2001 in literature - Definition and Overview

See also: 2000 in literature, other events of 2001, 2002 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, hits movie theaters. The film is directed by Peter Jackson

• February 15 - Author Michael Crichton signed a new two book deal with HarperCollins Publishers reportedly earning $40 million for the two books.

• July 20 - London: After being found guilty of two counts of perjury and two of perverting the course of justice, a shackled Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare is taken to Belmarsh jail in a van, seated next to a convicted knife murderer.

New Books

• All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
• The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett
• The Ash Garden - Dennis Bock
• Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald
• Back When We Were Grownups - Anne Tyler
• Baudolino - Umberto Eco
• Black House - Stephen King
• The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
• Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
• The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy
• The Constant Gardener - John le Carré
• The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
• Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age - Steven Levy
• The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold
• Death in Holy Orders - P.D. James
• Dolce Agonia - Nancy Huston
• Dreamcatcher - Stephen King
• Empire Falls - Richard Russo
• Fatal Voyage - Kathy Reichs
• The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon
• Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris
• The Fourth Hand - John Irving
• Fury - Salman Rushdie
• The Future of Ideas - Lawrence Lessig
• Giving Something Back - Robert N. Kucey
• - Gale E. Christianson
• The Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville Picador
• The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett
• Leap Of Faith - Danielle Steel
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• Man Ray's Montparnasse - Herbert R. Lottman
• - Antonia Fraser
• Mary Shelley - Miranda Seymour
• Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich
• A Painted House - John Grisham
• Rouge Brésil - Jean-Christophe Rufin
• Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand
• - Peter Kurth
• Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
• The Stone Carvers - Jane Urquhart
• Stupid White Men - Michael Moore
• Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett
• Thinks ... - David Lodge
• The Trial of Henry Kissinger - Christopher Hitchens
• The White Castle - Orhan Pamuk

Births

Deaths

• January 31 - Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer
• February 7 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author, aviator
• March 12 - Robert Ludlum, author
• May 11 - Douglas Adams, author (heart attack) (b. 1952)
• May 13 - R.K. Narayan, 94, Indian novelist
• June 1 - Hank Ketcham, 81, cartoonist, creator of Dennis the Menace
• June 27 - Tove Jansson, children's author
• July 3 - Mordecai Richler
• August 1 - Poul Anderson - fantasy / sci-fi author
• August 6 - Jorge Amado, 88, Brazilian writer
• August 20 - Fred Hoyle, Astronomer and science fiction writer
• November 10 - Ken Kesey, 66, author.

Awards

• Booker Prize: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
• Finlandia Prize: Hannu Raittila Canal Grande
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Richard B. Wright - Clara Callan
• See 2001 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Hugo Award: J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• IMPAC Award: Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder
• Nobel Prize for Literature: V.S. Naipaul
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Kate Grenville Picador, The Idea of Perfection
• Prix Décembre: Chloé Delaume, Le Cri du sablier
• Prix Femina: Marie Ndiaye, Rosie Carpe
• Prix Goncourt: Jean-Christophe Rufin, Rouge Brésil
• Prix Médicis French: Edwy Plenel, Secrets de jeunesse
• Prix Médicis Non-Fiction: Le Loup mongol
• Prix Médicis International: Antonio Skarmeta, La noce du poète
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: David Auburn, Proof
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stephen Dunn, Different Hours
• Samuel Johnson Prize: Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich
• Viareggio Prize: Nicolò Ammaniti, Io non ho paura, Michele Ranchetti, Verbale, and Giorgio Pestelli, Canti del destino