2026 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2026.

Anniversaries

• 12 January
  • Jack London was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
  • Agatha Christie died in 1976 (50th Anniversary).
• 13 January – Michael Bond was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 14 January – Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 19 January – Hans Sachs died in 1576 (450th Anniversary).
• 24 January – E. T. A. Hoffmann was born in 1776 (250th Anniversary).
• 25 January – Joseph Görres was born in 1776 (250th Anniversary).
• 3 February – Richard Yates was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 8 February – Neal Cassady was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 20 February
  • Richard Matheson was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
  • Alfonso Sastre was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 24 February – Erich Loest was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 4 March – Léon-Paul Fargue was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 17 March – Siegfried Lenz was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 24 March – Dario Fo was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 27 March – Frank O'Hara was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 31 March – John Fowles was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 1 April – Anne McCaffrey was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 28 April – Harper Lee was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 8 June – George Sand died in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 27 June – Harriet Martineau died in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 12 July – Max Jacob was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 13 September – Sherwood Anderson was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 14 September – Michel Butor was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 15 October – Michel Foucault was born in 1926 (100th Anniversary).
• 15 November – Anna de Noailles was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).
• 22 December – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was born in 1876 (150th Anniversary).

New books

Dates after each title indicate U.S. publication, unless otherwise indicated.

Children's and young adults

New children's and young adult, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date of pub.	Ref.

Fiction

New adult fiction, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date of pub.	Ref.

Poetry

New poetry, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date of pub.	Ref.

Drama

New drama, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date of pub.	Ref.

Nonfiction

New nonfiction, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date of pub.	Ref.
Jacob Soboroff	Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster	January 6	[1]

Biography and memoir

New biography and memoir, sorted by date of publication

Author	Title	Date	Ref.

Deaths

Individual	Background	Date of death	Age	Cause of death	Ref.
Brian Doyle	Canadian writer	January 1	90		[2]
James Grauerholz	American writer and book editor		73	Complications of pneumonia	[3]
Sukumar Barua	Bangladeshi poet	January 2	87		[4]
Franz Herre	German biographer	January 3	99		[5]
Renée Good	American writer and poet	January 7	37	Shot by law enforcement	[6] [7]
Astrid Roemer	Surinamese-Dutch writer	January 8	78		[8]
Kjersti Scheen	Norwegian writer and illustrator		82		[9]
Erich von Däniken	Swiss author	January 10	90		[10]
Karl Riha	German poet, writer and literary scholar		90		[11]
Scott Adams	American author and cartoonist	January 13	68	Cancer	[12]
Kim Sin-yong	South Korean poet and writer	January 15	80		[13]
Hermann Peter Piwitt	German writer		90		[14]
Allan Chapman	British historian of science and author	January 21	79		[15]
Kalin Terziyski	Bulgarian poet and writer	January 22	55		[16]
Roland Huntford	British biographer	January 23	98		[17]
David Abulafia	British historian and author	January 24	76		[18]
Michael Parenti	American non-fiction writer		92		[19]
Marie Rouanet	French Occitan writer	January 25	89		[20]
Mark Tully	British journalist and writer		90		[21]
Sia Figiel	Samoan poet and writer	January 26	59		[22]
Gloria Wade-Gayles	African-American academic and non-fiction writer	January 27	88		[23]
Vénus Khoury-Ghata	Lebanese-French poet and writer	January 28	88		[24]
Diana Ferrus	South African poet and storyteller	January 30	72		[25]
X. J. Kennedy	American poet, author and editor		96		[26]

References

1. Salazar, Miguel; Thompson, Laura (2026-01-07). "The Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026". New York Times . Archived from the original on 2026-01-12. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
2. Saxberg, Lynn (2 January 2026). "Brian Doyle, celebrated Ottawa author, dies at age 90". Ottawa Citizen . Archived from the original on 2 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
3. "Obituary #8: James Grauerholz". Rock and Beat Generation. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
4. "Sukumar Barua, whose rhymes shaped the childhoods of generations, dies at 87". The Financial Express. 2 January 2026. Archived from the original on 4 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
5. "Franz Herre". trauer.merkur.de (in German). 2026-01-05. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
6. "Renee Nicole Good: Who was the woman killed by ICE in Minneapolis?". BBC . 2026-01-09. Archived from the original on 2026-01-09. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
7. Powell, Tori (2026-01-09). "January 9, 2026 — Minneapolis shooting, ICE agent's cellphone captures confrontation". CNN. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
8. "Starnieuws - Schrijfster Astrid Roemer overleden". Starnieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-01-12.
9. "Kjersti Scheen". Wang Begravelsesbyrå. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
10. "Schweizer Autor und Publizist Erich von Däniken ist gestorben". Tages Anzeiger. 11 January 2026. Archived from the original on 11 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
11. "Karl Riha" (death notice). 57trauer.de, 17 January 2026 (in German). Retrieved 19 January 2026.
12. Smith, Harrison (January 13, 2026). "Scott Adams, Dilbert creator who poked fun at bad bosses, dies at 68". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on January 14, 2026. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
13. '한국의 장 주네' 김신용 시인 별세…향년 81세 (in Korean)
14. "Hermann Peter Piwitt ist tot" Archived 2026-01-17 at the Wayback Machine . spiegel.de, 16 January 2026 (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2026.
15. "Dr Allan Chapman, 1946–2026". Royal Astronomical Society. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
16. "Writer Kalin Terziyski Dies Aged 55". BTA. 23 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
17. Patrick Kidd: "Obituary: Roland Huntford, polar historian". observer.co.uk, 30 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
18. "Professor David Abulafia CBE has died. He was 76". News. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
19. "Michael Parenti (1933 – 2026): The Inconvenient Public Intellectual". openthemagazine. 25 January 2026. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
20. "Mort de l'écrivaine biterroise Marie Rouanet : figure de proue de la culture occitane, l'artiste est décédée à 89 ans". Midi Libre. 25 January 2026. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
21. "Mark Tully, BBC's "Voice of India", dies aged 90". BBC News. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
22. Pouoa, Grace (2026-01-26). "Papalii Sia Figiel Found Dead in her Cell at Tanumalala Prison". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
23. Abdur-Rahman, Nahlah (2026-01-27). "Rest In Power. Dr. Gloria Wade-Gayles, Trailblazing Black And Women's Studies Scholar, Dies At 88". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
24. Mort de Vénus Khoury-Ghata, récompensée par le Prix Goncourt de la poésie, à l'âge de 88 ans (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2026.
25. Jacobs, Yasmine (30 January 2026). "Iconic poet and advocate for justice Dr Diana Ferrus dies at 72". IOL. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
26. "'A Line or Two Worth Keeping All Too Rare'". Bored Reading. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 31 January 2026.