1996 in literature

The year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

 * Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."
 * In the United Kingdom, the first Orange Prize for Fiction for female novelists is awarded.
 * First performance of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues.
 * Peter O'Donnell publishes Cobra Trap, his final volume of adventures featuring Modesty Blaise; the first book in the series was published in 1965.
 * Margaret Mitchell's long-lost first novella, Lost Laysen, is published 80 years after it was written.
 * At the special request of Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Zephaniah hosts the president's Two Nations Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.

New Fiction

 * Stephen Ambrose - Undaunted Courage
 * Anonymous - Primary Colors
 * Jeffrey Archer - The Fourth Estate
 * Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
 * Beryl Bainbridge - Every Man for Himself
 * David Baldacci - Absolute Power
 * Alex Garland - The Beach
 * Iain M. Banks - Excession
 * John Berendt - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
 * Thomas Berger - Suspects
 * Harold Bloom - Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection
 * Dionne Brand - In Another Place, Not Here
 * Brett Butler - Knee Deep in Paradise
 * Ann Chamberlin - Sofia; The Sultan's Daughter
 * Tom Clancy - Executive Orders
 * Mary Higgins Clark - Moonlight Becomes You
 * Joseph Connolly - This Is It
 * Bernard Cornwell - The Bloody Ground and Enemy of God
 * Douglas Coupland - Polaroids from the Dead
 * Amanda Craig - A Vicious Circle
 * Robert Crais - Sunset Express
 * John Darnton - Neanderthal
 * Seamus Deane - Reading in the Dark
 * Fabrizio De André - Un destino ridicolo
 * Stephen R. Donaldson - The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die
 * Ben Elton - Popcorn
 * Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones' Diary
 * Mavis Gallant - Selected Stories
 * John Gardner - COLD
 * Richard Garfinkle - Celestial Matters
 * Alex Garland - The Beach
 * William Golding - The Double Tongue
 * John Grisham - The Runaway Jury and Hackers (short story collection)
 * James L. Halperin - The Truth Machine
 * Colin Harrison - ''Manhattan Nocturne
 * Elisabeth Harvor - Let Me Be the One, stories (Canada)
 * Nancy Huston - The Goldberg Variations
 * Tama Janowitz - By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee
 * Matt Jones - Bad Therapy
 * Stephen King - Desperation, The Green Mile and The Regulators
 * Joe Klein - Primary Colors (published anonymously)
 * Dean R. Koontz - Intensity
 * Michael P. Kube-McDowell - Before the Storm, Shield of Lies and Tyrant's Test
 * 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
 * Vladimir Megre - Anastasiya
 * Lawrence Miles - Christmas on a Rational Planet
 * Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
 * Joyce Carol Oates - We Were the Mulvaneys
 * Daniel O'Mahony - The Man in the Velvet Mask
 * Patricia A, McKillip - Winter Rose
 * 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
 * James Redfield - The Tenth Insight
 * Justin Richards - The Sands of Time
 * Gareth Roberts - The English Way of Death and The Plotters
 * Mary Rosenblum - Synthesis & Other Virtual Realities
 * Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The New Rebellion
 * Gary Russell - The Scales of Injustice
 * Al-Tayyib Salih - Bandarshah
 * Jeff Shaara - Gods and Generals
 * Michael Slade - Zombie aka Evil Eye
 * Michael Stackpole - The Krytos Trap, Rogue Squadron and Wedge's Gamble''
 * Dave Stone - Death and Diplomacy
 * Graham Swift - Last Orders
 * Guy Vanderhaeghe - The Englishman's Boy
 * David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest

New drama

 * Jeff Baron - Visiting Mr. Green
 * Eve Ensler - The Vagina Monologues
 * Pam Gems - Stanley
 * Ayub Khan-Din - East is East
 * Martin McDonagh - The Beauty Queen of Leenane
 * Mark Ravenhill - Shopping and Fucking
 * Joshua Sobol - Alma

Non-Fiction

 * Norman Davies - Europe: A History
 * Richard Dawkins - Climbing Mount Improbable
 * Alan Downs - "Corporate Executions: the Ugly Truth about Downsizing"
 * Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence

Births
Rita Ivo Maria

Deaths

 * January 21 - Efua Sutherland, Ghanaian dramatist, poet and children's author (born 1924)
 * January 28
 * Jerry Siegel, cartoonist, creator of Superman (born 1914)
 * Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet and essayist, Nobel laureate (born 1940)
 * February 11
 * Bob Shaw, science fiction writer (born 1931)
 * Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (born 1930)
 * March 3 - Marguerite Duras, French dramatist and film director (born 1914)
 * March 18 - Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)
 * March 22 - Ian Stephens, Canadian poet
 * March 31 - Dario Bellezza, Italian poet and dramatist (born 194)
 * April 22 - Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (born 1927)
 * May 24 - Joseph Mitchell, American journalist (born 1908)
 * May 26 - Ovidiu Papadima, Romanian critic and essayist (born 1909)
 * May 31 - Timothy Leary, American writer
 * June 2 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (born 1921)
 * June 14 - Gesualdo Bufalino, Italian novelist (born 1920)
 * June 26 - Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist
 * July 10 - Eno Raud, Estonian children's author (born 1928)
 * October 24 - Sorley Maclean, Gaelic poet (born 1911)
 * December 20 - Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist and writer
 * December 12 - Vance Packard, journalist and social critic (born 1914)
 * December 16 - Quentin Bell, English biographer and art historian (born 1910)

Awards

 * Nobel Prize for Literature: Wislawa Szymborska

Australia

 * The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Bernard Cohen, The Blindman's Hat
 * C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Peter Bakowski, In the Human Night
 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Eric Beach, Weeping for Lost Babylon
 * Mary Gilmore Prize: Jordie Albiston, Nervous Arcs

Canada

 * Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award
 * Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Margaret Atwood: - Alias Grace
 * See 1996 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

 * Prix Goncourt: Pascale Roze, Le Chasseur Zéro
 * Prix Décembre: Régis Debray, Loués soient nos seigneurs: une éducation politique
 * Prix Médicis French: Orlanda - Jacqueline Harpman and L'Organisation - Jean Rolin
 * Prix Médicis International: Himmelfarb - Michael Kruger, Germany and Sonietchka - Ludmila Oulitskaïa, Russia

United Kingdom

 * Booker Prize: Graham Swift, Last Orders
 * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Melvin Burgess, Junk
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Graham Swift, Last Orders, and Alice Thompson, Justine
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Diarmaid MacCulloch, Thomas Cranmer: A Life
 * Cholmondeley Award: Elizabeth Bartlett, Dorothy Nimmo, Peter Scupham, Iain Crichton Smith
 * Eric Gregory Award: Sue Butler, Cathy Cullis, Jane Griffiths, Jane Holland, Chris Jones, Sinéad Morrissey, Kate Thomas
 * Orange Prize for Fiction: Helen Dunmore, A Spell of Winter
 * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Peter Redgrove
 * Whitbread Best Book Award: Seamus Heaney, The Spirit Level

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Helen Conkling, Red Peony Night
 * Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: John Voiklis, "The Princeling's Apology", and (separately) Sarah Arvio, "Visits from the Seventh"
 * Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Kenneth Koch, One Train
 * Compton Crook Award: Daniel Graham Jr., The Gatekeepers
 * Hugo Award: Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
 * Nebula Award: Nicola Griffith, Slow River
 * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Karen Cushman, The Midwife's Apprentice
 * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Jonathan Larson, Rent
 * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Richard Ford - Independence Day
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Jorie Graham: The Dream of the Unified Field
 * Wallace Stevens Award: Adrienne Rich

Elsewhere

 * IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: David Malouf, Remembering Babylon
 * Premio Nadal: Pedro Maestre, Matando dinosaurios con tirachinas