2008 in literature

List of years in literature (Table)
… 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 – 2008 – 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 …
Related time period or subjects
… 2005 • 2006 • 2007 – 2008 – 2009 • 2010 • 2011 … … 1970s • 1980s • 1990s – 2000s – 2010s • 2020s • 2030s … … 20th century – 21st century – 22nd century …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Science more

1 Events
2 Books
3 Awards and honors
4 Deaths
5 References
6 See also

Events

January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi (CBE), Jenny Uglow (OBE), Peter Vansittart (OBE) and Debjani Chatterjee (MBE) are all rewarded for "services to literature".
June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times interview how he felt about the death of his great rival William F. Buckley, Jr., replies: "I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred."
July - Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is the winner of a poll to select the "Best of the Booker".

Books

Literature

Aravind Adiga - Between the Assassinations (November 1)
Charles Bock - Beautiful Children (January 22)
Roberto Bolaño - 2666: A Novel (November 11)
Christopher Buckley - Supreme Courtship (September 3)
Wendy Coakley-Thompson - Triptych (novel) (December 18)
Ralph Ellison (edited by John F. Callahan) - Three Days Before the Shooting (posthumously published manuscript)
Keith Gessen - All the Sad Young Literary Men (April 10)
Lauren Groff - The Monsters of Templeton (February 5)
Zoë Heller - The Believers (September 24)
Samantha Hunt - The Invention of Everything Else (February 7)
Siri Hustvedt - The Sorrows of an American (April 1)
Karl Iagnemma - The Expeditions (January 15)
Jhumpa Lahiri - Unaccustomed Earth (April 1)
Kelly Link - Pretty Monsters (October 2)
David Lodge - Deaf Sentence (May 1)
James McBride - Song Yet Sung (February 5)
Joe McGinniss Jr. - The Delivery Man (January 15)
Lydia Millet - How the Dead Dream (January 25)
Toni Morrison - A Mercy (November 11)
Joyce Carol Oates - My Sister, My Love (June 24)
Chuck Palahniuk - Snuff (May 20)
Arturo Perez-Reverte - The Painter of Battles (January 8)
Jodi Picoult - Change of Heart (March 4)
Richard Price - Lush Life (March 4)
Ruth Rendell - Portobello (November 20)
Marilynne Robinson - Home (September 2)
Charlotte Roche - Feuchtgebiete (February 25)
Philip Roth - Indignation (September 16)
Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence (June 3)
Curtis Sittenfeld - American Wife (September 2)
John Updike - The Widows of Eastwick (October 28)
Tobias Wolff - Our Story Begins (March 25)

Awards and honors

Deaths

January-February

Margaret Truman

January 2 - George MacDonald Fraser, 82, British author (Flashman)
January 3 - Henri Chopin, 85, French poet
January 11 - Nancy Phelan, 94, Australian writer
January 13 - Patricia Verdugo, 60, Chilean journalist and writer
January 16 - Hone Tuwhare, 85, New Zealand poet
January 17 - Edward D. Hoch, 77, American pulp writer
January 26
- John Ardagh, 79, British journalist and writer
- Abraham Brumberg, 81, American writer and editor
January 29 - Margaret Truman, 83, American writer
January 30 - Miles Kington, 66, British journalist and writer

Steve Gerber

February 4 - Rose Hacker, 101, British writer and journalist
February 7 - Richard Altick, 92, American literary scholar
February 8 - Phyllis A. Whitney, 104, American mystery writer
February 10 - Steve Gerber, 60, American comic book writer (Howard the Duck)
February 18 - Alain Robbe-Grillet, 85, French novelist
February 21
- Archie Hind, 80, British novelist
- Robin Moore, 82, American writer
February 22 - Stephen Marlowe, 79, American sci-fi and crime writer
February 28 - Julian Rathbone, 73, British novelist
February 28 (probable) - Val Plumwood, 68, Australian philosopher

March-April

Arthur C. Clarke

March 16 - Jonathan Williams, 79, American poet
March 19
- Arthur C. Clarke, 90, British science-fiction writer and futurist
- Hugo Claus, 78, Belgian writer
March 23 - E. A. Markham, 68, Montserratian poet
April 3 - Andrew Crozier, 64, British poet and editor
April 7 - Ludu Daw Amar, 92, Burmese writer and journalist
April 13 - Robert Greacen, 87, Irish poet
April 17
- Aimé Césaire, 94, French-Martinican poet
- Zoya Krakhmalnikova, 79, Russian writer and editor
April 18
- Michael de Larrabeiti, 63, British novelist
- William W. Warner, 88, American biologist and Pulitzer Prize winning writer

May-June

May 1 - Elaine Dundy, 86, American novelist
May 9 - Nuala O'Faolain, Irish Journalist, novelist and critic
May 11 - Jeff Torrington, 72, British novelist
May 12 - Oakley Hall, 87, American novelist
May 14 - Roy Heath, 81, Guyanese novelist
May 19 - Vijay Tendulkar, 80, Indian playwright
May 23 - Alan Brien, 83, British journalist and novelist
May 28 - Elinor Lyon, 86, British children's writer

Chinghiz Aitmatov

June 2 - Ferenc Fejtő, 98, French-Hungarian historian and journalist
June 4 - Matthew Bruccoli, 76, American biographer and editor
June 5 - Angus Calder, 65, British writer and editor
June 8 - Peter Rühmkorf, 78, German poet
June 9 - Algis Budrys, 77, Lithuanian-American science fiction writer and editor
June 10
- Chinghiz Aitmatov, 79, Kyrgyz writer
- Eliot Asinof, 88, American sportswriter
June 16 - Mario Rigoni Stern, 86, Italian novelist
June 18 - Tasha Tudor, 92, American children's writer and illustrator
June 22 - Albert Cossery, 94, French-Egyptian novelist
June 24 - Ruth Cardoso, 77, Brazilian anthropologist and writer
June 25 - Lyall Watson, 69, South African new age writer
June 27 - Lenka Reinerová, 92, Czech writer

July-August

Thomas M. Disch

July 1
- Clay Felker, 82, American magazine editor and journalist, founder of New York
- Robert Harling, 98, British typographer, editor and novelist
July 2 - Simone Ortega, 89, Spanish cookery writer
July 4
- Thomas M. Disch, 68, American science fiction author and poet.
- Janwillem van de Wetering, 77, Dutch novelist
July 20 - Roger Wolcott Hall, 89, American memoirist and novelist
July 27 - Bob Crampsey, 78, British writer
July 30 - Peter Coke, 95, British playwright

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

August 3 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 89, Russian writer and Nobel Prize laureate
August 7 - Simon Gray, 71, British playwright
August 9 - Mahmoud Darwish, 67, Palestinian poet
August 11 - George Furth, 75, American playwright
August 17 - Dave Freeman, 47, American travel writer
August 23 - John Russell, 89, British-American art critic
August 25 - Ahmed Faraz, 77, Pakistani poet
August 31 - Ken Campbell, 66, British novelist and playwright

September-October

David Foster Wallace

September 5 - Robert Giroux, 94, American editor and publisher
September 7 - Gregory Mcdonald, 71, American mystery writer
September 12 - David Foster Wallace, 46, American novelist
September 17 - James Crumley, 68, American crime writer
September 20 - Duncan Glen, 75, British poet, critic and literary historian
September 23 - William Woodruff, 92, British historian and autobiographer
September 29 - Hayden Carruth, 87, American poet and literary critic
October 4 - Peter Vansittart, 88, British historical novelist
October 14 - Barrington J. Bayley, 71, British science-fiction writer
October 26 - Tony Hillerman, 83, American mystery writer
October 27 - Es'kia Mphahlele, 88, South African writer
October 29 - William Wharton, 82, American novelist
October 31 - Studs Terkel, 96, American historian

November-December

November 4 - Michael Crichton, M.D., 66, author.
December 1 - Dorothy Sterling, 95, nonfiction writer of black history for children^[1]
December 15 - Anne-Catharina Vestly, 88, Norwegian children's book author^[2]
December 31 - Donald E. Westlake, American novelist, ^[3]

References

^ Staino, Rocco (January 5, 2009). "In Memoriam: Children's Authors and Illustrators Who Died in 2008" (in English). School Library Journal. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6626055.html?industryid=47074. Retrieved on 2009-01-06.
^ Hedeman, Anders (December 15, 2008). "Anne-Cath. Vestly er død" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2824292.ece. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
^ NYTimes.com 1 januari 2009

2008 in literature

Contents

Events

Books

Literature

Horror Fiction

Children's and young adults' fiction

Science fiction and fantasy

New drama

Poetry

Non-fiction

Awards and honors

Deaths

January-February

March-April

May-June

July-August

September-October

November-December

References

See also