1915 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1915 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- May 3 - In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders Fields"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most notable poems written during World War I, created in the form of a French rondeau. It has been called "the most popular poem" produced during that period...
is written by Canadian poet John McCraeJohn McCraeLieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres...
. - The poem "Into Battle" is published in The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
a few weeks before its author, Julian GrenfellJulian GrenfellThe Honourable Julian Henry Francis Grenfell DSO , was a British soldier and poet of World War I.-Early life:Julian Grenfell was born at 4 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of William Grenfell, later Baron Desborough, and Ethel Priscilla Fane, daughter of Julian Fane...
, is killed in battle. - RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n poet Sergei YeseninSergei YeseninSergei Alexandrovich Yesenin was a Russian lyrical poet. He was one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century but committed suicide at the age of 30...
(1895–1925), published his first book of poems titled "Radumitsa."
New books
- Mariano AzuelaMariano AzuelaMariano Azuela González was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910...
- Los de abajoLos de AbajoLos de Abajo is the official supporters group of Universidad de Chile. They are one of the biggest groups of supporters in Chile.-History:... - L. Frank BaumL. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
- The Scarecrow of OzThe Scarecrow of OzThe Scarecrow of Oz is the ninth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum. Published on July 16, 1915, it was Baum's personal favorite of the Oz books and tells of Cap'n Bill and Trot journeying to Oz and, with the help of the Scarecrow, overthrowing the cruel King Krewl of Jinxland...
- - Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red CrossAunt Jane's Nieces in the Red CrossAunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross is a 1915 young adult novel written by L. Frank Baum, famous as the creator of the Land of Oz. It is the tenth and final volume in Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces series of books for adolescent girls — the second greatest success of his publishing career, after...
(as "Edith Van Dyne")
- - Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross
- John Buchan - The Thirty-nine StepsThe Thirty-nine StepsThe Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
- Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
- The Return of TarzanThe Return of TarzanThe Return of Tarzan is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine New Story Magazine in the issues for June through December 1913; the first book edition was published in 1915 by A. C.... - Willa CatherWilla CatherWilla Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
- The Song of the LarkThe Song of the LarkThe Song of the Lark is the third novel by American author Willa Cather, written in 1915. The title comes from a painting of the same name by Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton.-Plot introduction:... - Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
- VictoryVictory (novel)Victory is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success." The New York Times, however, called it "an uneven book" and "more open to criticism than most of Mr... - Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
- The Valley of FearThe Valley of FearThe Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, and the first book edition was published in New York on 27 February 1915.- Part I: The Tragedy of Birlstone... - Theodore DreiserTheodore DreiserTheodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
- The Genius - Ford Madox FordFord Madox FordFord Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature...
- The Good SoldierThe Good SoldierThe Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion is a 1915 novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends... - Charlotte Perkins GilmanCharlotte Perkins GilmanCharlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...
- HerlandHerland (novel)Herland is a utopian novel from 1915, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis . The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination... - Franz KafkaFranz KafkaFranz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
- The MetamorphosisThe MetamorphosisThe Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world... - D. H. LawrenceD. H. LawrenceDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
- The RainbowThe RainbowThe Rainbow is a 1915 novel by British author D. H. Lawrence. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, particularly focusing on the sexual dynamics of, and relations between, the characters.... - Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
- The Little Lady of the Big HouseThe Little Lady of the Big HouseThe Little Lady of the Big House is a novel by American writer Jack London. Biographer Clarice Stasz states that it is "not autobiography," but speaks of his "frank borrowing from his life with Charmian" and says it is "psychologically valid as a mirror of events during [the] winter [of 1912–13].... - W. Somerset MaughamW. Somerset MaughamWilliam Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
- Of Human BondageOf Human BondageOf Human Bondage is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had... - Oscar MicheauxOscar MicheauxOscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
- The Forged NoteThe Forged NoteOscar Micheaux's The Forged Note: A Romance Of The Darker Races is a 528-page novel published in 1915. It was republished in 2008 by Kessinger Publishing, LLC. The story pertains to a racially motivated lynching in Atlanta.... - Baroness OrczyBaroness OrczyBaroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel...
- A Bride of the PlainsA Bride of the PlainsA Bride of the Plains is a historical novel written in 1915 by Baroness Orczy, the author of the famous Scarlet Pimpernell series. It is dedicated to the memory of Lajos Kossuth, and in the dedication the authoress cries out to the dead Hungarian patriot and asks him:"What would YOU have said now...
- - The Bronze EagleThe Bronze EagleWritten by Baroness Orczy and first published in 1915, The Bronze Eagle:A Story of the Hundred Days, is a romance set in France following the period of the Revolution and the expulsion of the Bourbons...
- - The Bronze Eagle
- Eleanor H. PorterEleanor H. Porter-Biography:She was born as Eleanor Hodgman in Littleton, New Hampshire on December 19, 1868, the daughter of Francis Fletcher Hodgman and Llewella Woolson. She was trained as a singer, attending New England Conservatory for several years, but later turned to writing. In 1892, she married John Lyman...
- Pollyanna Grows UpPollyanna Grows UpPollyanna Grows Up is a 1915 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first of many sequels to Porter's best-selling Pollyanna , but is the only one written by Porter herself; the numerous later additions to the Pollyanna franchise were the work of other authors.-Plot... - Sax RohmerSax RohmerArthur Henry Sarsfield Ward , better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr...
- The Yellow ClawThe Yellow ClawThe Yellow Claw is a 1915 crime novel by Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, known better under his pseudonym, Sax Rohmer.The story features Gaston Max, a Parisian criminal investigator and mastery of disguise, and his battle with Mr. King, a master criminal similar to Rohmer's earlier Fu Manchu character.... - Rafael SabatiniRafael SabatiniRafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
- The Sea HawkThe Sea HawkThe Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. The story is set over the years 1588–1593, and concerns a retired Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a ... - Ruth SawyerRuth SawyerRuth Sawyer was the professional name of Ruth Sawyer Durand , an American children's writer.- Biography :She was raised in New York City with an affluent family...
- The Primrose RingThe Primrose RingThe Primrose Ring is a novel by Ruth Sawyer, published first in 1915 and illustrated by Fanny Munsell. This was Sawyer's first published novel. She later wrote the 1937 Newbery Medal winner Roller Skates.... - Russell ThorndikeRussell ThorndikeArthur Russell Thorndike was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels...
- Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney MarshDoctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney MarshDoctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh is the first in the series of Doctor Syn novels by Russell Thorndike. In this story we are introduced to the complex Christopher Syn, the kindly vicar of the little town of Dymchurch. Syn seems pleasant but we soon learn that he has a sinister past... - P. G. WodehouseP. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
- Something FreshSomething FreshSomething Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,... - Virginia WoolfVirginia WoolfAdeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
- The Voyage OutThe Voyage OutThe Voyage Out is the first novel by Virginia Woolf, published in 1915 by Duckworth; and published in the U.S. in 1920 by Doran.Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a kind of modern mythical voyage. The mismatched jumble of...
Poetry
- T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
- The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, commonly known as Prufrock, is a poem by T. S. Eliot, begun in February 1910 and published in Chicago in June 1915. Described as a "drama of literary anguish," it presents a stream of consciousness in the form of a dramatic monologue, and marked the beginning of... - Geoffrey FaberGeoffrey FaberSir Geoffrey Cust Faber was a British academic, publisher and poet.Geoffrey Cust Faber was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford...
- Interflow, Poems Mainly Lyrical - Francis LedwidgeFrancis LedwidgeFrancis Edward Ledwidge was an Irish war poet from County Meath. Sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I.-Early life:...
- Songs of the Fields
Births
- March 18 - Richard CondonRichard CondonRichard Thomas Condon was a prolific and popular American political novelist whose satiric works were generally presented in the form of thrillers or semi-thrillers...
, novelist (d. 19961996 in literatureThe year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...
) - June 10 - Saul BellowSaul BellowSaul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, writer (d. 20052005 in literatureThe year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
) - July 1 - Alun LewisAlun LewisAlun Lewis , was a poet of the Anglo-Welsh school, and is regarded by many as Britain's finest Second World War poet.- Education :...
, war poet (d. 19441944 in literatureThe year 1944 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Samuel Hopkins Adams – Canal Town*Jorge Amado – Terras do Sem Fim *Saul Bellow – Dangling Man*Jorge Luis Borges – Fictions...
) - July 7 - Margaret WalkerMargaret WalkerMargaret Abigail Walker Alexander was an African-American poet and writer. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she wrote as Margaret Walker. One of her best-known poems is For My People.-Biography:...
, poet and novelist (d. 19981998 in literatureThe year 1998 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 5 - Tennessee Williams' 1938 play, Not About Nightingales, receives its stage première....
) - July 14 - Jerome LawrenceJerome LawrenceJerome Lawrence was an American playwright and author.-Life and career:Lawrence was born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Sarah , a poet, and Samuel Schwartz, a printer. He worked for several small newspapers as a reporter/editor before moving into radio as a writer for CBS....
, dramatist (d. 20042004 in literatureThe year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
) - July 31 - Herbert ApthekerHerbert ApthekerHerbert Aptheker was an American Marxist historian and political activist. He authored over 50 volumes, mostly in the fields of African American history and general U.S. history, most notably, American Negro Slave Revolts , a classic in the field, and the 7-volume Documentary History of the Negro...
, historian (d. 20032003 in literatureThe year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
) - August 19 - Ring Lardner Jr.Ring Lardner Jr.Ringgold Wilmer "Ring" Lardner, Jr. was an American journalist and screenwriter blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
, journalist and scriptwriter, one of the "Hollywood Ten" (d. 20002000 in literatureThe year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...
) - August 28 - Claude Roy, French poet (d. 1997)
- October 17 - Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, dramatist (d. 20052005 in literatureThe year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
) - November 8 - G. S. FraserG. S. FraserGeorge Sutherland Fraser was a Scottish poet, literary critic and academic. He was born in Glasgow, later moving with his family to Aberdeen. He went to the University of St. Andrews....
, poet and critic (d. 19801980 in literatureThe year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
) - December 22 - David MartinDavid Martin (poet)David Martin , known as an Australian poet, was born Lajos or Ludwig Detsinyi, into a Jewish family in Hungary . He used as well the names Louis Adam and Louis Destiny. He also wrote novels and short stories, and plays.He was brought up in Germany, where he first became a communist at age 17...
, poet (d. 19971997 in literatureThe year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
) - December 27 - John CornfordJohn CornfordRupert John Cornford was an English poet and communist. He was the son of F. M. Cornford and Frances Cornford.- Biography :...
, poet (d. 19361936 in literatureThe year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Life magazine is first published.* The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is established in the UK.-New books:...
)
Deaths
- January 3 - James Elroy FleckerJames Elroy FleckerJames Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
, poet, novelist and dramatist (b. 18841884 in literatureThe year 1884 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Edwin Abbott Abbott - Flatland*Henry Brooks Adams - Esther*Aluísio de Azevedo - Casa de Pensão*Richard Doddridge Blackmore - Tommy Upmore...
) - February 4 - Mary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.-Life:...
, novelist (b. 18371837 in literatureThe year 1837 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* The Little, Brown and Company publishing house opens its doors.* First publication of the The United States Magazine and Democratic Review.-New books:...
) - April 8 - Louis PergaudLouis PergaudLouis Pergaud was a French writer and soldier, whose principal works were known as "Animal Stories" due to their rooting in the flora and fauna of the Franche-Comté. His most famous work was the novel La Guerre des boutons , written in 1912...
, French novelist (b. 18821882 in literatureThe year 1882 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*F. Anstey - Vice Versa*Walter Besant - The Revolt of Man*Bankim Chatterjee - Anandmath*Richard Doddridge Blackmore -Christowell*Wilkie Collins - After Dark...
) - April 23 - Rupert BrookeRupert BrookeRupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially The Soldier...
, war poet (b. 18871887 in literatureThe year 1887 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Futabatei Shimei writes The Drifting Cloud, the first modern novel in Japan.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Cut by the County*Hall Caine - The Deemster...
) - May 26 - Julian GrenfellJulian GrenfellThe Honourable Julian Henry Francis Grenfell DSO , was a British soldier and poet of World War I.-Early life:Julian Grenfell was born at 4 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of William Grenfell, later Baron Desborough, and Ethel Priscilla Fane, daughter of Julian Fane...
, war poet (b. 18881888 in literatureThe year 1888 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Grant Allen - The Devil's Die**The White Man's Foot*Edward Bellamy - Looking Backward*Rolf Boldrewood - Robbery Under Arms...
) - November 14 - Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
, writer and educator (b. 18561856 in literatureThe year 1856 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Arthur Schopenhauer adds a chapter on "The Metaphysics of Sexual Love" to the third edition of his The World as Will and Representation....
)