1998 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1998.

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Events

• March 5 – Tennessee Williams' 1938 play Not About Nightingales receives its stage première in London, in a collaboration between the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain and Corin and Vanessa Redgrave's Moving Theatre.^[1]
• October
  • The death of the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Ted Hughes leaves a gap of several months before a successor, Andrew Motion, is designated the following spring.^[2]
  • Kinoko Nasu (奈須きのこ) launches the Kara no Kyōkai series, with five chapters released online.
• November 18 – Alice McDermott wins the National Book Award with her novel Charming Billy.
• December – The Strand Magazine title is revived in the United States.^[3]

New books

Fiction

• Turki al-Hamad – Adama (first volume in Atyaf al-Aziqah al-Mahjurah (Phantoms of the Deserted Alley) trilogy)
• Tariq Ali – The Book of Saladin
• Aaron Allston
  • Iron Fist
  • Wraith Squadron
• Hanan al-Shaykh – I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops (أكنس الشمس عن السطوح)
• Martin Amis – Heavy Water and Other Stories (most stories previously published)
• Beryl Bainbridge – Master Georgie
• Iain M. Banks – Inversions
• Alessandro Barbero – Romanzo russo. Fiutando i futuri supplizi (translated 2010 as The Anonymous Novel. Sensing the Future Torments)
• Julian Barnes – England, England
• Greg Bear
  • Dinosaur Summer
  • Foundation and Chaos
• Raymond Benson – The Facts of Death
• Alfred Bester and Roger Zelazny – Psychoshop
• Robert Bloch – Flowers from the Moon and Other Lunacies
• Roberto Bolaño – The Savage Detectives (Los Detectives Salvajes)
• Xurxo Borrazás – Contos malvados
• William Boyd – Armadillo
• Giannina Braschi – Yo-Yo Boing!
• Anne Carson – Autobiography of Red (verse novel)
• Driss Chraïbi – Muhammad
• Mary Higgins Clark – All Through the Night
• Tom Clancy – Rainbow Six
• Paulo Coelho – Veronika Decides to Die
• Michael Connelly – Blood Work
• Bernard Cornwell – Sharpe's Triumph
• Patricia Cornwell – Point of Origin
• Douglas Coupland – Girlfriend in a Coma
• Ann C. Crispin – Rebel Dawn
• Michael Cunningham – The Hours
• Nelson DeMille – Plum Island
• August Derleth
  • The Final Adventures of Solar Pons
  • In Lovecraft's Shadow
• Peter Dickinson – The Kin
• Allan W. Eckert – Return to Hawk's Hill
• Bret Easton Ellis – Glamorama
• Giles Foden – The Last King of Scotland
• Diana Gabaldon – Hellfire
• Neil Gaiman – Smoke and Mirrors (mainly reprints)
• Andrew Greeley – A Midwinter's Tale
• John Grisham – The Street Lawyer
• Wolf Haas – Komm, süßer Tod (Come, Sweet Death)^[4]
• Margaret Peterson Haddix - Among the Hidden
• Ha Jin (哈金) – Waiting
• Tomson Highway – Kiss of the Fur Queen
• Nick Hornby – About a Boy
• Michel Houellebecq – Atomised (Les Particules élémentaires)
• Marek S. Huberath – Gniazdo światów (Nest of Worlds)
• John Irving – A Widow for One Year
• K. W. Jeter
  • The Mandalorian Armor
  • Slave Ship
• Wayne Johnston – The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
• Stephen King – Bag of Bones
• Barbara Kingsolver – The Poisonwood Bible^[5]
• Dean R. Koontz – Seize the Night
• Joe R. Lansdale
  • Rumble Tumble
  • The Boar
• Alain Mabanckou – Bleu-Blanc-Rouge
• Patrick McCabe – Breakfast on Pluto
• Ian McEwan – Amsterdam
• Roy MacLaren – African Exploits
• Steve Martin – Pure Drivel
• Carol Matas – Greater Than Angels
• China Miéville – King Rat
• Alice Munro – The Love of a Good Woman
• Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹) – The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (ねじまき鳥クロニクル, Nejimakidori Kuronikuru)
• Cees Nooteboom – All Souls' Day (Allerzielen)
• Sigrid Nunez – Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury
• Tim O'Brien – Tomcat in Love
• Orhan Pamuk – My Name Is Red (Benim Adım Kırmızı)
• Tom Perrotta – Election
• Terry Pratchett
  • Carpe Jugulum
  • The Last Continent
• Fahmida Riaz – Godavari
• David Adams Richards – The Bay of Love and Sorrows
• José Luis Rodríguez Pittí – Crónica de invisibles
• Philip Roth – I Married a Communist
• Margit Sandemo – Ensam i världen (Alone in the World)
• Michael Slade – Shrink (also Primal Scream)
• Alexander McCall Smith – The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
• Michael Stackpole – I, Jedi
• Danielle Steel
  • The Klone and I
  • The Long Road Home
  • Mirror Image
• Thomas Sullivan – The Martyring
• Andrew Vachss – Safe House
• Connie Willis – To Say Nothing of the Dog
• A. N. Wilson – Dream Children
• Tom Wolfe – A Man in Full
• Timothy Zahn – Vision of the Future

Children and young people

• David Almond – Skellig^[6]
• Melvin Burgess – Junk
• Denise Fleming – Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
• Gayle Greeno (with Michael Gilbert) – Sunderlies Seeking
• Tanya Huff – Summon the Keeper
• Diana Wynne Jones – Dark Lord of Derkholm^[7]
• Dick King-Smith – The Crowstarver
• Julius Lester – Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story
• J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – BoshBlobberBosh: Runcible Poems for Edward Lear
• J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets^[8]
• Louis Sachar – Holes^[9]
• Robert Swindells – Abomination
• Judy Waite – Mouse, Look Out!
• Douglas Wood – Rabbit and the Moon

Drama

• Edward Albee – The Play About the Baby
• Parv Bancil – Made in England (full-length version)
• Marina Carr – By the Bog of Cats
• Michael Frayn – Copenhagen
• David Hare – The Blue Room
• Ted Hughes (translator) – Phèdre
• Elfriede Jelinek – Ein Sportstück (A Sports Piece)
• Terrence McNally – Corpus Christi
• Sol B River
  • The White Witch of Rose Hall
  • River Plays 1 (published)
• Shelagh Stephenson – An Experiment with an Air Pump
• Marius von Mayenburg – Fireface (Feuergesicht)
• Tennessee Williams (died 1983) – Not About Nightingales (first performance; written 1938)

Poetry

Main article: 1998 in poetry

• Seamus Heaney
  • Beowulf (translation)
  • Opened Ground: Poems 1966–1996
• Ted Hughes – Birthday Letters
• Dejan Stojanović – Krugovanje: 1978–1987 (Circling; 2nd edition)^[10]

Non-fiction

• Charlotte Allen – The Human Christ: The Search For The Historical Jesus
• Andrea Ashworth – Once in a House on Fire
• Antony Beevor – Stalingrad
• Harold Bloom – Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
• Bill Bryson – Notes from a Big Country
• Peter Cannon (editor) – Lovecraft Remembered
• Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd – Dear Friend and Gardener
• Corinne Debaine-Francfort – La redécouverte de la Chine ancienne
• Amanda Foreman – Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
• John Fowles – Wormholes – Essays and Occasional Writings
• Jonathan Freedland – Bring Home the Revolution
• Sita Ram Goel – Vindicated by Time
• Simon Heffer – Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell
• Adam Hochschild – King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa
• A. P. J. Abdul Kalam – India 2020
• Ryszard Kapuściński – Heban (Ebony, translated as The Shadow of the Sun)
• B. B. Lal – India 1947–1997: New Light on the Indus Civilization
• Martin Lee and Marcia Miller – The Mega-fun Multiplication Facts Activity Book
• Eric Liu – The Accidental Asian
• Alan I. Marcus – Building Western Civilization: From the Advent of Writing to the Age of Steam
• Thylias Moss – Tale of a Sky-Blue Dress
• Inga Muscio – Cunt: A Declaration of Independence
• V. S. Naipaul – Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples
• Gilles Perrault (ed.) – Le Livre noir du capitalisme (The Black Book of Capitalism)
• John Pilger – Hidden Agendas
• Michael Poole – Romancing Mary Jane^[11]
• Arun Shourie – Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud
• Marilee Strong – A Bright Red Scream
• University of Arizona – Hopi Dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni
• Adam Zagajewski – Another Beauty

Births

• March 7 – Amanda Gorman, American poet and activist
• May 15 – Mohammed El-Kurd, Palestinian writer and poet
• December 16 – Chloe Gong, Chinese-born New Zealand author
• unknown dates
  • K-Ming Chang – Taiwanese-American novelist and poet
  • Moses MacKenzie – British novelist

Deaths

• January 2 – Frank Muir, English comedy writer and broadcaster (born 1920)
• January 11 – John Wells, English satirist (born 1936)
• January 18 – Monica Edwards, English children's novelist (born 1912)
• January 23 – John Forbes, Australian poet (heart attack, born 1950)
• January 27 – Geoffrey Trease, English children's historical novelist (born 1909)
• February 7 – Lawrence Sanders, American novelist and short story writer (born 1920)
• February 15 – Martha Gellhorn, American journalist (suicide, born 1908)
• February 17 – Ernst Jünger, German novelist and war memoirist (born 1895)
• March 15 – Dr. Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and writer on child care (born 1903)
• April 11 – Francis Durbridge, English playwright (born 1912)
• April 19 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914)
• April 27
  • Anne Desclos (Pauline Réage), French journalist and novelist (born 1907)^[12]
  • Carlos Castaneda, Mexican-born American anthropologist and author (born 1925)
• May 9 – Nat Perrin, American comedy writer (born 1905)
• May 11 — Willy Corsari, Dutch author of detective fiction (born 1897)^[13]
• June 10
  • Joan Adeney Easdale, English poet (born 1913)
  • Hammond Innes, English novelist (born 1913)
• June 11 – Dame Catherine Cookson, English novelist (born 1906)
• July 1 – Martin Seymour-Smith, English biographer (born 1928)
• July 5 – Johnny Speight, English comedy writer (born 1920)
• July 9 – Ian Wallace (John Wallace Pritchard), American science fiction author (born 1912)
• July 14 – Miroslav Holub, Czech poet (born 1923)
• July 23
  • John Hopkins, English film and television writer (born 1931)
  • Manuel Mejía Vallejo, Colombian novelist (born 1923)^[14]
• August 16 – Dorothy West, American novelist and short story writer (born 1907)
• August 22 – Grace Paley, American writer (born 1922)
• September 28 – Eric Malling, Canadian journalist (born 1946)
• October 15 – Iain Crichton Smith, Scottish writer (born 1928)^[15]
• October 22 – Eric Ambler, English spy novelist (born 1909)
• October 28 – Ted Hughes, English poet and Poet Laureate (born 1930)^[16]
• November 3 – Bob Kane (Robert Kahn), American comics artist and writer (born 1915)
• November 8 – Rumer Godden, English novelist (born 1907)^[17]
• November 17 – Alexandru Talex, Romanian journalist, critic and biographer (born 1909)
• December 16 – William Gaddis, American novelist (born 1922)

Awards

• Nobel Prize for Literature: José Saramago
• Europe Theatre Prize: Luca Ronconi
• Camões Prize: Antonio Candido

Australia

• The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Jennifer Kremmer, Pegasus in the Suburbs
• C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Coral Hull, Broken Land
• Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: No awards this year
• Mary Gilmore Prize: Emma Lew, The Wild Reply
• Miles Franklin Award: Peter Carey, Jack Maggs

Canada

• Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award: Talya Rubin
• See 1998 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists.
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Alice Munro: The Love of a Good Woman
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Charlotte Gray: Mrs. King^[18]

France

• Prix Décembre: Michel Houellebecq, Les Particules élémentaires
• Prix Goncourt: Paule Constant, Confidence pour confidence
• Prix Médicis French: Le Loup mongol
• Prix Médicis International: The House of Sleep – Jonathan Coe

United Kingdom

• Booker Prize: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
• Carnegie Medal for children's literature: David Almond, Skellig
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Beryl Bainbridge, Master Georgie
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Peter Ackroyd, The Life of Thomas More
• Cholmondeley Award: Roger McGough, Robert Minhinnick, Anne Ridler, Ken Smith
• Eric Gregory Award: Mark Goodwin, Joanne Limburg, Patrick McGuinness, Kona Macphee, Esther Morgan, Christiania Whitehead, Frances Williams
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Carol Shields, Larry's Party
• Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Les Murray
• Whitbread Best Book Award: Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters

United States

• Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Shara McCallum, The Water Between Us
• Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: X.J. Kennedy
• American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Horton Foote
• American Book Award Before Columbus Foundation: Angela Davis, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, and (separately) Allison Hedge Coke, Dog Road Woman
• Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Sherod Santos, "Elegy for My Sister", and (separately) Neil Azevedo, "Caspar Hauser Songs"
• Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Frank Bidart, Desire
• Compton Crook Award: Katie Waitman, The Merro Tree
• Hugo Award for Best Novel: Joe Haldeman, Forever Peace
• Frost Medal: Stanley Kunitz
• Nebula Award: Joe Haldeman, Forever Peace
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust
• PEN American Center's PEN Open Book Award: Giannina Braschi, Yo-Yo Boing!
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Philip Roth, American Pastoral
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Charles Wright, Black Zodiac
• Wallace Stevens Award: A. R. Ammons
• Whiting Awards:

Fiction: Michael Byers, Ralph Lombreglia (fiction/nonfiction)

Non-fiction: D. J. Waldie, Anthony Walton

Plays: W. David Hancock

Poetry: Nancy Eimers, Daniel Hall, James Kimbrell, Charles Harper Webb, Greg Williamson

Elsewhere

• International Dublin Literary Award: Herta Muller, The Land of Green Plums
• Premio Nadal: Lucía Etxebarria, Beatriz y los cuerpos celestes

References

1. "Alley Theatre's Nightingales Closes July 3; Next Stop Broadway?". Playbill. 1998-06-23. Archived from the original on 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
2. Andrew Motion (20 May 1999). "The insider's story". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
3. Willis, Chris. "The Story of The Strand". Strandmag.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
4. Sänger, Florian (2009). Literatur und Film im Feld narrativer Theorien: Analysemöglichkeiten von Literaturverfilmungen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Erzählposition und Fakalisierung am Beispiel Wolf Haas "Komm süßer Tod". Aachen: Verlag Shaker. ISBN 978-3-8322-8659-0.
5. Kakatuni, Michiko (16 October 1998). "'The Poisonwood Bible': A Family a Heart of Darkness". New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
6. Brennan, Geraldine (2 October 2010). "My Name is Mina by David Almond | Book review". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
7. Jones, Diana Wynne (1998). The Dark Lord of Derkholme. Gollancz. OCLC 745958627.
8. "Digested read: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". The Guardian. 25 August 1998. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
9. "He Didn't Do It". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
10. Web page titled Krugovanje, Dejan Stojanović at the Internet Archive
11. Verduyn, Christl; Staebler, Edna (2009). Must Write: Edna Staebler's Diaries. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 270. ISBN 9781554588114.
12. Flower, John (17 January 2013). Historical Dictionary of French Literature. Scarecrow Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-0-8108-7945-4.
13. van Boven, Erica (2003). "Schrijven als Beroep. Willy Corsari (1897-1998). Een broodschrijfster met literaire passie" [Writing as a Profession. Willy Corsari (1897-1998). A bread writer with a literary passion]. Jaarboek voor Vrouwengeschiedenis (in Dutch). 23: 184.
14. "Author Mejia Vallejo Dies at 75". AP News. 24 July 1998. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
15. "Iain Crichton Smith | Scottish writer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
16. Susan Bassnett (2009). Ted Hughes. Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-7463-1003-8.
17. Chisholm, Anne (2004). "Godden, (Margaret) Rumer (1907–1998)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/71256. Retrieved 11 December 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required)
18. Faculty of Arts, 1998, Edna Staebler Award Archived 2014-06-06 at Archive-It, Wilfrid Laurier University, previous winners, Charlotte Gray, Retrieved 11/24/2012