1982 in literature

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This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1982.

Events

February 17 – Philip K. Dick ignores advice to go immediately to hospital. A fortnight later, after two strokes, he is pronounced brain-dead and disconnected from his life support machine.
March 18 – A legal case brought on behalf of Mary Whitehouse against theatre director Michael Bogdanov concerning alleged indecency in a performance of Howard Brenton's play The Romans in Britain at the National Theatre in London is dropped after the Attorney General intervenes.^[1]^[2]
June 25 – In Island Trees School District v. Pico (457 U.S. 853 (1982)), the Supreme Court of the United States concludes that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to 'prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.'"
September – Banned Books Week instituted in the United States.
La Bicyclette bleue (The Blue Bicycle) by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.
Sue Townsend's comic character Adrian Mole is introduced (as Nigel Mole, aged 131⁄4, living in the East Midlands of England) in a BBC Radio 4 play, and then on October 7 in the book The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ which sells 1.9 million copies in three years.^[3]
The Oxford Shakespeare under the general editorship of Stanley Wells begins publication.

February 5 – Ronald Welch (Ronald Oliver Felton) Welsh novelist and children's writer writing in English (born 1909)
February 11 – Albert Facey, Australian autobiographer (born 1894)
February 18 – Dame Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand crime writer and theatre director (born 1895)
March 2 – Philip K. Dick, American writer (stroke, born 1928)
March 3 – Georges Perec, French novelist (lung cancer, born 1936)
March 6 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist, playwright and screenwriter (born 1905)
March 25 – Hugo Huppert, Austrian poet, writer and translator (born 1902)
June 6 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and critic (born 1905)
June 18
- Djuna Barnes, American writer (born 1892)
- John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (born 1912)
July 3 – Engvald Bakkan, Norwegian novelist and children's writer (born 1897)
September 14 – John Gardner, American novelist (motorcycle accident, born 1933)
October 7 – Alejandro Núñez Alonso, Spanish novelist (born 1905)
December 5 – Caryl Brahms, English critic, novelist and journalist (born 1901)
December 21 – Ants Oras, Estonian writer (born 1900)
Unknown dates
- Ted Lewis, English novelist (born 1940)
- Barbara Sleigh, English children's writer (born 1906)

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

^ "1982: Judge halts 'obscenity' trial". BBC News. 1982-03-18. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
^ Brenton, Howard (2006-01-28). "Look back in anger". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
^ Craddock, E. J. (1985-11-25). "Publishing: Friendly local book". The Times. London.