1979 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1979 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
New books
- Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon... - V.C. Andrews - Flowers in the AtticFlowers in the AtticFlowers in the Attic is a 1979 novel by Virginia Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. The novel is written in the first person from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger...
- Jeffrey Archer - Kane and AbelKane and Abel (novel)Kane and Abel is a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer. The title and story is a play on the Biblical brothers, Cain and Abel.Released in the United Kingdom in 1979 and in the United States in February 1980, the book was an international success. It reached No...
- Barbara Taylor BradfordBarbara Taylor BradfordBarbara Taylor Bradford OBE is an English novelist, and one of the world's most beloved storytellers. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide. To date, she has written 27 novels -- all bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic...
- A Woman of SubstanceA Woman of SubstanceA Woman of Substance is a novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford, and was published in 1979.This novel is the first of a saga about the fortunes of a retail empire and the machinations of the business elite across three generations.... - Raymond BriggsRaymond BriggsRaymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
- Fungus the BogeymanFungus the BogeymanFungus the Bogeyman is a children's graphic novel by British artist Raymond Briggs. It follows one day in the life of the titular character, a working class Bogeyman with the mundane job of scaring human beings.-Plot:... - Octavia Butler - KindredKindred (novel)Kindred is a 1979 novel by Octavia Butler. While most of Butler's work is classified as science fiction, Kindred is often shelved in literature or African-American literature and Butler herself categorized it as "a kind of grim fantasy"....
- Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
- A Planet Called TreasonA Planet Called TreasonA Planet Called Treason is a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card. It was originally published by St Martin's Press and Dell Publishing Co. After being heavily revised, the book was republished under the title Treason by St... - Angela CarterAngela CarterAngela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
- The Bloody ChamberThe Bloody ChamberThe Bloody Chamber is a collection of short fiction by Angela Carter. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1979 by Gollancz and won the Cheltenham Festival Literary Prize. All of the stories share a common theme of being closely based upon fairytales or folk tales... - Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
- Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other StoriesMiss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other StoriesMiss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in October 1979 retailing at £4.50... - L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
and Lin CarterLin CarterLinwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
- Conan the LiberatorConan the LiberatorConan the Liberator is a fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in February 1979; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books... - Thomas FlanaganThomas Flanagan (writer)Thomas Flanagan was an American professor of English literature who specialized in Irish literature. He was also a successful novelist. Flanagan, who was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, graduated from Amherst College in 1945...
-Year of the French - Alan Dean FosterAlan Dean FosterAlan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
-AlienAlien (film)Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which... - William GoldingWilliam GoldingSir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
- Darkness Visible - William GoldmanWilliam GoldmanWilliam Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
- TinselTinselTinsel is sparkling decorative material that mimics the effect of ice or icicles. When in long narrow strips, it emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate... - Arthur HaileyArthur HaileyArthur Hailey was a British/Canadian novelist.- Biography :Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, Hailey served in the Royal Air Force from the start of World War II during 1939 until 1947, when he went to live in Canada. Hailey's last novel, Detective , is a mystery told from the perspective of a...
- OverloadOverload (novel)Overload is a novel by Arthur Hailey, concerning the electricity production industry in California and the activities of the employees and others involved with Golden State Power and Light, a fictional California public service company. The novel is described from the point of view of... - Douglas HillDouglas HillDouglas Arthur Hill was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he studied English at the University of Saskatchewan...
- Galactic Warlord - Sian JamesSian James (novelist)Siân James is a Welsh novelist who writes in English.James was born near Llandysul in Carmarthenshire, and attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She is a Fellow of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow...
- A Small Country - Philippe JullianPhilippe JullianPhilippe Jullian was a French illustrator, art historian, biographer, aesthete, novelist and dandy.Jullian was born in Bordeaux in 1922...
- Montmartre - Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
- The Dead ZoneThe Dead Zone (novel)The Dead Zone is a horror novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It concerns Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and enters a coma for nearly five years. When he emerges, he can see horrifying secrets but cannot identify all the details in his "dead zone", an area of his brain that... - Russell KirkRussell KirkRussell Kirk was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. His 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, gave shape to the amorphous post–World War II conservative movement...
- The Princess of All LandsThe Princess of All LandsThe Princess of All Lands is a collection of stories by Russell Kirk. It was released in 1979 and was the author's first book published by Arkham House. It was published in an edition of 4,120 copies... - Milan KunderaMilan KunderaMilan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
- The Book of Laughter and ForgettingThe Book of Laughter and ForgettingThe Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a novel by Milan Kundera, published in 1979. It is composed of seven separate narratives united by some common themes. The book considers the nature of forgetting as it occurs in history, politics and life in general... - John le CarréJohn le CarréDavid John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
- Smiley's PeopleSmiley's PeopleSmiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy... - Morgan LlywelynMorgan LlywelynMorgan Llywelyn is an American-born Irish author best known for her historical fantasy, historical fiction, and historical non-fiction...
- Lion of Ireland: The Legend of Brian Boru - Robert LudlumRobert LudlumRobert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
- The Matarese CircleThe Matarese Circle-Story:US Intelligence agent Brandon Scofield and Soviet KGB agent Vasili Taleniekov make their way through the obstacles and ravages of a cabal known as the Matarese. They find out that the Matarese has infiltrated the highest ranks of the society... - Norman MailerNorman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
- The Executioner's SongThe Executioner's SongThe Executioner's Song is a 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah for murder. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord High Executioner's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado... - Dambudzo MarecheraDambudzo MarecheraDambudzo Marechera was a Zimbabwean novelist and poet.-Early life:...
- The House of HungerThe House of HungerThe House of Hunger is a short story collection by the late Dambudzo Marechera. Subtitled Short Stories, this work is actually a collection of one novella of 80-odd pages and nine sketches / stories... - V. S. NaipaulV. S. NaipaulSir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V. S." Naipaul, TC is a Nobel prize-winning Indo-Trinidadian-British writer who is known for his novels focusing on the legacy of the British Empire's colonialism...
- A Bend in the RiverA Bend in the RiverA Bend in the River is a 1979 novel by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul.In 1998, the Modern Library ranked A Bend in the River #83 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century... - Jerry PournelleJerry PournelleJerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
- JanissariesJanissaries (novel)Janissaries is a novel by science fiction author Jerry Pournelle. It was originally published in 1979, and was illustrated by comic artist Bermejo.The novel is the first book of Pournelle's Janissaries series... - Harold RobbinsHarold RobbinsHarold Robbins was one of the best-selling American authors of all time. During his career, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages....
- Memories of Another Day - Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
- The Ghost WriterThe Ghost WriterThe Ghost Writer is the first novel by Philip Roth to be narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, one of Roth's alter egos, and constitutes the first book in his Zuckerman Bound trilogy. The novel touches on themes common to many Roth works, including identity, the responsibilities of authors to their... - Mary StewartMary StewartMary Florence Elinor Stewart is a popular English novelist, best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and the fantasy genre.-Career:...
- The Last EnchantmentThe Last EnchantmentThe Last Enchantment is a 1979 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. It is the third in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, preceded by The Hollow Hills and succeeded by The Wicked Day.-Plot introduction:... - Peter StraubPeter StraubPeter Francis Straub is an American author and poet, most famous for his work in the horror genre. His horror fiction has received numerous literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award, placing him among the most-honored horror authors in...
- Ghost StoryGhost Story (Straub novel)Ghost Story is a horror novel by Peter Straub that was published in 1979 by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. It was adapted into a film in 1981.The novel was a watershed in Straub's career... - William StyronWilliam StyronWilliam Clark Styron, Jr. was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, which included...
- Sophie's ChoiceSophie's Choice (novel)Sophie's Choice is a novel by William Styron published in 1979. It concerns a young American Southerner, an aspiring writer, who befriends the Jewish Nathan Landau and his beautiful lover Sophie, a Polish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps... - Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
- The FaceThe Face (Vance)The Face is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the fourth novel in the "Demon Princes" series. This book was published nearly twelve years after the third.-Plot summary:... - Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
- JailbirdJailbirdJailbird is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. Its plot concerns a man recently released from a low security prison after having served time for a minor role in the Watergate scandal. The novel uses a standard memoir format, revealing Walter F... - Elizabeth WalterElizabeth WalterElizabeth Walter was a U.K. writer of short stories in the horror and fantasy genres.She was brought up in the Welsh Border country, and lived in London in later life though with periodic returns to the Wye Valley and the Black Mountains...
- In the Mist and Other Uncanny EncountersIn the Mist and Other Uncanny EncountersIn the Mist and Other Uncanny Encounters is a collection of stories by author Elizabeth Walter. It was released in 1979 and was the author's first book published by Arkham House . It was published in an edition of 4,053 copies... - William WhartonWilliam Wharton (author)William Wharton , the pen name of the author Albert William Du Aime , was an American-born author best known for his first novel Birdy, which was also successful as a film.-Biography:...
- BirdyBirdy (novel)Birdy is a 1978 novel by William Wharton.It was Wharton's first published novel, and was published when he was more than 50 years old. It won the National Book Award for first novel, and was made into a film, directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage.Naomi Wallace, a poet... - Kit WilliamsKit WilliamsChristopher 'Kit' Williams is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his book Masquerade, a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden jewelled hare created by Williams and then buried "somewhere in Britain."Williams wrote another puzzle book with a bee...
- MasqueradeMasquerade (book)Masquerade is a children’s book, written and illustrated by Kit Williams, which sparked a treasure hunt by concealing clues to the location of a jewelled golden hare, created and hidden somewhere in Britain by Williams... - Raymond WilliamsRaymond WilliamsRaymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
- The Fight for ManodThe Fight for Manod-Plot summary:Matthew Price and Peter Owen both have their roots within the borders of Wales. They each have contributed to a decision on the idea of building a new town, Manod, in the depopulated valleys of South Wales... - Robert Anton WilsonRobert Anton WilsonRobert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
- Schrodinger's CatSchrödinger's Cat trilogyThe Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy is a trilogy of novels by Robert Anton Wilson consisting of The Universe Next Door, The Trick Top Hat, and The Homing Pigeons, each illustrating a different interpretation of quantum physics... - Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
- The Right StuffThe Right Stuff (book)The Right Stuff is a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the pilots engaged in U.S. postwar experiments with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft as well as documenting the stories of the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the NASA space program... - Christopher WoodChristopher Wood (writer)Christopher Wood is an English screenwriter and novelist best known under the pseudonym 'Timothy Lea' for the Confessions series of novels and films. Under his own name, he adapted two James Bond novels for the screen: The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker .Wood has written many novels...
- James Bond and Moonraker - Roger ZelaznyRoger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
-RoadmarksRoadmarksRoadmarks is a science fiction/fantasy novel written by Roger Zelazny during the late 1970s and published in 1979.The novel postulates a road that travels through time, with a nexus placed every few years where a handful of specially gifted people are able to get on and off... - TrevanianTrevanianRodney William Whitaker was an American film scholar and writer who wrote several successful novels under the pen name Trevanian. Whitaker also published works as Nicholas Seare, Beñat Le Cagot and Edoard Moran...
-ShibumiShibumi (novel)Shibumi is a novel issued in 1979, written in English by Trevanian, a pseudonym of Rodney William Whitaker, an American academic who remained mysterious throughout most of his life...
Poetry
- Kingsley AmisKingsley AmisSir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
- Collected Poems
Non-fiction
- David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
- Life on EarthLife on EarthLife on Earth: A Natural History by David Attenborough is a television natural history series made by the BBC in association with Warner Bros. and Reiner Moritz Productions... - L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
, editor - The Blade of ConanThe Blade of ConanThe Blade of Conan is a 1979 collection of essays edited by L. Sprague de Camp, published in paperback by Ace Books. The material was originally published as articles in George H. Scithers' fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Ace’s later volume of material from Amra, The Spell of Conan... - John FowlesJohn FowlesJohn Robert Fowles was an English novelist and essayist. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Fowles among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Birth and family:...
- The Tree - Sandra GilbertSandra GilbertSandra M. Gilbert , Professor Emerita of English at the University of California, Davis, is an influential literary critic and poet who has published widely in the fields of feminist literary criticism, feminist theory, and psychoanalytic criticism...
& Susan GubarSusan GubarDr. Susan D. Gubar is an American academic and Distinguished Professor of English and Women's Studies at Indiana University. She is co-author with Dr. Sandra M. Gilbert of the standard feminist text, The Madwoman in the Attic and a trilogy on women's writing in the twentieth century.Her book...
- The Madwoman in the AtticThe Madwoman in the AtticThe Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, published in 1979, examines Victorian literature from a feminist perspective...
: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination - Henry KissingerHenry KissingerHeinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
- The White House Years - Jean-François LyotardJean-François LyotardJean-François Lyotard was a French philosopher and literary theorist. He is well known for his articulation of postmodernism after the late 1970s and the analysis of the impact of postmodernity on the human condition...
- The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge - Stephen Pile - The Book of Heroic FailuresThe Book of Heroic FailuresThe Book of Heroic Failures, written by Stephen Pile in 1979, is a book written in celebration of human inadequacy in all its forms. Entries include William McGonagall, a notoriously bad poet, and Teruo Nakamura, a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army who fought for Japan in World War II until...
- Clark Ashton SmithClark Ashton SmithClark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
- The Black Book of Clark Ashton SmithThe Black Book of Clark Ashton SmithThe Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith is a transcription of a notebook that was kept by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1979 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,588 copies. The book was transcribed from Smith's notebook by Donald Sidney-Fryer and Robert A. Hoffman. Appended to the... - Margaret TrudeauMargaret TrudeauMargaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper is the former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.-Early years and marriage:...
- Beyond ReasonBeyond ReasonBeyond Reason was a television quiz show seen throughout Canada from 1977 to 1980. Programmes featured a group of experts from various paranormal specialties attempting to find the identity of hidden visitors, resembling a combination of Front Page Challenge and The Amazing World of Kreskin.This...
Deaths
- February 9 - Allen TateAllen TateJohn Orley Allen Tate was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1943 to 1944.-Life:...
, poet and essayist - February 25 - John L. WassermanJohn l. WassermanJohn L. Wasserman was an entertainment critic for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1964 until the time of his death in 1979...
, critic - March 26 - Jean StaffordJean StaffordJean Stafford was an American short story writer and novelist, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford in 1970....
, short story writer and novelist - May 10 - J. B. MortonJ. B. MortonJohn Cameron Andrieu Bingham Michael Morton, better known by his preferred abbreviation J. B. Morton was an English humorous writer noted for authoring a column called By the Way under the pen name Beachcomber in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975.G. K...
, columnist ("Beachcomber") - May 14 - Jean RhysJean RhysJean Rhys , born Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams, was a mid 20th-century novelist from Dominica. Educated from the age of 16 in Great Britain, she is best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea , written as a "prequel" to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.-Early life:Rhys was born in Roseau, Dominica...
, novelist - June 3 - Arno SchmidtArno SchmidtArno Schmidt was a German author and translator.-Biography:Born in Hamburg, son of a police constable, Schmidt moved with his widowed mother to Lauban and attended the secondary school in Görlitz. He then worked as a clerk in a textile company in Greiffenberg...
, novelist - June 7 - Forrest Carter, author
- July 6 - Malcolm HulkeMalcolm HulkeMalcolm Hulke was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" Writing for Television in the 70s...
, TV writer - July 29 - Herbert MarcuseHerbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
, philosopher - October 6 - Elizabeth BishopElizabeth BishopElizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...
, poet - October 17 - S. J. PerelmanS. J. PerelmanSidney Joseph Perelman, almost always known as S. J. Perelman , was an American humorist, author, and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for The New Yorker...
, humorist - October 18 - Virgilio PiñeraVirgilio PiñeraVirgilio Piñera Llera was a Cuban author, playwright, poet, short-story writer, and essayist.Among his most famous poems are "La isla en peso" , and "La gran puta" . He was a member of the "Origenes" literary group, although he often differed with the conservative views of the group...
, poet and short-story writer - December 19 - Donald CreightonDonald CreightonDonald Grant Creighton, was a noted Canadian historian.-Background:Born in Toronto, the son of Methodist minister, Creighton attended Victoria College, in the University of Toronto, where he received his BA in 1925...
, historian - date unknown
- Dilys CadwaladrDilys CadwaladrDilys Cadwaladr was a Welsh poet.She is notable for being the first woman ever to win the Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. She achieved this feat in 1953 at Rhyl.-References:...
, poet - Sir George ClarkGeorge Clark (historian)Sir George Norman Clark was a 20th century English historian. Educated at Manchester Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford, he became the inaugural Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford in 1931 , a post he held until 1943...
, historian - Goronwy ReesGoronwy ReesGoronwy Rees was a Welsh journalist, academic and writer. He was educated at the University of Oxford.He was during the 1930s a Marxist intellectual, and in contact with the Cambridge Five spy ring through Guy Burgess. Right at the end of his life he admitted spying for the USSR for a short time,...
, journalist
- Dilys Cadwaladr
Canada
- See 1979 Governor General's Awards1979 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1979 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The 1979 awards were the first in which a list of finalists was released a month before the presentation of the awards...
for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
United Kingdom
- Booker Prize: Penelope FitzgeraldPenelope FitzgeraldPenelope Fitzgerald was a Booker Prize-winning English novelist, poet, essayist and biographer. In 2008, The Times included her in a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
, OffshoreOffshore- Finance and Law :* Offshoring, active movement of companies to offshore centres* Offshore financial centre, jurisdictions which transact financial business with non-residents... - Carnegie MedalCarnegie MedalThe Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
for children's literatureChildren's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
: Peter DickinsonPeter DickinsonPeter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE is an English author and poet who has written a wide variety of books, notably children's books and detective stories, over a long and distinguished career.-Life and work:...
, Tulku - Cholmondeley AwardCholmondeley AwardThe Cholmondeley Award is an annual award for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the late Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966...
: - James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction: William GoldingWilliam GoldingSir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
, Darkness VisibleDarkness Visible (Golding)Darkness Visible is a 1979 novel by British author William Golding. The book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. The title comes from Paradise Lost, from the line, "No light, but rather darkness visible".... - James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for biography: Brian Finney, Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
: A Critical Biography
United States
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction :
- Nebula AwardNebula AwardThe Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
: Vonda N. McIntyre, DreamsnakeDreamsnakeDreamsnake is a 1978 science fiction novel written by Vonda McIntyre. Dreamsnake won the 1979 Hugo Award, the 1978 Nebula Award, and the 1979 Locus Award. The novel follows a healer on her quest to replace her "dreamsnake", a small snake which produces venom which produces torpor and... - Newbery MedalNewbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
for children's literatureChildren's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
: - Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
: - Pulitzer Prize for FictionPulitzer Prize for FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
: John CheeverJohn CheeverJohn William Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy,...
, The Stories of John CheeverThe Stories of John CheeverThe Stories of John Cheever is a 1978 short story collection by American author John Cheever. It contains some of his most famous stories, including "The Enormous Radio," "Goodbye, My Brother," "The Country Husband," "The Five-Forty-Eight" and "The Swimmer." It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction... - Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
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