book review, Retrieved 11/27/2012
↑ Eichenberger, J. (2003). Your Pilot's License. Mcgraw-hill. ISBN 9780071402859 . Retrieved 2015-04-03.
↑ Watts, Janet (8 July 2003). "Obituary: Kathleen Raine". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
↑ "Winston Graham obituary" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
↑ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (July 18, 2003). "Carol Shields, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Novelist, Dies at 68". The New York Times.
↑ Bernstein, Richard (26 September 2003). "Edward W. Said, Literary Critic and Advocate for Palestinian Independence, Dies at 67". The New York Times. p. 23. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
↑ Busby, Margaret (16 December 2003). "Ahmadou Kourouma". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01.
↑ Faculty of Arts, 2003, Edna Staebler Award Archived 2014-06-06 at Archive-It , Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Alison Watt, Retrieved 11/27/2012
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 653
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 661
↑ Hahn 2015, p. 658

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[1] Knowles, Joe (2003-02-14). "Poets Against the War". In These Times. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2014-11-10.

[2] Christopher Hitchens (April 2005). "Civilisation and its malcontents". The Atlantic (April 2005). Retrieved 17 January 2021.

[3] Eskander, Saad (December 2004). "The Tale of Iraq's 'Cemetery of Books'". Information Today. 21 (11): 1–54.

[4] "Hytner appointment welcomed". BBC News. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

[5] Indonesian wayang Inscribed in 2003 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

[6] Will Hammond (10 August 2003). "Old London calling". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[7] Lane, Harriet (1 June 2003). "Ali's in Wonderland". The Observer . Retrieved 31 May 2005.

[8] Young, Richard (2011). Historical dictionary of Latin American literature and theater. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780810874985.

[9] Charlotte Moore (24 May 2003). "Just the facts, ma'am". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[10] John Homans (March 10, 2003). "The Three Wives Club". New York. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[11] Stuhr, Rebecca (2009). Reading Khaled Hosseini. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780313355110.

[12] Hahn 2015, p. 21

[13] Hahn 2015, p. 332-333

[14] Hahn 2015, p. 408

[15] Hahn 2015, p. 492

[16] Hahn 2015, pp. 264-265

[17] Olson, Danel (2011). 21st-century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels Since 2000. Scarecrow Press. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-8108-7728-3.

[18] Goodreads, Into the Blue , Book review, Retrieved 11/27/2012

[19] Eichenberger, J. (2003). Your Pilot's License. Mcgraw-hill. ISBN 9780071402859 . Retrieved 2015-04-03.

[20] Watts, Janet (8 July 2003). "Obituary: Kathleen Raine". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2018.

[21] "Winston Graham obituary" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved March 9, 2015.

[22] Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (July 18, 2003). "Carol Shields, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Novelist, Dies at 68". The New York Times.

[23] Bernstein, Richard (26 September 2003). "Edward W. Said, Literary Critic and Advocate for Palestinian Independence, Dies at 67". The New York Times. p. 23. Retrieved 6 June 2013.

[24] Busby, Margaret (16 December 2003). "Ahmadou Kourouma". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01.

[25] Faculty of Arts, 2003, Edna Staebler Award Archived 2014-06-06 at Archive-It , Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Alison Watt, Retrieved 11/27/2012

[26] Hahn 2015, p. 653

[27] Hahn 2015, p. 661

[28] Hahn 2015, p. 658

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2003 in literature

Contents

Events

New books

Fiction

Children and young people

Drama

Poetry

Non–fiction