1986 in literature

The year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

 * Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.

New books

 * Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils
 * Piers Anthony - Ghost
 * Jeffrey Archer - A Matter of Honour
 * James Axler - Pilgrimage to Hell and Red Holocaust
 * Iain Banks - The Bridge
 * Thomas Bernhard - Auslöschung
 * Anita Brookner - A Misalliance
 * Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead
 * Tom Clancy - Red Storm Rising
 * James Clavell - Whirlwind
 * Jackie Collins - Hollywood Husbands
 * Pat Conroy - The Prince of Tides
 * Hugh Cook - The Wizards and the Warriors
 * Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe's Regiment
 * Bernard & Judy Cornwell (as Susannah Kells) - Coat of Arms (aka The Aristocrats)
 * Richard Ford - The Sportswriter
 * John Gardner - Nobody Lives For Ever
 * Jacques Godbout - Une histoire américaine
 * Carl Hiaasen - Tourist Season
 * Kazuo Ishiguro - An Artist of the Floating World
 * Brian Jacques - Redwall
 * Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle
 * Stephen King - It
 * W.P. Kinsella - The Fence Post Chronicles
 * Judith Krantz - I'll Take Manhattan
 * Louis L'Amour - Last of the Breed
 * John le Carré - A Perfect Spy
 * Tanith Lee - Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee
 * Gordon Lish - Dear Mr. Capote
 * H.P. Lovecraft - Dagon and Other Macabre Tales corrected edition
 * Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Supremacy
 * Amin Maalouf - Leo Africanus
 * Allan Massie -  Augustus
 * Robert Munsch - Love You Forever
 * Patrick O'Brian - The Reverse of the Medal
 * Robert B. Parker - Taming a Sea Horse
 * Ellis Peters - The Rose Rent
 * Belva Plain - The Golden Cup
 * Anthony Powell - The Fisher King
 * Terry Pratchett - The Light Fantastic
 * Reynolds Price - Kate Vaiden
 * James Purdy - In the Hollow of His Hand
 * José Saramago - O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis
 * Idries Shah - Kara Kush
 * Danielle Steel - Wanderlust
 * Peter Taylor - A Summons to Memphis
 * James Tiptree, Jr. - Tales of the Quintana Roo
 * Roger Zelazny - Blood of Amber

New drama

 * Caryl Churchill& David Lan - A Mouthful of Birds
 * Willy Russell - Shirley Valentine

Poetry

 * Kama Sywor Kamanda - Chants de brumes

Non-fiction

 * Martin Amis - The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America
 * Dionne Brand - Rivers Have Sources, Trees Have Roots: Speaking of Racism
 * Richard Dawkins - The Blind Watchmaker
 * Adrian Edmondson et al. - How to be a Complete Bastard
 * Flora Fraser - Beloved Emma
 * Mark Mathabane - Kaffir Boy
 * Farley Mowat - My Discovery of America
 * Marc Reisner - Cadillac Desert
 * Richard Rhodes - The Making of the Atomic Bomb
 * Mary Wilson - Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme

Births

 * Caroline Bird, English poet

Deaths

 * January 1 - Lord David Cecil, critic and biographer
 * January 4 - Christopher Isherwood, novelist
 * January 24 - L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer, founder of Scientology
 * February 11 - Frank Herbert, American science fiction author
 * March 4 - Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and novelist
 * March 18 - Bernard Malamud, novelist
 * April 14 - Simone de Beauvoir, philosopher and feminist writer
 * May 15 - Theodore White, writer
 * June 14 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer
 * August 1 - Lena Kennedy, novelist
 * August 3 - Beryl Markham, traveller and author
 * August 20 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright
 * December 17 - J.F. Hendry, poet
 * December 19 - V.C. Andrews, novelist

Awards

 * Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka

Australia

 * The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Robin Walton, Glace Fruits
 * C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Rhyll McMaster, Washing the Money and John A. Scott, St. Clair
 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Robert Gray Selected Poems 1963-83
 * Mary Gilmore Prize: Stephen Williams - A Crowd of Voices

Canada

 * See 1986 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

 * Prix Goncourt: Michel Host, Valet de nuit
 * Prix Médicis French: Pierre Combescot, Les Funérailles de la Sardine
 * Prix Médicis International: John Hawkes, Aventures dans le commerce des peaux en Alaska

United Kingdom

 * Booker Prize: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils
 * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Berlie Doherty, Granny Was a Buffer Girl
 * Cholmondeley Award: Lawrence Durrell, James Fenton, Selima Hill
 * Eric Gregory Award: Mick North, Lachlan Mackinnon, Oliver Reynolds, Stephen Romer
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Jenny Joseph, Persephone
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: D. Felicitas Corrigan, Helen Waddell
 * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Norman MacCaig
 * Whitbread Best Book Award: Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Robley Wilson, Kingdoms of the Ordinary
 * American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Sidney Kingsley
 * Frost Medal: Allen Ginsberg / Richard Eberhart
 * Nebula Award: Orson Scott Card, Speaker For the Dead
 * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall
 * Prometheus Award: Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminatus! Trilogy
 * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
 * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Henry Taylor, The Flying Change

Elsewhere

 * Premio Nadal: Manuel Vicent, Balada de Caín