2010 in literature

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The year 2010 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

Mario Vargas Llosa in 2010

• February – The Wheeler Centre, Australia's "literary hub", is officially opened.
• April 3 – First release of the Apple iPad, electronic book reading device.
• April 12 – Little-known author Paul Harding wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, published by tiny Bellevue Literary Press.
• June 24 – Neil Gaiman becomes the first author to win both the Carnegie Medal in Literature and the Newbery Medal for the same book — The Graveyard Book.
• July 27 – Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy becomes an international sensation. As of May 2010, a total of 27 million copies have been sold worldwide. On July 27 Amazon says Larsson is first author to sell more than 1 million Kindle e-books.
• August 13 – TIME magazine puts Jonathan Franzen on its cover for his novel Freedom, the first time an author appeared there since 2000 with Stephen King.
• October 7 – The 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".
• October 12 – Howard Jacobson wins the Man Booker Prize for The Finkler Question
• November 9 – Johanna Skibsrud wins the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel The Sentimentalists.
• November 16 – The 2010 Governor General's Awards are announced. Winners include Dianne Warren for English fiction, Kim Thúy for French fiction, Richard Greene for poetry and Robert Chafe for drama.
• November – Mark Twain's Autobiography is published (officially) 100 years after the author's death, the delay instructed by Twain himself. Unofficial copies had been published multiple times throughout the 20th century.

Awards

• International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Gerbrand Bakker, The Twin
• Petrarca-Preis: Pierre Michon, for his body of work
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life

Books

Fiction

• Martin Amis – The Pregnant Widow (February 4)
• Paul Auster – Sunset Park (November 9)
• T. C. Boyle – Wild Child: and other stories (January 21)
• Peter Carey – Parrot and Olivier in America (April 20)
• Eddie Chuculate – Cheyenne Madonna (June 20)
• Robert Coover – Noir (March 4)
• Michael Cunningham – By Nightfall (September 28)
• Don DeLillo – Point Omega (February 2)
• Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad (June 15)
• Bret Easton Ellis – Imperial Bedrooms (June 15)
• Joshua Ferris – The Unnamed (January 18)
• Jonathan Franzen – Freedom (August 31)
• Matthew Gallaway – The Metropolis Case (November 8)
• Sara Gruen – Ape House (September 7)
• Adam Haslett – Union Atlantic (February 9)
• Howard Jacobson – The Finkler Question (October 12)
• Jesse Lee Kercheval – Brazil (March 31)
• Stephen King – Blockade Billy (April 20) Full Dark, No Stars (November 9)
• Nicole Krauss – Great House (October 12)
• Stieg Larsson – The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (May 10)
• John Le Carre – Our Kind of Traitor (October 12)
• Dennis Lehane – Moonlight Mile (November 2)
• Elmore Leonard – Djibouti (October 12)
• Tao Lin – Richard Yates (September 7)
• Sam Lipsyte – The Ask (March 2)
• Ian McEwan – Solar (March 30)
• Jon McGregor – Even the Dogs
• Yann Martel – Beatrice and Virgil (April 6)
• Paolo Bacigalupi – Ship Breaker (May 1)
• Steve Martin – An Object of Beauty (November 23)
• Dinaw Mengestu – How to Read the Air (October 14)
• David Mitchell – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (June 29)
• Rick Moody – The Four Fingers of Death (July 28)
• Ben Myers – Richard: A Novel (October 1)
• Antonya Nelson – Bound (September 28)
• Joyce Carol Oates
  • A Fair Maiden (January 6)
  • Sourland (September 14)
• Julie Orringer – The Invisible Bridge (May 18)
• Cynthia Ozick – Foreign Bodies (November 1)
• Chuck Palahniuk – Tell All (May 4)
• Philip Pullman – The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (May 20)
• Philip Roth – Nemesis (October 5)
• David Sedaris – Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (September 28)
• Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love Story (July 27)

Science fiction and fantasy

• Jim Butcher – Changes (April 6)
• Darren Hann, Melanie Collins, Steve Lake – Sci-Fi from the Rock (April 17)
• Adam Roberts – New Model Army (April 15)
• Dan Simmons – Black Hills (February 24)

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay (August 24)
• Diane Duane – A Wizard of Mars (April 12)
• John Flanagan – The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (November 2010)
• Matthew J. Kirby – The Clockwork Three (October 1)
• Robert Muchamore – Brigands M. C. (May 6)
• Garth Nix – Lord Sunday (February)
• James Patterson – Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel (March 15)
• Philip Reeve – A Web of Air (April 5)
• Rick Riordan – The Lost Hero (October 12)
• Clare Vanderpool – Moon Over Manifest (October 12)
• Kiersten White – Paranormalcy (August 31)
• N.D. Wilson – The Chestnut King

Poetry

See 2010 in poetry.

Non-fiction

• George W. Bush – Decision Points (November 9)
• Sloane Crosley – How Did You Get This Number (June 15)
• Nora Ephron – I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections (November 9)
• Sam Harris – The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (October 5)
• Laura Hillenbrand – Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (November 16)
• Joel Kotkin – The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050
• David Lipsky – Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (April 13)
• David Rakoff – Half Empty (September 21)
• Jane Smiley – The Man Who Invented The Computer (December)
• Stephen Sondheim – Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954–1981) (October 26)
• Jon Stewart – Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (September 21)
• Darin Strauss – Half a Life (September 21)
• John Leigh Walters – A Very Capable Life

Deaths

• January 1
  • Bingo Gazingo, 85, American performance poet
  • Billy Arjan Singh, 92, Indian author
• January 2 – Rajendra Keshavlal Shah, 96, Indian poet
• January 3 – Isak Rogde, 62, Norwegian translator
• January 4
  • Knox Burger, 87, American editor, writer, and literary agent
  • Hywel Teifi Edwards, 74, Welsh historian and writer
• January 5 – Bernard Le Nail, 63, French writer, historian
• January 6 – George Leonard, 86, American writer, editor
• January 8 – Slavka Maneva, 75, Macedonian writer and poet
• January 9 – Laura Chapman Hruska, 74, American writer, co-founder and editor in chief of Soho Press
• January 14 – P. K. Page, 93, Canadian poet
• January 16 – Takumi Shibano, 83, Japanese novelist
• January 17 – Erich Segal, 72, American professor, author
• January 18 – Robert B. Parker, 77, American detective writer (Spenser series, Jesse Stone novels)
• January 19 – Vladimir Karpov, 87, Russian writer, Chairman of the USSR Union of Writers (1986–1991)
  

  

  Robert B. Parker
• January 20 – Abraham Sutzkever, 96, Polish-born Israeli poet.
• January 21 – Paul Quarrington, 56, Canadian novelist
• January 26 – Louis Auchincloss, 92, American novelist
• January 27
  • J. D. Salinger, 91, American novelist (The Catcher in the Rye)
  • Howard Zinn, 87, American historian (A People's History of the United States)
• January 31
  • Kage Baker, 57, American science fiction and fantasy author
  • Tomás Eloy Martínez, 75, Argentine writer
• February 2
  • Rosa Lobato de Faria, 77, Portuguese writer
  • Eustace Mullins, 86, American political writer, author and biographer
• February 5
  • Peter Calvocoressi, 97, British historian, publisher
  • Brooks Thomas, 78, American publisher (Harper and Row)
• February 6 – Robert Dana, 80, American poet
• February 7 – William Tenn, 89, American science fiction writer
  

  

  Robert Dana
• February 8 – Wahei Tatematsu, 62, Japanese novelist,
• February 10 – H. V. F. Winstone, 83, British writer
• February 11 – Colin Ward, 85, British anarchist writer
• February 13 – Lucille Clifton, 73, American poet
• February 14 – Dick Francis, 89, British novelist
• February 16 – Jim Harmon, 76, American science fiction writer
• February 17 – Arnold Beichman, 96, American writer
• February 23 – Mervyn Jones, 87, British biographer and novelist
• February 27 – Carlos Montemayor, 62, Mexican writer
• March 1 – Barry Hannah, 67, American novelist and short story writer
• March 3 – Momo Kapor, 72, Serbian writer
• March 8 – Jerry E. Smith, 59, American author
• March 9 – Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo, 83, Santomean poet
• March 10 – Truddi Chase, 70, American autobiographical author
• March 11 – Matilde Elena López, 91, Salvadoran poet, essayist and playwright
• March 12 – Miguel Delibes, 89, Spanish novelist
• March 14 – Vinda Karandikar, 91, Indian poet and writer
• March 15
  • Joseph Galdon, 81, Filipino writer
  • Patricia Wrightson, 88, Australian children's writer
• March 16 – Jane Sherman, 101, American writer
• March 17 – Sid Fleischman, 90, American children's writer
• March 18 – Amanda Castro, 47, Honduran poet
• March 20 – Ai Ogawa, 62, American poet
• March 21 – Susana, Lady Walton, 83, Argentine writer
• March 24 – William Mayne, 82, British children's author
• March 28 – Zofia Romanowiczowa, 87, Polish writer and translator
• April 2 – Carolyn Rodgers, 69, American poet
• April 9
  • Hisashi Inoue, 75, Japanese pacifist playwright
  • Kerstin Thorvall, 84, Swedish author, illustrator and journalist
• April 14 – Erika Burkart, 88, Swiss German-language author
• April 16 – Carlos Franqui, 89, Cuban writer and activist
• April 20 – Myles Wilder, 77, American television comedy writer
• April 25 – Alan Sillitoe, 82, British novelist
• April 28
  • Evelyn Cunningham, 94, American journalist
  • Stefania Grodzieńska, 95, Polish writer and actress
• May 1 – T. M. Aluko, 91, Nigerian writer [1]
• May 3
  • Mohammed Abed al-Jabri, 73, Moroccan philosopher and writer
  • Peter O'Donnell, 90, British novelist
• May 6 – Hoàng Cầm, 88, Vietnamese poet and playwright
• May 7
  • Rane Arroyo, 55, American poet, cerebral hemorrhage [2]
  • Anders Buraas, 94, Norwegian journalist
• May 12
  • Allan Manings, 86, American television writer
  • Antonis Karkayiannis, 78, Greek journalist and newspaper publisher
• May 18 – Edoardo Sanguineti, 79, Italian poet
• June 18 - José Saramago, 87, Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize laureate
• July 2 – Beryl Bainbridge, 77, British novelist
• August 6 – Tony Judt, 62, British historian
• August 9 – Juan Marichal, 88, Spanish historian
• August 10 – Marie de Garis, 100, Guernseyan author
• August 12 – Laurence Gardner, 67, British writer
• August 13 – Patrick Cauvin, 77, French novelist
• August 14 – Terje Stigen, 88, Norwegian author
• August 16 – Narayan Gangaram Surve, 83, Indian poet
• August 17
  • Ludvík Kundera, 90, Czech writer and translator
  • Edwin Morgan, 90, Scottish poet
• August 18 – Efraim Sevela, 82, Russian writer and screenwriter
• August 20 – David J. Weber, 69, American historian and author
• August 21 – Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, 69, Argentine writer
• August 27
  • George Hitchcock, 96, American poet
  • Ravindra Kelekar, 85, Indian author and poet
• August 29 – A. C. Baantjer, 86, Dutch author
• August 31 – Vance Bourjaily, 87, American novelist, playwright, journalist, and essayist
• September 3
  • Larry Ashmead, 78, American book editor
  • Micky Burn, 97, British writer and poet
• September 5
  • Elizabeth Jenkins, 104, English author
  • Lewis Nkosi, 73, South African writer
• September 7 – Barbara Holland, 77, American author
• September 10 – Edwin Charles Tubb, 90, British science fiction author
• September 11 – Fathi Osman, 82, Egyptian author
• September 12 – Judith Merkle Riley, 68, American author
• September 18 – James Bacon, 96, American author
• September 20 – Jennifer Rardin, 45, American author
• September 24 – Gilda O'Neill, 59, British novelist and historian
• September 29 – Clifford B. Hicks, 90, American writer and editor
• October 1 – Mikhail Roshchin, 77, Russian playwright
• October 4 – Henrique de Senna Fernandes, 86, Macanese author
• October 5
  • Alba Bouwer, 90, South African writer
  • Bernard Clavel, 87, French writer
• October 11 – Claire Rayner, 79, British author
• October 12 – Belva Plain, 95, American novelist
• October 13 – Donald H. Tuck, 87, Australian science fiction bibliographer
• October 20
  • Eva Ibbotson, 85, Austrian-born British novelist
  • Robert Katz, 77, American writer
  • Julian Roberts, 80, British librarian
• October 21 – A. Ayyappan, 61, Indian poet
• October 22 – Alí Chumacero, 92, Mexican writer and poet
• October 23 – George Cain, 66, American author
• October 24 – Joseph Stein, 98, American playwright
• October 25 – Vesna Parun, 88, Croatian poet
• October 29 – Bärbel Mohr, 46, German author
• October 30 – Harry Mulisch, 83, Dutch writer
• November 1 – Monica Johnson, 64, American novelist
• November 3 – P. Lal, 81, Indian writer
• November 4 – Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, 76, Filipino poet
• November 5 – Adrian Păunescu, 67, Romanian author, poet
• November 8
  • Philip Carlo, 61, American crime author
  • George Solomos, 85, American editor and writer
• November 9 – Ektor Kaknavatos, 90, Greek poet
• November 11 – Carlos Edmundo de Ory, 87, Spanish poet
• November 15
  • Edmond Amran El Maleh, 93, Moroccan writer
  • Hugh Prather, 72, American self-help author
• November 16 – Ragnhild Magerøy, 90, Norwegian writer
• November 21 – Norris Church Mailer, 61, American author
• November 25 – Yaroslav Pavulyak, 62, Ukrainian poet
• November 29 – Bella Akhmadulina, 73, Russian poet
• December 5
  • David French, 71, Canadian playwright
  • Heda Margolius Kovály, 91, Czech author
• December 6 – Martin Russ, 79, American author
• December 7 – Elizabeth Edwards, 61, American author
• December 20 – Brian Hanrahan, 61, British journalist
• December 24 – Elisabeth Beresford, 84, British children's author, creator of The Wombles.

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of poetry awards