2015 in literature

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2015.

Events

• January 7 – Charlie Hebdo shooting: An attack on the leading Franch satirical weekly kills 12 and wounds 11. This week's cover features Michel Houellebecq, whose novel Submission is published that day.
• January 21 – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launches a six-part television miniseries of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.
• March 8 – The BBC launches a new television series of Winston Graham's Poldark novels.
• March 10 – Jacek Dukaj's cyberpunk novel The Old Axolotl is published in its original Polish version as Starość aksolotla as purely electronic literature including hypertext and 3D printable character models.
• March 19 – Kim Thúy's novel Ru wins the 2015 edition of Canada Reads.
• July 7 – Jeff Lindsay releases his final novel in the "Dexter" series, writing off Dexter Morgan two years after the final episode in the television series.
• c. October 14 – Start of Causeway Bay Books disappearances: Five staff of the political bookseller Causeway Bay Books in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, go missing, apparently detained by mainland Chinese authorities.
• November 10 – The Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford acquires its twelve millionth book, a unique copy of Shelley's subversive Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things "by a Gentleman of the University of Oxford", published in 1811.
• November 25 – Singapore's Media Development Authority lifts prohibitions on 240 publications under the Undesirable Publications Act.
• unknown date – English author Iain Pears' novel Arcadia is accompanied as an electronic book by an interactive app allowing readers to switch between multiple narratives.

Anniversaries

• January 4 – 50th anniversary of the death of Anglo-American poet T. S. Eliot
• April 23 – Centenary of the death of English poet Rupert Brooke, on active service
• June – Centenary of the publication of T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
• June 10 – Centenary of Saul Bellow's birth
• June 13 – 150th anniversary of W. B. Yeats, who was born on this date in 1865
• September 26 – 75th anniversary of his death of Walter Benjamin
• October – Centenary of the publication of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung).
• November 26 – 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• October 21 – 75th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls
• December 21 – 75th anniversary of the death of American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald
• December 23 – Bicentenary of the publication of Jane Austen's Emma

New books

The date in brackets after a title refers to U.S. publication unless otherwise stated.

Fiction

• Rabai al-Madhoun – Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Naqba
• André Alexis – Fifteen Dogs
• Isabel Allende – El amante japonés
• Claudia Amengual – Cartagena (April 28)
• Margaret Atwood – The Heart Goes Last
• Leigh Bardugo – Six of Crows
• Paul Beatty – The Sellout (March 3)
• Pierce Brown – Golden Son (January 6)
• Graeme Macrae Burnet – His Bloody Project (UK, November 6)
• Mark Z. Danielewski
  • The Familiar, Volume 1: One Rainy Day in May (May 12)
  • The Familiar, Volume 2: Into the Forest (Oct 27)
• Mathias Énard – Boussole (Compass)
• Raymond Carver – Beginners (September 15)
• Anne Enright – The Green Road
• Jonathan Franzen – Purity (September 1)
• Paula Hawkins – The Girl on the Train (January 13)
• Lawrence Hill – The Illegal
• Michel Houellebecq - Submission (France, January 7)
• John Irving – Avenue of Mysteries (November 3)
• Kazuo Ishiguro – The Buried Giant (March 3)
• Miranda July – The First Bad Man (January 13)
• Stephen King
  • Finders Keepers (June 2)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (November 3)
• Harper Lee – Go Set a Watchman (July 14; written c.1955)
• Sarah J. Maas – A Court of Thorns and Roses
• Michael Livingston – The Shards of Heaven (November 24)
• Tom McCarthy – Satin Island (UK)
• Ian McDonald – Luna: New Moon (September 17)
• Lisa McInerney – The Glorious Heresies (April)
• Henning Mankell (d. October 15) – Svenska gummistövlar (Sweden; translated as After the Fire, 2017)
• Toni Morrison – God Help the Child (April 21)
• Ottessa Moshfegh – Eileen (August)
• Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹) – Wind/Pinball: Two Novels (August 4)
• Viet Thanh Nguyen – The Sympathizer
• Chigozie Obioma – The Fishermen
• Max Porter – Grief is the Thing with Feathers (UK, September 17)
• Orhan Pamuk – A Strangeness in My Mind (October 20)
• Sunjeev Sahota – The Year of the Runaways (UK, June)
• John Scalzi – The End of All Things (August 11)
• Roger Scruton – The Disappeared (March 5)
• Joss Sheldon – Occupied (UK, October 20)
• Neal Stephenson – Seveneves (May 19)
• Anne Tyler – A Spool of Blue Thread
• Guy Vanderhaeghe – Daddy Lenin and Other Stories
• Sarai Walker – Dietland (May 26)
• Hanya Yanagihara – A Little Life

Children and young people

• Kevan Atteberry – Bunnies!!!
• Bob Barner - Sea Bones
• Janeen Brian - I’m A Hungry Dinosaur
• Sarah Crossan – One (verse, UK, August 27)
• Brian Falkner - Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo
• Nadia Fink (illustrated by Pitu Saá) – Frida Kahlo for Girls and Boys (Frida Kahlo para chicas y chicos) (Argentina, June, first in Anti-Princess Series (Colección antiprincesas))
• Peter Goes – Timeline
• Jane Godwin – The True Story of Mary
• Frances Hardinge – The Lie Tree (UK, May 7)
• Moriah McStay – Everything That Makes You
• Carol Morley – 7 Miles Out
• Barry Moser – We Were Brothers
• Lesléa Newman – Ketzel, the Cat who Composed
• Jerry Pinkney – The Grasshopper & the Ants
• Rick Riordan
  • Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes (August 18)
  • The Sword of Summer (October 6)
• R. A. Spratt - Friday Barnes, Under Suspicion
• Yasmine Surovec – My Pet Human

Poetry

Further information: 2015 in poetry

Drama

• Annie Baker – John
• David Hare – The Moderate Soprano
• Lynn Nottage – Sweat
• Tom Stoppard – The Hard Problem (UK, February 5)

Non-fiction

• Elizabeth Alexander – The Light of the World: A Memoir
• Björk – Archives
• Carrie Brownstein – Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl
• Noam Chomsky – Because We Say So
• Kate Christensen – How To Cook A Moose: A Culinary Memoir
• Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips – The Misfit Economy
• Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me (July)
• Isaac Deutscher – The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky
• Kim Gordon – Girl in a Band
• Greg Grandin – Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman
• Chris Hedges – Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt
• Tameka Hobbs - Democracy Abroad, Lynching At Home
• Robert Hughes – The Spectacle of Skill: Selected Writings (November 17)
• W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne – Blue Ocean Strategy (expanded edition)
• B. B. Lal – The Rigvedic People: Invaders? Immigrants? or Indigenous?
• Zachary Leader – The Life of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915–1964
• Mark Levin – Plunder and Deceit
• Bethany McLean – Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants
• Alberto Manguel – Curiosity (literary criticism)
• John Marenbon – Pagans and Philosophers (March 22)
• Minae Mizumura (translated by Mari Yoshihara and Juliet Winters Carpenter) – The Fall of Language in the Age of English
• Maggie Nelson – The Argonauts
• Jay Parini – Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal
• Marilynne Robinson – The Givenness of Things: Essays (October 27)
• Oliver Sacks – Gratitude
• Ruth Scurr – John Aubrey: My Own Life
• James Shapiro – The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606
• Steve Silberman – The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
• Aaron Swartz – The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz (November 26, UK)
• Edmund de Waal – The White Road. A Pilgrimage of Sorts (porcelain)
• Jim Wallis – America's Original Sin
• Rainn Wilson - The Bassoon King

Films

• The Danish Girl

Deaths

• January 1 – Miller Williams, American poet, 84 (born 1930)
• January 4 – Michele Serros, American novelist, poet, and staff writer, 48 (born 1966)
• January 10 – Robert Stone, American novelist, 77 (born 1937)
• January 12 – John Bayley, novelist and critic, 89 (born 1925)
• January 25 – John Leggett, American author and academic, 97 (born 1917)
• January 27 – Suzette Haden Elgin, American linguist and science fiction author, 78 (born 1936)
• January 28 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic, 90 (born 1924)
• January 29 – Colleen McCullough, Australian author, 77 (born 1937)
• February 6
  • André Brink, South African novelist and professor of literature, (born 1935)
  • Assia Djebar, Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker, (born 1936)
• February 13 – Faith Bandler, Australian author and civil rights activist, 96 (born 1918)
• February 14 – Philip Levine, American poet laureate, 87 (born 1928)
• February 23 – James Aldridge, Australian-born British novelist and journalist, 96 (born 1918)
• February 26
  • Fritz J. Raddatz, German feuilleton writer, essayist and biographer (suicide, born 1931)
  • Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi-American writer, 42 (stabbed, born 1972)
• February 28 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish writer and intellectual (born 1923)
• March 12 – Sir Terry Pratchett, English author of fantasy novels, 66 (posterior cortical atrophy, born 1948)
• March 18 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan writer, 84 (born 1930)
• March 24 – Alan Seymour, Australian playwright, 87 (born 1927)
• March 26 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and Nobel prizewinner, 83 (born 1931)
• April 9 – Ivan Doig, American novelist, 75 (born 1939).
• April 13
  • Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist, 74 (lung cancer, born 1940)
  • Günter Grass, German novelist, poet, playwright, and Nobel prizewinner, 87 (lung infection, born 1927)
• April 15 – Rosemary Tonks, English poet and novelist, 85 (born 1928)
• May 2 – Ruth Rendell, English crime and thriller writer, 85 (born 1930)
• May 2 – William Zinsser American journalist and critic (born 1922)
• May 20 – J. S. Harry, Australian poet, 76 (born 1939)
• May 23 – Moyra Caldecott, English writer, 87 (born 1927)
• June 19 – James Salter, American novelist and short-story writer, 90 (born 1925)
• July 21 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, 84 (born 1931)
• July 31 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and radio reviewer, 75 (born 1940)
• August 30 – Oliver Sacks, British neurologist and author (Awakenings), 82 (born 1933)
• October 2 – Brian Friel, Irish playwright and short-story writer, 86 (born 1929)
• October 5 – Henning Mankell, Swedish novelist, children’s author and playwright, 67 (born 1948)
• October 7 – W. R. Mitchell, English journalist and author, 87 (born 1928)
• October 18
  • Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian novelist and cultural critic, 70 (born 1945)
  • Paul West, English-born American novelist, poet and essayist, 85 (born 1930)
• October 27 – Mitzura Arghezi, Romanian book editor, illustrator, and politician (born 1924)
• November 30:
  • Dan Fante, American author and playwright, 71 (born 1944)
  • Hazel Holt, English novelist, 87 (born 1928)
• November 30 – Fatema Mernissi, Moroccan scholar and writer, 75 (born 1940)
• December 5 – William McIlvanney, Scottish novelist, short-story writer and poet, 79 (born 1936)
• December 9 – Akiyuki Nosaka, Japanese writer (Grave of the Fireflies), 85 (born 1930)
• December 16 - Peter Dickinson, English author and poet (born 1927)

Awards

• Akutagawa Prize, Japan: Masatsugu Ono for 9 Nen Mae no Inori (A Prayer Nine Years Ago)
• Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, U.S.: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
• Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction: How to Be Both by Ali Smith
• Caine Prize for African Writing: Namwali Serpell, The Sack
• Camões Prize, Portugal: Hélia Correia
• David Cohen Prize: Tony Harrison
• Dayne Ogilvie Prize, Canada: Alex Leslie
• Desmond Elliott Prize, U.K.: Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller
• DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, India
• Folio Prize, U.K.: Family Life by Akhil Sharma
• European Book Prize: Jean-Pierre Orban, Vera and, Robert Menasse, Der Europäische Landbote
• German Book Prize: Die Erfindung der Roten Armee Fraktion durch einen manisch-depressiven Teenager im Sommer 1969 by Frank Witzel
• Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings, Macedonia: Bei Dao (China)
• Goldsmiths Prize, U.K.: Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
• Gordon Burn Prize, U.K.: In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies
• Governor General's Award for English-language fiction, Canada: Guy Vanderhaeghe, Daddy Lenin and Other Stories
• Governor General's Award for French-language fiction, Canada: Nicolas Dickner, Six degrés de liberté
• Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française: Les Prépondérants by Hédi Kaddour; 2084: la fin du monde by Boualem Sansal
• International Prize for Arabic Fiction: The Italian by Shukri Mabkhout, Tunisia
• International Dublin Literary Award: Harvest by Jim Crace
• Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award: Blue Is the Night by Eoin McNamee
• Man Booker Prize: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
• Miguel de Cervantes Prize: Fernando del Paso
• Miles Franklin Award: The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
• National Book Award for Fiction, U.S.: Fortune Smiles By Adam Johnson
• Nobel Prize in Literature: Svetlana Alexievich, Belarus
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish
• PEN Center USA 2015 Fiction Award: Robert Thomas, Bridge
• Premio Planeta de Novela, Spain: Hombres desnudos by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett; La isla de Alice by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
• Premio Strega, Italy: Nicola Lagioia
• Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, U. S.: David Hackett Fischer
• Prix Goncourt: Boussole by Mathias Énard
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, U.S.: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: U.S.: Digest by Gregory Pardlo
• RBC Taylor Prize, Canada: They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson
• Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Canada: André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs
• Russian Booker Prize: Vera by Alexander Snegirev
• SAARC Literary Award: Sitakant Mahapatra, Selina Hossain, Suman Pokhrel, Nisar Ahmad Chaudhary, Aryan Aroon
• Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction, U.K.: Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman
• Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada: André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs
• Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, U.K.: The Ten Thousand Things by John Spurling
• Whiting Awards, U.S.: Fiction: Leopoldine Core, Dan Josefson, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi; Nonfiction: Elena Passarello; Plays: Lucas Hnath, Anne Washburn; Poetry: Anthony Carelli, Aracelis Girmay, Jenny Johnson, Roger Reeves
• W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction, U.S.: Redeployment by Phil Klay
• Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: Ryszard Krynicki

See also

• 2015 in Australian literature
• 2015 in Japanese literature

External links

• Books in 2015: the essential literary calendar from Books |The Guardian |January 2, 2015
• The most eagerly awaited fiction of 2015 from Books| The Guardian| December 29, 2014

• WB Yeats at 150 with The Irish Times
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – 150th Anniversary website. Accessed 23 September 2015.
• McKinnon, Lisa (January 5, 2015) 'Chicana Role Model' author, Oxnard native Serros succumbs to cancer at 48
• Nobody Was Writing Poetry of This World Like Philip Levine (1928–2015) – from "Harriet the Blog" at The Poetry Foundation website.
• Ein Genie und Provokateur
• Marc McEvoy, obituary: "The one day of the year became a defining moment in writer's life". The Age, 30 March 2015, p. 34