1996 in literature

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1996.

EventsEdit

July 8 – Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and 30 other books are struck from an English reading list in Lindale, Texas, as they "conflict with the values of the community."<ref>Herbert N. Foerstel, Banned in the USA, Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 233.</ref>
July 11 – As requested by Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Zephaniah hosts the President's Two Nations Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.<ref>Life at the Hall – Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela Template:Webarchive. Accessed 9 December 2014.</ref>
October 3 – The first performance is held in New York of Eve Ensler's episodic feminist play The Vagina Monologues.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
unknown dates
- In the UK, the first Orange Prize for Fiction for female novelists goes to Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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- Peter O'Donnell publishes Cobra Trap, a final volume featuring Modesty Blaise. The first appeared in 1965.
- Margaret Mitchell's lost first novella, Lost Laysen, is published, 80 years after it was written.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Romance Writings, including her novel Princess Docile, are first published 234 years after her death.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

New booksEdit

FictionEdit

Anonymous (Joe Klein) – Primary Colors: a novel of politics
Jeffrey Archer – The Fourth Estate
Margaret Atwood – Alias Grace<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Beryl Bainbridge – Every Man for Himself<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
David Baldacci – Absolute Power<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Iain M. Banks – Excession<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
David Bergen – A Year of Lesser<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Dionne Brand – In Another Place, Not Here
Larry Brown – Father and Son
Candace Bushnell – Sex and the City
Brett Butler – Knee Deep in Paradise
Tom Clancy – Executive Orders
Joseph Connolly – This Is It
Bernard Cornwell – The Bloody Ground and Enemy of God
Douglas Coupland – Polaroids from the Dead<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Amanda Craig – A Vicious Circle
Robert Crais – Sunset Express
John Darnton – Neanderthal<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Donald Davidson – The Big Ballad Jamboree<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Seamus Deane – Reading in the Dark
Joan Didion – The Last Thing He Wanted
Stephen R. Donaldson – The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die
Ben Elton – Popcorn
Steve Erickson – Amnesiascope
Helen Fielding – Bridget Jones's Diary
Jon Fosse – Melancholy II (Melancholia II)
Neil Gaiman
- The Sandman: The Kindly Ones (graphic novel; ninth in The Sandman series)
- The Sandman: The Wake (graphic novel; tenth in The Sandman series)
John Gardner – Cold
Richard Garfinkle – Celestial Matters
Alex Garland – The Beach
William Golding – The Double Tongue
John Grisham – The Runaway Jury and Hackers (short stories)
James L. Halperin – The Truth Machine
Colin Harrison – Manhattan Nocturne
Elisabeth Harvor – Let Me Be the One (short stories)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Nancy Huston – The Goldberg Variations
Tama Janowitz – By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee
Matt Jones – Bad Therapy
Stephen King
- Desperation
- The Green Mile
- The Regulators
Dean R. Koontz – Intensity
Michael P. Kube-McDowell – Before the Storm
- Shield of Lies
- Tyrant's Test
Caroline Lamarche – Le Jour du chien (The Day of the Dog)
Hugh Laurie – The Gun Seller
John le Carré – The Tailor of Panama
Paul Leonard – Speed of Flight
Steve Lyons – Killing Ground
George R. R. Martin – A Game of Thrones
David A. McIntee – The Shadow of Weng-Chiang
Terry McMillan – How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Javier Marías – When I Was Mortal (Cuando fui mortal, short stories)
Vladimir Megre – Anastasiya
Lawrence Miles – Christmas on a Rational Planet
Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance
Shani Mootoo – Cereus Blooms at Night
Joyce Carol Oates – We Were the Mulvaneys
Daniel O'Mahony – The Man in the Velvet Mask
Kate Orman – Return of the Living Dad and Sleepy
Chuck Palahniuk – Fight Club
Lance Parkin – Cold Fusion and Just War
Marc Platt – Downtime
Terry Pratchett – Feet of Clay and Hogfather
Qiu Miaojin (posthumous) – Last Words from Montmartre
James Redfield – The Tenth Insight
Justin Richards – The Sands of Time
Gareth Roberts
- The English Way of Death
- The Plotters
Mary Rosenblum – Synthesis & Other Virtual Realities
Kristine Kathryn Rusch – The New Rebellion
Gary Russell – The Scales of Injustice
Jeff Shaara – Gods and Generals
Michael Stackpole
- The Krytos Trap
- Rogue Squadron
- Wedge's Gamble
Dave Stone – Death and Diplomacy
Graham Swift – Last Orders
Guy Vanderhaeghe – The Englishman's Boy
David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest
Daniel Woodrell – Give Us a Kiss
Monika Maron – Animal Triste

BirthsEdit

May 29 - R. F. Kuang, American fantasy and contemporary fiction writer
August 13 - Emrecan Doğan, Turkish fantasy, horror, science fiction and speculative fiction writer
November 13 - Zeki Majed, Kurdish filmmaker and poet
December 25 - Elvira Natali, Indonesian author and actress

DeathsEdit

January 5 – Lincoln Kirstein, American writer and impresario (born 1907)
January 8 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (born 1907)
January 11 – Harold Walter Bailey, English linguistics scholar (born 1899)
January 16 – Kaye Webb, English publisher and journalist (born 1914)<ref>Julia Eccleshare Obituary: Kaye Webb, The Independent, 18 January 1996.</ref>
January 21 – Efua Sutherland, Ghanaian dramatist, poet and children's author (born 1924)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
January 27 – Barbara Skelton, English fiction writer, memoirist and literary figure (born 1916)
January 28
- Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (born 1914)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (myocardial infarction, born 1940)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
February 11
- Bob Shaw, Northern Irish science fiction writer (born 1931)
- Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (born 1930)
February 12 – Ryōtarō Shiba, Japanese novelist (born 1923)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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February 18 – Cathal Ó Sándair, Irish-language novelist (born 1922)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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March 3
- Marguerite Duras, French dramatist and film director (born 1914)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Léo Malet, French crime novelist and surrealist (born 1909)
March 15 – Wolfgang Koeppen, German novelist (born 1906)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
March 18
- Jacquetta Hawkes (née Hopkins), English writer and archeologist (born 1910)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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March 22
- Claude Mauriac, French novelist and journalist (born 1914)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Ian Stephens, Canadian poet (year of birth not known)
March 29 – Frank Daniel, Czech-born screenwriter, director, and teacher (born 1926)
March 31 – Dario Bellezza, Italian poet and dramatist (HIV, born 1944)
April 16 – Leila Mackinlay, British romantic novelist (born 1910)
April 18 – Kalim Siddiqui, Pakistani-born English writer and Islamic activist (born 1931)
April 20 – Christopher Robin Milne, English writer and bookseller (born 1920)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
April 22 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (born 1927)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
April 23 – P. L. Travers, Australian-born children's writer (born 1899)
May 2 – Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer and politician (born 1922)
May 8 – Larry Levis, American poet, author, and critic (born 1946)
May 24 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist (born 1908)
May 26
- Ovidiu Papadima, Romanian critic and essayist (born 1909)
- Margaret Douglas-Home, English writer and musician (born 1906)
May 31 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and writer (born 1920)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
June 2 – Leon Garfield, English children's author (born 1921)<ref>B. Copson, "Garfield, Leon (1921–1996)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP), September 2004; online edition January 2007</ref>
June 14 – Gesualdo Bufalino, Italian novelist (born 1920)
June 15 – Fitzroy Maclean, Scottish political writer, autobiographer and diplomat (born 1911)
July 10 – Eno Raud, Estonian children's author (born 1928)
July 22 – Jessica Mitford, English author, journalist and campaigner (born 1917)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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September 21 – Henri Nouwen, Dutch priest, theologian and author (born 1932)
September 29 – Shusaku Endo (遠藤周作), Japanese novelist (born 1923)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
October 16 – Eric Malpass, English novelist (born 1910)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
October 24 – Sorley Maclean, Gaelic poet (born 1911)
November 27 – Lili Berger, Yiddish writer, antifascist militant and literary critic (born 1916)
December 7 – José Donoso, Chilean writer (born 1924)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
December 9 – Diana Morgan, Welsh playwright and screenwriter (born 1908)
December 12 – Vance Packard, American journalist and social critic (born 1914)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
December 16 – Quentin Bell, English biographer and art historian (born 1910)
December 20 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist and writer (born 1934)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
December 21 – Margret Rey, American author and illustrator (born 1906)