1968 in literature
See also: 1967 in literature, other events of 1968, 1969 in literature, list of years in literature.
Contents |
Events
- Dean R. Koontz's first novel, Star Quest is published.
- Glidrose Publications releases the James Bond novel, Colonel Sun by "Robert Markham" (a pseudonym for Kingsley Amis). Initially intended as a relaunch of the Bond book series following the death in 1964 of the character's creator, Ian Fleming, Colonel Sun instead ends up being the final book of the series (discounting a "biography" of Bond and a pair of film script adaptations) until John Gardner revives the literary James Bond in 1981.
- The events of what is now referred to as May 1968, points to events in May-June 1968 in France, two months which saw the largest industrial strikes in French history, the shutdown of France’s educational, commercial and media institutions, and the severest challenge up to that moment of Gaullist political authority. It had long term reach and global context: including "student movements", counter-culture, le gauchisme and its eventual transformation into myth as a way of trying to account for subsequent developments in politics, popular culture, and social change. What is now called May 1968 can also provide the context for and symbolize radical politics and revolt in the 1960s and beyond.
New books
- Richard Brautigan - In Watermelon Sugar
- Anthony Burgess - Enderby Outside
- Taylor Caldwell - Testimony of Two Men
- Arthur C. Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Michael Crichton - The Andromeda Strain
- Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
- Allen Drury - Preserve and Protect
- Arthur Hailey - Airport
- Georgette Heyer - Cousin Kate
- Barry Hines - A Kestrel for a Knave
- Dorothy M. Johnson - Indian Country
- James Jones - The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories
- John le Carré - A Small Town in Germany
- Helen McInnes - The Salzburg Connection
- Norman Mailer - Armies of the Night
- Ruth Manning-Sanders - A Book of Mermaids
- Robert Markham - Colonel Sun
- Brian Moore - I Am Mary Dunne
- Anthony Powell - The Military Philosophers
- Jean Rhys - Tigers Are Better-Looking
- Mordecai Richler - Cocksure
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Cancer Ward
- The First Circle
- John Updike - Couples
- Gore Vidal - Myra Breckinridge
New drama
- Alan Bennett - Forty Years On
- Thomas Kilroy - The Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche
- Tom Stoppard - The Real Inspector Hound
- Arthur Symington - The Bensons' Hedge
Poetry
- Rod McKuen - Lonesome Cities
- George Oppen — Of Being Numerous
Non-fiction
- William Manchester -
- Charles Rembar -
- Adam Smith - The Money Game
- Erich von Däniken - Chariots of the Gods
- James D. Watson - The Double Helix
Births
- January 30 - Rhoda Shipman, comic book writer
- date unknown - K. V. Johansen, children's author
Deaths
- January 14 - Dorothea Mackellar, poet
- April 16 - Edna Ferber
- April 25 - Donald Davidson
- May 1 - Harold Nicolson, biographer and husband of Vita Sackville-West
- May 30 - Martin Noth, Hebraist
- June 1 - Helen Keller
- October 13 - Sir Stanley Unwin (publisher)
- November 17 - Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast author
- November 25 - Upton Sinclair
- December 5 - Anna Kavan
- December 20 - John Steinbeck
Awards
Canada
- See 1968 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
France
- Prix Goncourt: Bernard Clavel, Les fruits de l'hiver
- Prix Médicis: Élie Wiesel, Le Mendiant de Jérusalem
United Kingdom
- Cholmondeley Award: Harold Massingham, Edwin Morgan
- Eric Gregory Award: James Aitchison, Douglas Dunn, Brian Jones
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Robert Graves
United States
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry, W.H. Auden
- Hugo Award: Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light
- Nebula Award: Alexei Panshin, Rite of Passage
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: E. L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: William Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Anthony Hecht, The Hard Hours
Elsewhere
- Viareggio Prize: Libero Bigiaretti, La controfigura
Categories
1968 books