This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2002.
Quick Facts List of years in literature (table) ...
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Children and young people
- January 12 – Lady Violet Powell, British critic and biographer (born 1912)
- January 17 – Camilo José Cela, Nobel-winningSpanish writer (born 1916)[9]
- January 28 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's author (born 1907)[10]
- February 8 – Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (born 1930)
- February 21 – A. L. Barker, English novelist (born 1918)
- February 27 – Spike Milligan, Indian-born British-Irish comedian, screenwriter and poet (born 1918)[11]
- March 21 – Thomas Flanagan, American historical novelist (born 1923)
- April 6 – Martin Sperr, German dramatist (born 1944)
- April 24 – Ismith Khan, Trinidad-born novelist (born 1925)[12]
- April 27 – George Alec Effinger, American science fiction author (born 1947)[13]
- May 6 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch political columnist and writer (born 1948)
- May 17 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist (born 1920)
- May 20 – Stephen J. Gould, American paleontologist, biologist and writer (born 1941)
- June 2 – Flora Lewis, American journalist (born 1922)
- June 13 – R. W. B. Lewis, American critic (born 1917)
- June 20
- June 24 – John Kincaid McNeillie (also Ian Niall), Scottish novelist and non-fiction writer (born 1916)
- July 23 – Chaim Potok, American writer (born 1929)[14]
- August 25 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian poet and playwright (born 1923)
- September 17 – Eileen Colwell, English children's librarian (born 1904)[15]
- September 20 – Joan Littlewood, English theatre director and biographer (born 1914)[16]
- October 13 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian and biographer (born 1936)
- October 21 – Harbhajan Singh, Indian Punjabi poet and critic (born 1920)
- October 27 – Sesto Pals, Romanian Israeli poet and philosopher (cancer, born ca. 1912)
- October 28 – Sugathapala de Silva, Sri Lankan dramatist, novelist and translator writing in Sinhalese (born 1928)
- November 8 – Jon Elia, Pakistani poet and philosopher writing in Urdu (born 1931)
- December 12 – Dee Brown, American novelist and historian (born 1908)[17]
- December 24 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author, poet and artist (born 1920)[18]
United Kingdom
- Booker Prize: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
- Caine Prize for African Writing: Binyavanga Wainaina, "Discovering Home"
- Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Sharon Creech, Ruby Holler[21]
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Jenny Uglow, The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made the Future 1730–1810
- Cholmondeley Award: Moniza Alvi, David Constantine, Liz Lochhead, Brian Patten
- Eric Gregory Award: Caroline Bird, Christopher James, Jacob Polley, Luke Heeley, Judith Lal, David Leonard Briggs, Eleanor Rees, Kathryn Simmonds
- Samuel Johnson Prize: Margaret MacMillan, Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War
- Whitbread Best Book Award: Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass
- Orange Prize for Fiction: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Peter Porter
United States
- Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Shao Wei, Pulling a Dragon's Teeth
- Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Grace Schulman
- Arthur Rense Prize for poetry: B.H. Fairchild
- Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Timothy Donnelly, “His Long Imprison'd Thought”
- Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Alice Fulton, Felt
- Brittingham Prize in Poetry: Anna George Meek, Acts of Contortion
- Compton Crook Award: Wen Spencer, Alien Taste
- Frost Medal: Galway Kinnell
- Hugo Award: Neil Gaiman, American Gods
- National Book Award for Fiction: Julia Glass, Three Junes
- National Book Critics Circle Award: Ian McEwan, Atonement
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard[22]
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Richard Russo, Empire Falls
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carl Dennis, Practical Gods
- Wallace Stevens Award: Ruth Stone
- Whiting Awards:
- Fiction: Jeffery Renard Allen, Justin Cronin, Kim Edwards, Michelle Huneven, Danzy Senna
- Plays: Melissa James Gibson, Evan Smith
- Poetry: Elizabeth Arnold, David Gewanter, Joshua Weiner
- Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2nd ed.). Oxford. University Press. ISBN 9780198715542.
Michael Eaude (18 January 2002). "Camilo José Cela". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
Eric Homberger (31 July 2002). "Chaim Potok". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
Christopher Reed (17 December 2002). "Dee Brown". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
"Kjell Aukrust". Norsk Kunstnerleksikon. 20 February 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2021.