1992 in literature

The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

 * The Goosebumps series of books, penned by R.L. Stine, are first published.

New books

 * Ben Aaronovitch - Transit
 * Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
 * Paul Auster - Leviathan
 * Iain Banks - The Crow Road
 * Clive Barker - The Thief of Always
 * Greg Bear - Anvil of Stars
 * Louis de Bernieres - The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman
 * James P. Blaylock - Lord Kelvin's Machine
 * A.S. Byatt - Morpho Eugenia
 * Roger Caron - Dreamcaper
 * Andrew Cartmel - Cat's Cradle: Warhead
 * Paulo Coelho - The Valkyries
 * Hugh Cook - The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster and The Worshippers and the Way
 * Paul Cornell - Love and War
 * Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe's Devil and Scoundrel
 * Douglas Coupland - Shampoo Planet
 * Robert Crais - Lullaby Town
 * L. Sprague de Camp and Christopher Stasheff - The Enchanter Reborn
 * Roddy Doyle - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
 * Leon Forrest - Divine Days
 * John Gardner - Death is Forever
 * Mark Gatiss - Nightshade
 * Ann Granger - Cold in the Earth
 * John Grisham - The Pelican Brief
 * Andrew Hunt - Cat's Cradle: Witchmark
 * P.D. James - The Children of Men
 * John Kessel - Meeting in Infinity
 * Stephen King - Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game
 * Val McDermid - Dead Beat
 * Terry McMillan - Waiting to Exhale
 * Rohinton Mistry - Tales from Firozsha Baag
 * Toni Morrison - Jazz
 * Danielle Steel - Jewels and Mixed Blessings
 * Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient
 * Marc Platt - Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
 * Terry Pratchett - Lords and Ladies and Small Gods
 * Anne Rice - The Tale of the Body Thief
 * Mordecai Richler - Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!
 * Gail Sheehy - Silent Passage
 * Sidney Sheldon - The Stars Shine Down
 * Michael Slade - Cutthroat
 * Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash
 * Adam Thorpe - Ulverton
 * Sue Townsend - The Queen and I
 * Barry Unsworth - Sacred Hunger
 * Gore Vidal - Live From Golgotha
 * Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep
 * Robert James Waller - The Bridges of Madison County
 * Connie Willis - Doomsday Book
 * Timothy Zahn - Dark Force Rising
 * Michael Connelly - The Black Echo
 * Roger Zelazny and Thomas Thurston Thomas - Flare

New drama

 * David Mamet - Oleanna
 * Herb Gardner - Conversations with My Father
 * Louis Nowra - Così
 * Michael Wall - Women Laughing

Poetry

 * Ben Okri - An African Elegy

Non-fiction

 * Gerina Dunwich - Secrets of Love Magick
 * John Gray - Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
 * Karen Armstrong - Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
 * Andrew Morton - Diana: Her True Story

Deaths

 * January 9 - Bill Naughton, playwright and novelist
 * February 10 - Alex Haley, Roots author
 * February 16 - Angela Carter, author
 * April 6 - Isaac Asimov, author
 * April 21 - Väinö Linna, Finnish novelist
 * April 28 - Iceberg Slim, novelist
 * May 22 - Elizabeth David, cookery writer
 * July 22 - Reginald Bretnor, science fiction writer
 * September 5 - Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr., American writer of fantasy and science fiction
 * November 7 - Richard Yates, American novelist and short-story writer
 * December 25 - Monica Dickens, novelist
 * December 27 - Kay Boyle, writer, educator, political activist

Awards

 * Nobel Prize for Literature: Derek Walcott

Australia

 * The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Fotini Epanomitis, The Mule's Foal
 * C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Robert Harris, Jane, Interlinear and Other Poems
 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Elizabeth Riddell, Selected Poems
 * Mary Gilmore Prize: Alison Croggon - This is the Stone

Canada

 * See 1992 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

 * Prix Goncourt: Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
 * Prix Décembre: Henri Thomas, La Chasse au trésor and Roger Grenier, Regardez la neige qui tombe
 * Prix Médicis French: Michel Rio, Tlacuilo
 * Prix Médicis International: Louis Begley, Une éducation polonaise

United Kingdom

 * Booker Prize: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
 * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Anne Fine, Flour Babies
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Rose Tremain, Sacred Country
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Charles Nicholl, The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
 * Cholmondeley Award: Allen Curnow, Donald Davie, Carol Ann Duffy, Roger Woddis
 * Eric Gregory Award: Jill Dawson, Hugh Dunkerley, Christopher Greenhalgh, Marita Maddah, Stuart Paterson, Stuart Pickford
 * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Kathleen Raine
 * Whitbread Best Book Award: Jeff Torrington, Swing Hammer Swing!
 * The Sunday Express Book of the Year: Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Hunt Hawkins, The Domestic Life
 * Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Gwendolyn Brooks
 * American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Sam Shepard
 * Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Louise Glück for Ararat, and Mark Strand for The Continuous Life
 * Compton Crook Award: Carol Severance, Reefsong
 * Frost Medal: Adrienne Rich / David Ignatow
 * Nebula Award: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book
 * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh
 * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: James Tate, Selected Poems
 * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Robert Schenkkan, The Kentucky Cycle

Elsewhere

 * Premio Nadal: Alejandro Gándara, Ciegas esperanzas