1984 in literature - Definition and Overview

See also: 1983 in literature, other events of 1984, 1985 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• The book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is read by many people, as that year has come.
• Of Mice and Men, the novel by John Steinbeck, was removed from Tennessee public schools when the School Board Chair promised to remove all "filthy books" from public school curricula and libraries.

New Books

• L'Amant - Marguerite Duras
• The Aquitaine Progression - Robert Ludlum
• Brother in the Land - Robert Swindells
• The Butter Battle Book - Dr. Seuss
• Empire of the Sun - James Ballard
• First Among Equals - Jeffrey Archer
• The Fourth Protocol - Frederick Forsyth
• Full Circle - Danielle Steel
• Hackers Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy
• Iacocca: An Autobiography - Lee Iacocca
• - Gore Vidal
• Love and War - John Jakes
• Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
• The Lover - Marguerite Duras
• - Martin Amis
• Neuromancer - William Gibson
• The Outsider - Howard Fast
• The Practice Effect - David Brin
• The Sicilian - Mario Puzo
• Stanley and the Women - Kingsley Amis
• The Talisman - Stephen King, Peter Straub
• Thinner - Richard Bachman (nom de plume for Stephen King)
• The Tie That Binds - Kent Haruf
• The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
• White Noise - Don DeLillo
• The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike
• The Women of Montparnasse, the Americans in Paris - Morrill Cody & Hugh Ford

Births

Deaths

• February 22 - Jessamyn West, writer

Awards

• Booker Prize: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
• See 1984 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Nebula Award: William Gibson, Neuromancer
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Beverly Cleary, Dear Mr. Henshaw
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Jaroslav Seifert
• Prix Goncourt: Marguerite Duras, L'Amant
• Prix Médicis French: Bernard-Henri Lévy, Le Diable en tête
• Prix Médicis International: Elsa Morante, Aracoeli
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: William Kennedy - Ironweed
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mary Oliver: American Primitive
• Whitbread Best Book Award: James Buchan, A Parish of Rich Women