1982 in literature

The year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

 * La Bicyclette Bleue (The Blue Bicycle) by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.

New books

 * Isabel Allende - La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits)
 * Isaac Asimov - Foundation's Edge
 * Jean M. Auel - The Valley of Horses
 * Lynne Reid Banks - The Indian in the Cupboard
 * Michael Bishop - Blooded on Arachne
 * William Boyd - An Ice-Cream War
 * Arthur C. Clarke - 2010: Odyssey Two
 * Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe's Company
 * Aileen Crawley - The Bride of Suleiman
 * Roald Dahl - The BFG
 * L. Sprague de Camp - The Virgin of Zesh & The Tower of Zanid
 * L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter - Conan the Barbarian
 * August Derleth - The Solar Pons Omnibus
 * Ken Follett - The Man from St. Petersburg
 * John Gardner - For Special Services
 * Graham Greene - Monsignor Quixote
 * Gwenyth Hood - The Coming of the Demons
 * Kazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of Hills
 * John Jakes - North and South
 * Thomas Keneally - Schindler's Ark
 * David Kesterton - The Darkling
 * Stephen King - Different Seasons, Pet Sematary and The Running Man
 * W.P. Kinsella - Shoeless Joe
 * Judith Krantz - Mistral's Daughter
 * Morgan Llywelyn - The Horse Goddess
 * Robert Ludlum - The Parsifal Mosaic
 * Colleen McCullough - An Indecent Obsession
 * Russell McCormmach - Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist 
 * George R. R. Martin - Fevre Dream
 * James Merrill - The Changing Light at Sandover
 * James A. Michener - Space
 * Timothy Mo - Sour Sweet
 * Harry Mulisch - The Assault
 * Chris Mullin - ''A Very British Coup
 * Sidney Sheldon - Master of the Game
 * Elizabeth Smart - The Assumption of the Rogues and Rascals
 * Danielle Steel - Crossings
 * Alice Walker - The Color Purple
 * Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice - ''Water Witch
 * Gene Wolfe - The Citadel of the Autarch
 * Roger Zelazny - Eye of Cat and Dilvish, the Damned

New drama

 * Peter Flannery - Our Friends in the North
 * Michael Frayn - Noises Off
 * Stephen MacDonald - Not About Heroes
 * Frank McGuinness - The Factory Girls
 * Tom Stoppard - The Real Thing

Non-fiction

 * Irving Abella and Harold Troper - None is Too Many.
 * Martin Amis - Invasion of the Space Invaders
 * Carol Gilligan - In a Different Voice.
 * Edward James - The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000.
 * Gary Kinder - Victim: The Other Side of Murder.
 * Audre Lorde - Zami: A New Spelling of My Name.
 * John Naisbitt - Megatrends.
 * Tom Peters - In Search of Excellence.
 * Margaret Trudeau - Consequences.

Deaths

 * February 18 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand crime writer and theatre director
 * March 2 - Philip K. Dick, American writer
 * March 6 - Ayn Rand, Russian-American author
 * June 6 - Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and critic
 * June 18 - John Cheever, American writer
 * September 14 - John Gardner, American novelist

Awards

 * Nobel Prize for Literature: Gabriel García Márquez

Australia

 * The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Brian Castro, Birds of Passage; Nigel Krauth, Matilda, My Darling
 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Fay Zwicky, Kaddish and Other Poems

Canada

 * See 1982 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

 * Prix Goncourt: Dominique Fernandez, dans la main de l'Ange
 * Prix Médicis French: Jean-François Josselin, L'Enfer et Cie
 * Prix Médicis International: Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

United Kingdom

 * Booker Prize: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark
 * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Margaret Mahy, The Haunting
 * Cholmondeley Award: Basil Bunting, Herbert Lomas, William Scammell
 * Eric Gregory Award: Steve Ellis, Jeremy Reed, Alison Brackenbury, Neil Astley, Chris O'Neill, Joseph Bristow, John Gibbens, James Lasdun
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Bruce Chatwin, On The Black Hill
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Richard Ellmann, James Joyce
 * Whitbread Best Book Award: Bruce Chatwin, On the Black Hill

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Lawrence Joseph, Shouting at No One
 * American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction, Bernard Malamud
 * Nebula Award for Best Novel: Michael Bishop, No Enemy But Time
 * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Nancy Willard, A Visit to William Blake's Inn
 * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Charles Fuller, A Soldier's Play
 * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: John Updike - Rabbit Is Rich
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Sylvia Plath: The Collected Poems

Elsewhere

 * Hugo Award for Best Novel: Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
 * Premio Nadal: Fernando Arrabal, La torre herida por un rayo