This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1951.
Events
- January 12 â Janie Moore, C. S. Lewis' so-called adoptive mother, dies.
- March â The American writer Flannery O'Connor leaves hospital after being diagnosed with lupus at the age of 25.
- March 12 â Hank Ketcham's U.S. Dennis the Menace appears for the first time in 16 United States newspapers.
- March 17 â The homonymous U.K. Dennis the Menace comic strip first appears in the children's comic The Beano.
- Spring â Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Sentinel", which will form a basis for the film ' (1968) and a subsequent , is published as "Sentinel of Eternity" in the only issue ever produced of the American science fiction and fantasy pulp magazine 10 Story Fantasy.
- May â Joe Orton enters the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he meets his lover and ultimate murderer Kenneth Halliwell.
- June 18 â Frank Hardy is acquitted of criminal libel in the Australian state of Victoria over his self-published 1950 roman àclef on corruption in Melbourne political life, Power Without Glory.
- July 16 â J. D. Salinger's coming-of-age story The Catcher in the Rye is published by Little, Brown and Company in New York City.
- September 6 â William S. Burroughs shoots and kills his common-law wife Joan Vollmer, apparently by accident, in Mexico City.
- December 16 â Noël Coward leaves his home, White Cliffs, on the south coast of England, having sold it to Ian Fleming.
- unknown dates
- E. E. Cummings and Rachel Carson are awarded Guggenheim Fellowships. It is Cummings' second.
- Janet Frame's first book, The Lagoon and Other Stories, is published by the Caxton Press (New Zealand) (dated 1952) while the author is a patient in Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, Seacliff, New Zealand, scheduled for a lobotomy. It is awarded the Hubert Church Memorial Award, at the time one of New Zealand's most prestigious literary prizes. This results in the cancellation of Frame's operation.
- Béla Hamvas completes his epic novel Karnevál. He is banned from publication in Hungary at the time, so that it will appear only in 1985, 17 years after his death.
- A Question of Upbringing, the first book in Anthony Powell's twelve-novel series A Dance to the Music of Time, is published by Heinemann in the U.K.
- The custom of performing medieval mystery plays is revived at York and Chester, England.
- The Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris is founded.
New books
Fiction
Children and young people
Drama
<onlyinclude>
Poetry
Non-fiction
Births
- January 1 â Ashfaq Hussain, Urdu poet
- January 3 â Ken Bruen, Irish crime fiction writer (died 2025)
- January 13 â Nigel Cox, New Zealand novelist
- January 22 â Steve J. Spears, Australian actor, singer, and playwright (died 2007)
- February 13 â Katja Lange-Müller, German novelist
- February 15 â Linda Grant, English novelist and journalist
- February 17 â Jagadish Mohanty, Indian novelist (died 2013)
- March 4 â Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-born novelist and artist (died 1982)
- March 12 â Susan Musgrave, Canadian poet and children's writer
- March 17 â Lian Tanner, Australian children's writer
- March 22 â Sigrid Nunez, American writer and essayist
- April 5 â Guy Vanderhaeghe, Canadian author
- April 16 â Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian novelist and essayist
- April 19 â Pierre Lemaitre, French suspense novelist
- May 3 â Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian novelist, essayist and TV presenter
- May 9
- Christopher Dewdney, Canadian poet
- Joy Harjo, Native American poet
- May 15 â David Almond, English writer for children and young adults
- May 20 â Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist, writer and broadcaster (died 2020)
- May 21 â Al Franken, American comedian, actor, writer and politician
- June 5 â Suze Orman, American financial advisor, writer and television personality
- June 15 â Amir Barghashi, Iranian-born Swedish actor and dramatist
- June 22 â Rosario Murillo, Nicaraguan poet and political activist
- June 29 â Don Rosa, American writer and artist of Disney comics
- August 20 â Greg Bear, American science fiction writer
- August 24 â Orson Scott Card, American science fiction writer
- September 14 â Volodymyr Melnykov, Ukrainian poet, writer, songwriter and composer
- September 15 â Jared Taylor, American author and journalist
- September 20 â Javier MarÃÂas, Spanish novelist
- September 29 â Andrés Caicedo, Colombian novelist and cinema critic (suicide 1977)
- October 3 â Bernard Cooper, American writer
- October 11 â Louise Rennison, English author and comedian (died 2016)
- October 12 â Peter Flannery, English dramatist
- October 17 â Clark Parent, Haitian novelist, musician and politician
- November 18 - Dennis Foon, Canadian playwright, screenwriter and novelist
- December 6 â Tomson Highway, Canadian and Cree playwright, novelist and children's author
- December 8 â Bill Bryson, American travel writer
- December 20 â Peter May, Scottish novelist and television dramatist
- December 22 â Charles de Lint, Canadian fantasy author and Celtic folk musician
- Unknown dates
- Mohammed Achaari, Moroccan writer
- Carol Birch, English novelist
Deaths
- January 6 â Maila Talvio, Finnish writer, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (born 1871)
- January 7 â René Guénon, French philosophical writer (born 1886)
- January 10 â Sinclair Lewis, American novelist (born 1885)
- January 29 â James Bridie, Scottish dramatist (born 1888)
- February 13 â Lloyd C. Douglas, American author (born 1877)
- February 16 â Henri-René Lenormand, French dramatist (born 1882)
- February 19 â André Gide, French author (born 1869)
- February 28 â Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Russian dramatist and screenwriter (born 1900)
- March 11 â János Zsupánek, Prekmurje Slovene poet and author (born 1861)
- March 25 â Oscar Micheaux, African American author, film director and producer (born 1884)
- April 3 â Henrik Visnapuu, Estonian poet and dramatist (born 1890)
- April 9 â Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-born novelist (born 1903; suicide)
- April 12 - Henry De Vere Stacpoole. Irish author (born 1863)
- April 29 â Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher (born 1889)
- May 2 â Alphonse de Châteaubriant, French writer (born 1877)
- May 25 â Paula von PreradoviÃÂ, Austrian poet and writer (born 1887)
- May 30 â Hermann Broch, Austrian writer (born 1886)
- June 10 â HÃÂ¥kon Evjenth, Norwegian children's writer (born 1894)
- June 11 â W. C. Sellar, Scottish humorist (born 1898)
- August 14 â William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper tycoon (born 1863)
- August 18 â Richard Malden, English editor, classical and Biblical scholar, and ghost story writer (born 1879)
- August 31 â Abraham Cahan, American Jewish journalist and novelist (born 1860)
- September 2 â Antoine Bibesco, Romanian dramatist (born 1878)
- September 7 â F. G. Loring, English writer and naval officer (born 1869)
- September 28 â Petre P. Negulescu, Romanian philosopher (born 1870)
- October 20 â Vincent Duffey, American playwright (born 1893)
- November 5 â I. C. Vissarion, Romanian novelist, dramatist, poet and science writer (born 1879)
- November 27 â Timrava (BoÃ
¾ena SlanÃÂÃÂková), Slovak novelist, short story writer and playwright (born 1867)
- December 4 â Pedro Salinas, Spanish poet (born 1891)
- December 10 â Algernon Blackwood, English novelist and journalist (born 1869)
Awards
Notes
References