1996 in literature
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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 books
- Stephen Ambrose - Undaunted Courage
- Jeffrey Archer - The Fourth Estate
- Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
- David Baldacci - Absolute Power
- Alex Garland - The Beach
- Iain M. Banks - Excession
- John Berendt - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- 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
- John Darnton - Neanderthal
- Seamus Deane - Reading in the Dark
- Stephen R. Donaldson - The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die
- Alan Downs - "Corporate Executions: the Ugly Truth about Downsizing"
- Ben Elton - Popcorn
- Mavis Gallant - Selected Stories
- John Gardner - COLD
- Richard Garfinkle - Celestial Matters
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- L. Sprague de Camp
- Diane Francis - Fighting for Canada (Maîtres Chanteurs Chez Nous!)
- Charles Isherwood - Wonder Bread and Ecstasy
- Michael Moore - Downsize This!
- Kiki - Kiki's Memoirs (translation by Samuel Putnam)
Poetry
Births
Deaths
- January 21 - Efua Sutherland, Ghanaian dramatist, poet and children's author (b. 1924)
- January 28
- Jerry Siegel, cartoonist, creator of Superman (b. 1914)
- Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet and essayist, Nobel laureate (b. 1940)
- February 11
- Bob Shaw, science fiction writer (b. 1931)
- Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)
- March 3 - Marguerite Duras, French dramatist and film director (b. 1914)
- March 18 - Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- March 22 - Ian Stephens, Canadian poet
- March 31 - Dario Bellezza, Italian poet and dramatist (b. 194)
- April 22 - Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (b. 1927)
- May 24 - Joseph Mitchell, American journalist (b. 1908)
- May 26 - Ovidiu Papadima, Romanian critic and essayist (b. 1909)
- June 2 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (b. 1921)
- June 14 - Gesualdo Bufalino, Italian novelist (b. 1920)
- July 10 - Eno Raud, Estonian children's author (b. 1928)
- October 24 - Sorley Maclean, Gaelic poet (b. 1911)
- December 12 - Vance Packard, journalist and social critic (b. 1914)
- December 16 - Quentin Bell, English biographer and art historian (b. 1910)
Awards
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
- 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, Sinead 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