2015 in literature

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

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Events

• 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.[1]
• March 8 – The BBC launches a new television series of Winston Graham's Poldark novels.[2][3]
• 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.[4]
• 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.[5]
• 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.[6]
• November 25 – Singapore's Media Development Authority lifts prohibitions on 240 publications under the Undesirable Publications Act.[7]
• 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.[8]

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[9]
• 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[10]
• 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 (The Japanese Lover)
• Claudia Amengual – Cartagena (April 28)
• Margaret Atwood – The Heart Goes Last
• Paul Beatty – The Sellout (March 3)
• Pierce Brown – Golden Son (January 6)
• Graeme Macrae Burnet – His Bloody Project (UK, November 6)[11]
• 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)
• Lissa Evans – Crooked Heart (UK, December)
• Raymond Carver – Beginners (September 15)
• Anne Enright – The Green Road
• Jonathan Franzen – Purity (September 1)
• Sarah Hall – The Wolf Border (UK)
• Paula Hawkins – The Girl on the Train (January 13)
• Lawrence Hill – The Illegal
• 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)
• 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!!!
• Janeen Brian - I’m A Hungry Dinosaur
• Sarah Crossan – One (verse, UK, August 27)
• 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))
• 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

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)
• 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
• 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)[12]
• Edmund de Waal – The White Road. A Pilgrimage of Sorts (porcelain)
• Jim Wallis – America's Original Sin

Deaths

• January 1 – Miller Williams, American poet, 84 (born 1930)[13][14]
• January 4 – Michele Serros, American novelist, poet, and staff writer, 48 (born 1966)[15][16]
• January 10 – Robert Stone, American novelist, 77 (born 1937)[17]
• January 12 – John Bayley, novelist and critic, 89 (born 1925)[18]
• 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)[19]
• January 28 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic, 90 (born 1924)[20]
• January 29 – Colleen McCullough, Australian author, 77 (born 1937)[21]
• 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)[22]
• February 14 – Philip Levine, American poet laureate, 87 (born 1928)[23][24]
• February 23 – James Aldridge, Australian-born British novelist and journalist, 96 (born 1918)[25]
• February 26
  • Fritz J. Raddatz, German feuilleton writer, essayist and biographer (suicide, born 1931)[26]
  • Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi-American writer, 42 (stabbed, born 1972)[27]
• 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)[28]
• March 18 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan writer, 84 (born 1930)
• March 24 – Alan Seymour, Australian playwright, 87 (born 1927)[29]
• March 26 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and Nobel prizewinner, 83 (born 1931)[30][31]
• April 9 – Ivan Doig, American novelist, 75 (born 1939).[32]
• 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)[33]
• May 2 – Ruth Rendell, English crime and thriller writer, 85 (born 1930)[34]
• May 2 – William Zinsser American journalist and critic (born 1922)[35]
• May 20 – J. S. Harry, Australian poet, 76 (born 1939)[36]
• June 19 – James Salter, American novelist and short-story writer, 90 (born 1925)[37][38]
• July 21 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, 84 (born 1931)[39]
• July 31 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and radio reviewer, 75 (born 1940)
• August 30 – Oliver Sacks, British neurologist and author (Awakenings), 82 (born 1933)[40][41]
• October 2 – Brian Friel, Irish playwright and short-story writer, 86 (born 1929)[42]
• October 5 – Henning Mankell, Swedish novelist, children’s author and playwright, 67 (born 1948)
• October 18
  • Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian novelist and cultural critic, 70 (born 1945)[43]
  • Paul West, English-born American novelist, poet and essayist, 85 (born 1930)[44]
• 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)[45]
• 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)

Awards

• Akutagawa Prize, Japan: Masatsugu Ono for 9 Nen Mae no Inori (A Prayer Nine Years Ago) [46]
• 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[47]
• Caine Prize for African Writing: Namwali Serpell, The Sack[48]
• 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[49]
• DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, India
• Folio Prize, U.K.: Family Life by Akhil Sharma[50]
• 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) [51]
• Goldsmiths Prize, U.K.: Beatlebone by Kevin Barry[52]
• Gordon Burn Prize, U.K.: In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies[53]
• 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[54]
• 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[55]
• 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[56]
• 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[57]
• 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[58]
• Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award: Ryszard Krynicki[59]

See also

• 2015 in Australian literature
• 2015 in Japanese literature

References

1. Conlan, Tara (2015-01-18). "Wolf Hall sticks to England after director rejects plan to film in Belgium". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
2. "Poldark on TV". Retrieved 2015-03-24.
3. "Poldark turns the other cheek in new BBC adaptation". The Guardian. 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
4. "'Ru' by Montreal's Kim Thuy wins CBC's 'Canada Reads' competition". Brandon Sun. 2015-03-19.
5. "Final Dexter book says farewell to serial killer Dexter Morgan". Entertainment Weekly. 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
6. "Shelley's Poetical Essay: The Bodleian Libraries' 12 millionth book". Oxford: Bodleian Library. 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
7. "Singapore lifts ban on 240 publications". BBC News. 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
8. Pears, Iain (2015-08-20). "Why you need an app to understand my novel". The Guardian.
9. WB Yeats at 150 with The Irish Times
10. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – 150th Anniversary website. Accessed 23 September 2015.
11. "His Bloody Project". Waterstones.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
12. "The Boy Who Could Change the World by Aaron Swartz". www.waterstones.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
13. "Poet Miller Williams, 84, dies". NWADG.com.
14. "Silliman's Blog". ronsilliman.blogspot.com.
15. Suzanne Gamboa. "Michele Serros, Who Wrote About Bicultural Life, Dies". NBC News.
16. McKinnon, Lisa (January 5, 2015) 'Chicana Role Model' author, Oxnard native Serros succumbs to cancer at 48
17. Hillel Italie, The Associated Press. "Novelist Robert Stone, known for 'Dog Soldiers' dies at 77". Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
18. "John Bayley, scholar – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
19. "Authors : Elgin, Suzette Haden : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
20. Northern Daily Leader (14 February 2015). "OBITUARY: Dr Lionel Gilbert OAM 1924-2015" (Newspaper obituary). Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
21. Fox, Margalit (29 January 2015). "Colleen McCullough, Author of 'The Thorn Birds', Dies at 77". New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
22. "Political activist and writer Faith Bandler AC dies aged 96". Retrieved February 13, 2015.
23. Nobody Was Writing Poetry of This World Like Philip Levine (1928–2015) – from "Harriet the Blog" at The Poetry Foundation website.
24. "Former poet laureate Philip Levine, a champion of the working class, dies at 87". Bookmarks.
25. "Remembering James Aldridge". Text Publishing. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
26. Ein Genie und Provokateur (in German)
27. IANS (26 February 2015). "Bangladeshi writer attacked, dies in hospital". business-standard.com.
28. "Sir Terry Pratchett Obituary". The Guardian. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
29. Marc McEvoy, obituary: "The one day of the year became a defining moment in writer's life". The Age, 30 March 2015, p. 34
30. "Sweden's Tomas Transtromer, Nobel prize-winning poet, dies at 83". Reuters.
31. "Silliman's Blog". ronsilliman.blogspot.com.
32. "Award-winning author Ivan Doig, who chronicled the American West, dies at 75". Times Colonist. Archived from the original on 2015-04-14.
33. Richard Lea. "Günter Grass, Nobel-winning German novelist, dies aged 87". the Guardian.
34. "Author Ruth Rendell dies aged 85". BBC News. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
35. Martin, Douglas (May 12, 2015). "William Zinsser, Author of 'On Writing Well,' Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
36. Stasko, Nicolette (2015-06-04). "JS Harry, the virtuoso poet who took her curious rabbit on world discovery tour". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
37. "James Salter, a 'Writer's Writer' Short on Sales but Long on Acclaim, Dies at 90". The New York Times. 20 June 2015.
38. "James Salter, America's 'most underrated underrated author', dies at 90". Telegraph.co.uk. 20 June 2015.
39. Weber, Bruce (July 21, 2015). "E.L. Doctorow, Author of Historical Fiction, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
40. Hilary Mantel. "My hero: Oliver Sacks by Hilary Mantel". the Guardian.
41. "How work of Sacks stuck in mind of playwright Friel". Independent.ie.
42. "Playwright Brian Friel dies aged 86". RTÉ News. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
43. "Acclaimed Egyptian novelist Gamal el-Ghitani dies at 70 – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
44. "Paul West, author – obituary". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
45. "Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015)". Nomadics.
46. "Ono wins Akutagawa literary award; Nishi wins Naoki Prize". The Japan Times. January 16, 2015.
47. Lusher, Adam (3 June 2015). "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015 winner: Ali Smith triumphs with How to Be Both". The Independent. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
48. "Zambia's Namwali Serpell Wins the 2015 Caine Prize for 'The Sack'". Books Live. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
49. "Claire Fuller wins debut-novel Desmond Elliott Prize". BBC News. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
50. Mark Brown (23 March 2015). "Akhil Sharma wins Folio prize for fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
51. "Chinese poet Bei Dao is the winner of the "Golden Wreath" 2015". Struga Poetry Evenings. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
52. Flood, Alison (11 November 2015). "Novel about John Lennon and primal screaming wins Goldsmiths prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
53. "Journalist wins award for Jimmy Savile book". BBC News. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
54. Doyle, Martin (27 May 2015). "Eoin McNamee's Blue is the Night wins €15,000 Kerry Group Irish Novel of Year Award". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
55. "Miles Franklin Literary Award: Sofie Laguna wins for novel The Eye Of The Sheep". ABC News, 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
56. Los Angeles Times (10 September 2015). "Claudia Rankine and Meghan Daum lead 2015 PEN Literary Awards". latimes.com.
57. Flood, Alison (21 April 2015). "Pulitzer prize for fiction goes to All the Light We Cannot See". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
58. "'Redeployment' by Phil Klay wins the 2015 W. Y. Boyd Literary Award 'for Excellence in Military Fiction'".
59. "Ryszard Krynicki Wins the 2015 Zbigniew Herbert Prize". Retrieved 2019-03-12.

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