2011 in literature

Children and young people

Poetry

See 2011 in poetry.

Crime and Thrillers

Deaths

• January 2 – Robert Trumble, Australian writer (born 1919)
• January 4
• Eva Strittmatter, German author and poet (born 1930)
• Dick King-Smith English children's writer (born 1922)
• January 10 – Joe Gores, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1931)
• January 11 – Marcel Trudel, Canadian historian and author (born 1917)
• January 14 – Sun Axelsson, Swedish novelist (born 1935)
• January 15 – Romulus Linney, American playwright (born 1930)
• January 16 – R. F. Langley, English poet and diarist (born 1938)
• January 17 – Jean Dutourd, French novelist (born 1920)
• January 19 – Wilfrid Sheed, English-born American novelist and essayist (born 1930)
• January 20
• F. A. Nettelbeck, American poet (born 1950)
• Reynolds Price, American author (born 1933)
• January 22 – Park Wan-suh, South Korean novelist (born 1931)
• January 23 – Novica Tadić, Serbian poet (born 1949)
• January 24 – Anna Yablonskaya, Ukrainian playwright and poet (born 1981)
• January 25 – Vincent Cronin, English writer (born 1924)
• January 29
• Loreen Rice Lucas, Canadian author (born 1914)
• Hemayel Martina, Curaçaon poet (born 1990)
• January 30 – Hisaye Yamamoto, Japanese American author (born 1921)
• February 2 – Eric Nicol, Canadian author (born 1919)
• February 3 – Édouard Glissant, Martinique poet and critic writing in French (born 1928)
• February 5
• Charles E. Silberman, American author (born 1925)
• Martin Quigley Jr., American author and publisher (born 1917)
• Brian Jacques, English children's writer (born 1939)
• February 9 – David Sánchez Juliao, Colombian author and diplomat (born 1945)
• February 13 – Oakley Hall III, American playwright (born 1950)
• February 15 – Judith Binney, New Zealand author (born 1940)
• February 16
• Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (born 1930)
• Hans Joachim Alpers, German science fiction author (born 1943)
• February 17
• Perry Moore, American author (born 1971)
• Vivien Noakes, English biographer and critic (born 1937)
• James McLure, American playwright (born 1951)
• February 18 – Victor Martinez, US poet and novelist (born 1954)
• February 19 – Max Wilk, American playwright, screenwriter and author (born 1920)
• February 25
• Manny Fried, American playwright and actor (born 1913)
• Aminath Faiza, Maldivian poet and writer in the Dhivehi language (born 1924)
• February 26 – ArnoÅ¡t Lustig, Czech author (born 1926)
• February 28 – Netiva Ben-Yehuda, Israeli author (born 1928)
• March 2 – Thor Vilhjálmsson, Icelandic author (born 1925)
• March 3 – May Cutler, Canadian author and publisher (born 1923)
• March 5 – Alberto Granado, Argentine-born Cuban biochemist and writer (born 1922)
• March 8
• Iraj Afshar, Iranian bibliographer and historian (born 1925)
• Steven Kroll, American children's author (born 1941)
• March 9 – Doris Burn, American children's author and illustrator (born 1923)
• March 13 – Leo Steinberg, American art historian and critic (born 1920)
• March 14 – Giora Leshem, Israeli poet and publisher (born 1940)
• March 19 – Raymond Garlick, English-born Welsh poet and editor (born 1926)
• March 26 – Diana Wynne Jones, English children's fantasy novelist (born 1934)
• March 27 – H. R. F. Keating, English crime novelist (born 1926)
• April 2 – Paul Violi, American poet (born 1944)
• April 3 – Ulli Beier, German writer, editor and scholar (born 1922)
• April 4 – Craig Thomas, Welsh novelist (born 1942)
• April 6 – Thøger Birkeland, Danish children's writer (born 1922)
• April 10 – Stephen Watson, South African writer and critic in English (born 1954)
• April 12 – Sachin Bhowmick, Indian screenwriter (born 1930)
• April 14
• Rosihan Anwar, Indonesian journalist (born 1922)
• Patrick Cullinan, South African poet and biographer (born 1933)
• April 16 – William A. Rusher, American columnist and publisher (born 1923)
• April 17 – Bob Block, English comedy writer (born 1921)
• April 19 – Anne Blonstein, English poet (born 1958)
• April 20 – Madelyn Pugh, American screenwriter (born 1921)
• April 21 – W. J. Gruffydd (Elerydd), Welsh-language poet (born 1916)
• April 25 – Gonzalo Rojas, Chilean poet (born 1917)
• April 29
• Abdul Hameed, Pakistani novelist (born 1928)
• Joanna Russ, American science fiction author (born 1937)
• April 30
• Richard Holmes, English military historian (born 1946)
• Ernesto Sabato, Argentine writer (born 1911)
• May 4 – Frans Sammut, Maltese writer (born 1945)
• May 5 – Arthur Laurents, American playwright, librettist and screenwriter (born 1917)
• May 9 – Newton Thornburg, American novelist (born 1929)
• May 10 – Patrick Galvin, Irish poet and dramatist (born 1927)
• May 11 – Reach Sambath, Cambodian journalist (born 1964)
• May 13
• Pam Gems, English playwright (born 1925)
• Badal Sarkar, Indian dramatist (born 1925)
• May 14 – Birgitta Trotzig, Swedish novelist and poet (born 1929)
• May 15 – Martin Woodhouse, English novelist, screenwriter and inventor (born 1932)
• May 19 – William Kloefkorn, American poet (born 1932)
• May 21 – Pádraig Kennelly, Irish journalist, publisher and editor (born 1938)
• May 22 – Chidananda Dasgupta, Indian film critic (born 1921)
• May 23 – Roberto Sosa, Honduran poet (heart attack, born 1930)
• May 24 – Fănuș Neagu, Romanian novelist, journalist, and short story writer (cancer, born 1932)
• May 25
• Leonora Carrington, British-born Mexican painter and novelist (born 1917)
• Edwin Honig, American poet and translator (born 1919)
• Yannis Varveris, Greek poet, critic and translator (born 1955)
• May 30 – Marek Siemek, Polish philosopher and historian of philosophy (born 1942)
• June 4 – Curth Flatow, German dramatist and screenwriter (born 1920)
• June 7 – Jorge Semprún, Spanish writer and politician (born 1923)
• June 10 – Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, English travel writer and novelist, (born 1915)
• June 13 – Burt Styler, American screenwriter (born 1925)
• June 18 – Cheryl B, American poet and spoken word artist (born 1972)
• June 21 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian novelist and poet (car crash, born 1927)
• June 22 – Zbyněk Zeman, Czech historian (born 1928)
• June 29 – K. D. Sethna, Indian poet, writer and cultural critic (born 1904)
• July 7 – Olav Versto, Norwegian journalist and editor (drowning, born 1950)
• July 3 – Iain Blair (Emma Blair), Scottish romance novelist (born 1942)
• July 11 – Henry Carlisle, American translator, novelist and activist (born 1926)
• July 16 – Geraint Bowen, Welsh poet (born 1915)
• July 18 – Georgess McHargue, American author and poet (born 1941)
• July 20 – Blaize Clement, American mystery writer and psychologist (born 1932)
• July 22 – Ifti Nasim, Pakistani-born American poet and radio host (born 1946)
• July 27 – Agota Kristof, Hungarian novelist writing in French (born 1935)
• July 28 – Ahmed Omaid Khpalwak, Afghan journalist (killed in explosion, born c. 1958)
• July 30 – Pêr Denez, French Breton linguist and writer (born 1921)
• July 31 – Eliseo Alberto, Cuban-born Mexican novelist, essayist and journalist (born 1951)
• August 1 – Stan Barstow, English novelist (born 1928)
• August 3
• Simona Monyová, Czech novelist (murdered, born 1967)
• William Sleator, American science-fiction writer (born 1945)
• August 10 – Selwyn Griffith, Welsh poet (born 1928)
• August 15 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (born 1923)
• August 17 – Michel Mohrt, French writer (born 1914)
• August 26 – Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, American novelist (born 1940)
• August 27 – N. F. Simpson, English dramatist (born 1919)
• September 9
• Herbert Lomas, English poet (born 1924)
• Khairy Shalaby, Egyptian novelist and dramatist (born 1938)
• September 14 – Frank Parkin, Welsh sociologist and novelist (born 1931)
• September 22
• Cengiz Dağcı, Crimean Tatar novelist and poet writing in Turkish (born 1919)
• Margaret Ogola, Kenyan novelist (born 1958)
• September 23 – José Miguel Varas, Chilean writer (born 1928)
• September 26 – David Zelag Goodman, American screenwriter (born 1930)
• September 27
• David Croft, English television writer and producer (born 1922)
• Sara Douglass, Australian fantasy author (ovarian cancer, born 1957)
• September 29 – Hella Haasse, Dutch novelist (born 1918)
• October 4 – Vittorio Curtoni, Italian science fiction writer and translator (born 1949)
• October 10 – Uno Röndahl, Swedish writer (born 1924)
• October 11 – Ewald Osers, Czech translator and poet (born 1917)
• October 12 – Lowell H. Harrison, American historian (born 1922)
• October 15 – Earl McRae, Canadian journalist (born 1942)
• October 18
• Paul Everac, Romanian writer (born 1924)
• Friedrich Kittler, German literary scholar and media theorist (born 1943)
• October 19
• Kakkanadan, Indian Malayalam writer (born 1935)
• Bohdan Osadchuk, Ukrainian historian and journalist (born 1920)
• October 21
• Hikmet Bilâ, Turkish journalist and author (lung cancer, born 1954)
• Tone Pavček, Slovenian author and translator (born 1928)
• October 23
• Florence Parry Heide, American children's author (born 1919)
• Bogdan Zakrzewski, Polish historian and researcher of Polish literature (born 1916)
• October 24 – Morio Kita (北 杜夫), Japanese novelist, essayist and psychiatrist (born 1927)
• November 3
• H. G. Francis, German science fiction author (born 1936)
• Morris Philipson, American novelist and publisher (born 1926)
• November 21
• Arie van Deursen, Dutch historian (born 1931)
• Theodore Enslin, American poet (born 1925)
• Anne McCaffrey, American fantasy writer (born 1926)
• November 25 – Leonid Borodin, Russian novelist, journalist and Soviet dissident, (born 1938) (Russian)
• November 26 – Rashid Karim, Bangladeshi novelist (born 1925)
• November 30
• Ana Daniel, Portuguese poet (born 1928)
• Partap Sharma, Indian playwright (born 1939)
• December 15 – Christopher Hitchens, English journalist and commentator (esophageal cancer, born 1949)
• December 20 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (born 1926)
• December 23 – Tripuraneni Maharadhi, Indian screenwriter (born 1930)
• December 27 – Thinley Norbu, Tibetan Buddhist writer and teacher (born 1931)
• December 30 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet (born 1920)
• December 31
• Celia Dale, English fiction writer and book reviewer (born 1912
• Penny Jordan, English romantic novelist (born 1946)

Awards

• Nobel Prize in Literature: Tomas Tranströmer

Australia

• Miles Franklin Award: Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance

Canada

• Amazon.ca First Novel Award: David Bezmozgis, The Free World
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Helen Waldstein Wilkes, Letters from the Lost
• Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, Farzana Doctor; honours of distinction, Dani Couture, Matthew J. Trafford.
• Governor General's Awards: Multiple categories; see 2011 Governor General's Awards.
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues
• Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers
• Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction: Charles Foran, Mordecai: The Life and Times
• Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award: Wayne Johnston

United Kingdom

• Man Booker Prize: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
• Caine Prize for African Writing: NoViolet Bulawayo, "Hitting Budapest"
• David Cohen Prize: Julian Barnes
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Téa Obreht, The Tiger's Wife

United States

• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2011 Lambda Literary Awards.
• National Book Award for Fiction: to Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg by Deborah Eisenberg
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad
• Whiting Awards: Fiction: Scott Blackwood, Ryan Call, Daniel Orozco, Teddy Wayne; Nonfiction: Paul Clemens; Plays: Amy Herzog; Poetry: Don Mee Choi, Eduardo C. Corral, Shane McCrae, Kerri Webster

Other

• Camões Prize: Manuel António Pina
• Europe Theatre Prize: Peter Stein
• European Book Prize: Maxim Leo, Red Love, and Anna Bikont, The Crime and the Silence
• Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Boualem Sansal
• International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Mohammed Achaari, The Arch and the Butterfly, and Raja'a Alem, The Doves' Necklace
• SAARC Literary Award: Ibrahim Waheed, Syed Akhtar Hussain Akhtar

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of poetry awards
• 2011 in comics
• 2011 in Australian literature

Notes

References