2011 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2011.

Events

June 7 – Ransom Riggs publishes his young-adult novel Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which pins its narrative around a series of earlier private photographs he had collected. It remains top of The New York Times Children's Chapter Books list for 45 weeks and founds a series of five novels.^[1]
July – J. K. Rowling ends her relationship with her long-standing agent Christopher Little and joins his rival, Neil Blair.^[2]
September 24 – The first 100 Thousand Poets for Change Day takes place,^[3] the organization having been founded by Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion in March.
November 12 – The Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Literature Museum Library opens in Istanbul, Turkey.^[4]

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New books

Summarize

Perspective

Rae Armantrout – Money Shot (February)
Billy Collins – Horoscopes for the Dead (April)
Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi – Meri Tasveer (Urdu, My Portrait)
Susan Howe – That This (February)
Alice Notley – Culture of One (March)
Sarah Palin (edited by Michael Solomon) – I Hope Like Heck (June 21)
Michael Palmer – Thread (May)
Lee Wardlaw – Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

Drama

Richard Bean – One Man, Two Guvnors (adaptation)^[17]
Alecky Blythe – London Road (musical verbatim theatre)
Nick Dear – Frankenstein
Vivienne Franzmann – Mogadishu
Rodrigo García – Golgota Picnic
Stephen Adly Guirgis – The Motherfucker with the Hat
Sam Holcroft – Edgar and Annabel
Stephen Karam – Sons of the Prophet
Andrew Motion – Incoming
Various authors – Sixty-Six Books^[18]

Science fiction and fantasy

Joe Abercrombie – The Heroes
Daniel Abraham
- The Dragon's Path
- Leviathan Wakes (writing as James S. A. Corey, with Ty Franck)^[19]
Ann Aguirre – Aftermath
Greg Bear – Halo: Cryptum
Lauren Beukes – Zoo City
Jack Campbell – The Lost Frontier: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnought
Orson Scott Card – The Lost Gate
Ernest Cline – Ready Player One^[20]
Michael Crichton & Richard Preston – Micro
Ian Douglas – Center of Gravity
David Anthony Durham – The Sacred Band^[21]
Greg Egan – The Clockwork Rocket
William Giraldi – Busy Monsters
Michael Grant — Plague
Mira Grant – Deadline
Lev Grossman – The Magician King
Stephen Hunt – The Rise of the Iron Moon
N. K. Jemisin – The Kingdom of Gods
Stephen King — 11/22/63
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller – Ghost Ship
Pittacus Lore — The Power of Six
George R. R. Martin – A Dance with Dragons
Jack McDevitt – Firebird
China Miéville – Embassytown
Andrew Miller – Pure
Karen Miller – A Blight of Mages
Richard K. Morgan – The Cold Commands
Joseph Nassise – Eyes to See
Terry Pratchett – Snuff
Cherie Priest – Ganymede
Hannu Rajaniemi – The Quantum Thief
Brian Ruckley – The Edinburgh Dead
Brandon Sanderson – The Alloy of Law
John Scalzi – Fuzzy Nation
Dan Simmons – Flashback
Neal Stephenson – Reamde
Charles Stross – Rule 34
Michael Swanwick – Dancing with Bears
Catherynne M. Valente – Deathless
Vernor Vinge – The Children of the Sky
Jo Walton – Among Others
David Weber – How Firm a Foundation
Robert Charles Wilson – Vortex
Daniel Wilson – Robopocalypse
Gene Wolfe – Home Fires

Crime and Thrillers

Jeff Abbott – Adrenaline
Ace Atkins – The Ranger
Kate Atkinson – Started Early, Took My Dog
Steve Berry – The Jefferson Key
James Lee Burke – Feast Day of Fools
Lee Child – The Affair
Edward Conlon – Red on Red
Michael Connelly – The Fifth Witness
John Connolly – The Burning Soul
Jeffery Deaver – Carte Blanche
Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee – Forbidden
Ted Dekker – The Priest's Graveyard
Ranj Dhaliwal – Daaku: The Gangster's Life
Sue Grafton – V is for Vengeance
John Grisham – The Litigators
Morag Joss – Among the Missing
Stuart M. Kaminsky – A Whisper to the Living
Joe R. Lansdale
- Hyenas: a Hap and Leonard Novella
- Devil Red
Henning Mankell – The Troubled Man
Jo Nesbø – The Snowman
T. Jefferson Parker – The Border Lords
George Pelecanos – The Cut
Ralph Peters – The Officers' Club
Donald Ray Pollock – The Devil All the Time
James Rollins – The Devil's Colony
John Sandford – Buried Prey
Marcus Sakey – The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes
Bernard J. Schaffer – Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes
Duane Swierczynski – Fun and Games
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan – The Night Eternal
Nicolaas Vergunst – Knot of Stone
Ferdinand von Schirach – Der Fall Collini (The Collini Case)
S. J. Watson – Before I Go to Sleep

Non-fiction

Peter Bergen – The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
Abhinav Bindra – A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold
Mark Bowden – Worm: The First Digital World War
Frank Brady – Endgame: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer
Michael Bronski – A Queer History of the United States
David Brooks – The Social Animal
Brian Christian – The Most Human Human
Richard Dawkins – The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
Joan Didion – Blue Nights
Douglas Edwards – I'm Feeling Lucky
T. J. English – The Savage City: Race, Murder and a Generation on the Edge
Ulrich Eberl – Life in 2050
Tina Fey – Bossypants
John M. Findlay and Bruce Hevly - Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West^[22]
Joshua Foer – Moonwalking with Einstein
James Gleick – The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
Brian Greene – The Hidden Reality
Yuval Noah Harari – קיצור תולדות האנושות (Ḳitsur toldot ha-enoshut, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
Matthew Hollis – Now All Roads Lead to France^[23]
Louis Hyman – Debtor Nation
Zlatan Ibrahimović and David Lagercrantz – I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović (Jag är Zlatan Ibrahimović)^[24]
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking, Fast and Slow
David King – Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris
Joshua Knelman – Hot Art^[25]
Lawrence M. Krauss – Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science^[26]
B. B. Lal – Piecing Together – Memoirs of an Archaeologist
Erik Larson – In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Joseph Lelyveld – Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India
Steven Levy – In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Charles C. Mann – 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
Rajiv Malhotra – Breaking India
David McCullough – The Greater Journey
Ben Mezrich – Sex on the Moon
Scott Miller – The President and the Assassin
Errol Morris – Believing is Seeing
Grant Morrison – Supergods
Joyce Carol Oates – A Widow's Story
Patton Oswalt – Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland
Dana Priest – Top Secret America
Annie Proulx – Bird Cloud: A Memoir
Janet Reitman – Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
Sylvain Tesson – The Consolations of the Forest
Sarah Vowell – Unfamiliar Fishes
Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie – The Declaration of Independents
Daniel Yergin – The Quest
Mitchell Zuckoff – Lost in Shangri-La

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Deaths

January 2 – Robert Trumble, Australian writer (born 1919)
January 4
- Eva Strittmatter, German author and poet (born 1930)
- Dick King-Smith English children's writer (born 1922)
January 10 – Joe Gores, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1931)
January 11 – Marcel Trudel, Canadian historian and author (born 1917)
January 14 – Sun Axelsson, Swedish novelist (born 1935)
January 15 – Romulus Linney, American playwright (born 1930)
January 16 – R. F. Langley, English poet and diarist (born 1938)
January 17 – Jean Dutourd, French novelist (born 1920)
January 19 – Wilfrid Sheed, English-born American novelist and essayist (born 1930)
January 20
- F. A. Nettelbeck, American poet (born 1950)
- Reynolds Price, American author (born 1933)
January 22 – Park Wan-suh, South Korean novelist (born 1931)
January 23 – Novica Tadić, Serbian poet (born 1949)
January 24 – Anna Yablonskaya, Ukrainian playwright and poet (born 1981)
January 25 – Vincent Cronin, English writer (born 1924)
January 29
- Loreen Rice Lucas, Canadian author (born 1914)
- Hemayel Martina, Curaçaon poet (born 1990)
January 30 – Hisaye Yamamoto, Japanese American author (born 1921)
February 2 – Eric Nicol, Canadian author (born 1919)
February 3 – Édouard Glissant, Martinique poet and critic writing in French (born 1928)
February 5
- Charles E. Silberman, American author (born 1925)
- Martin Quigley Jr., American author and publisher (born 1917)
- Brian Jacques, English children's writer (born 1939)
February 9 – David Sánchez Juliao, Colombian author and diplomat (born 1945)
February 13 – Oakley Hall III, American playwright (born 1950)
February 15 – Judith Binney, New Zealand author (born 1940)
February 16
- Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (born 1930)
- Hans Joachim Alpers, German science fiction author (born 1943)
February 17
- Perry Moore, American author (born 1971)
- Vivien Noakes, English biographer and critic (born 1937)
- James McLure, American playwright (born 1951)
February 18 – Victor Martinez, US poet and novelist (born 1954)
February 19 – Max Wilk, American playwright, screenwriter and author (born 1920)
February 25
- Manny Fried, American playwright and actor (born 1913)
- Aminath Faiza, Maldivian poet and writer in the Dhivehi language (born 1924)
February 26 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author (born 1926)
February 28 – Netiva Ben-Yehuda, Israeli author (born 1928)
March 2 – Thor Vilhjálmsson, Icelandic author (born 1925)
March 3 – May Cutler, Canadian author and publisher (born 1923)
March 5 – Alberto Granado, Argentine-born Cuban biochemist and writer (born 1922)
March 8
- Iraj Afshar, Iranian bibliographer and historian (born 1925)
- Steven Kroll, American children's author (born 1941)
March 9 – Doris Burn, American children's author and illustrator (born 1923)
March 13 – Leo Steinberg, American art historian and critic (born 1920)
March 14 – Giora Leshem, Israeli poet and publisher (born 1940)
March 19 – Raymond Garlick, English-born Welsh poet and editor (born 1926)
March 26 – Diana Wynne Jones, English children's fantasy novelist (born 1934)^[27]
March 27 – H. R. F. Keating, English crime novelist (born 1926)
April 2 – Paul Violi, American poet (born 1944)
April 3 – Ulli Beier, German writer, editor and scholar (born 1922)
April 4 – Craig Thomas, Welsh novelist (born 1942)
April 6 – Thøger Birkeland, Danish children's writer (born 1922)
April 10 – Stephen Watson, South African writer and critic in English (born 1954)
April 12 – Sachin Bhowmick, Indian screenwriter (born 1930)
April 14
- Rosihan Anwar, Indonesian journalist (born 1922)
- Patrick Cullinan, South African poet and biographer (born 1933)
April 16 – William A. Rusher, American columnist and publisher (born 1923)^[28]
April 17 – Bob Block, English comedy writer (born 1921)^[29]
April 19 – Anne Blonstein, English poet (born 1958)^[30]
April 20 – Madelyn Pugh, American screenwriter (born 1921)^[31]
April 21 – W. J. Gruffydd (Elerydd), Welsh-language poet (born 1916)^[32]
April 25 – Gonzalo Rojas, Chilean poet (born 1917)^[33]
April 29
- Abdul Hameed, Pakistani novelist (born 1928)^[34]
- Joanna Russ, American science fiction author (born 1937)^[35]
April 30
- Richard Holmes, English military historian (born 1946)^[36]
- Ernesto Sabato, Argentine writer (born 1911)
May 4 – Frans Sammut, Maltese writer (born 1945)
May 5 – Arthur Laurents, American playwright, librettist and screenwriter (born 1917)
May 9 – Newton Thornburg, American novelist (born 1929)^[37]
May 10 – Patrick Galvin, Irish poet and dramatist (born 1927)
May 11 – Reach Sambath, Cambodian journalist (born 1964)
May 13
- Pam Gems, English playwright (born 1925)^[38]
- Badal Sarkar, Indian dramatist (born 1925)
May 14 – Birgitta Trotzig, Swedish novelist and poet (born 1929)
May 15 – Martin Woodhouse, English novelist, screenwriter and inventor (born 1932)^[39]
May 19 – William Kloefkorn, American poet (born 1932)^[40]
May 21 – Pádraig Kennelly, Irish journalist, publisher and editor (born 1938)^[41]
May 22 – Chidananda Dasgupta, Indian film critic (born 1921)^[42]
May 23 – Roberto Sosa, Honduran poet (heart attack, born 1930)^{[citation needed]}
May 24 – Fănuș Neagu, Romanian novelist, journalist, and short story writer (cancer, born 1932)^[43]^[44]
May 25
- Leonora Carrington, British-born Mexican painter and novelist (born 1917)^[45]
- Edwin Honig, American poet and translator (born 1919)
- Yannis Varveris, Greek poet, critic and translator (born 1955)
May 30 – Marek Siemek, Polish philosopher and historian of philosophy (born 1942)
June 4 – Curth Flatow, German dramatist and screenwriter (born 1920)
June 7 – Jorge Semprún, Spanish writer and politician (born 1923)
June 10 – Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, English travel writer and novelist, (born 1915)
June 13 – Burt Styler, American screenwriter (born 1925)
June 18 – Cheryl B, American poet and spoken word artist (born 1972)
June 21 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian novelist and poet (car crash, born 1927)
June 22 – Zbyněk Zeman, Czech historian (born 1928)
June 29 – K. D. Sethna, Indian poet, writer and cultural critic (born 1904)
July 7 – Olav Versto, Norwegian journalist and editor (drowning, born 1950)^[46]
July 3 – Iain Blair (Emma Blair), Scottish romance novelist (born 1942)
July 11 – Henry Carlisle, American translator, novelist and activist (born 1926)
July 16 – Geraint Bowen, Welsh poet (born 1915)
July 18 – Georgess McHargue, American author and poet (born 1941)
July 20 – Blaize Clement, American mystery writer and psychologist (born 1932)
July 22 – Ifti Nasim, Pakistani-born American poet and radio host (born 1946)
July 27 – Agota Kristof, Hungarian novelist writing in French (born 1935)^[47]
July 28 – Ahmed Omaid Khpalwak, Afghan journalist (killed in explosion, born c. 1958)
July 30 – Pêr Denez, French Breton linguist and writer (born 1921)
July 31 – Eliseo Alberto, Cuban-born Mexican novelist, essayist and journalist (born 1951)
August 1 – Stan Barstow, English novelist (born 1928)^[48]
August 3
- Simona Monyová, Czech novelist (murdered, born 1967)^[49]
- William Sleator, American science-fiction writer (born 1945)^[50]
August 10 – Selwyn Griffith, Welsh poet (born 1928)^[51]
August 15 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (born 1923)
August 17 – Michel Mohrt, French writer (born 1914)^[52]
August 26 – Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, American novelist (born 1940)^[53]
August 27 – N. F. Simpson, English dramatist (born 1919)^[54]
September 9
- Herbert Lomas, English poet (born 1924)^[55]
- Khairy Shalaby, Egyptian novelist and dramatist (born 1938)^[56]
September 14 – Frank Parkin, Welsh sociologist and novelist (born 1931)^[57]
September 22
- Cengiz Dağcı, Crimean Tatar novelist and poet writing in Turkish (born 1919)^[58]
- Margaret Ogola, Kenyan novelist (born 1958)^[59]
September 23 – José Miguel Varas, Chilean writer (born 1928)^[60]
September 26 – David Zelag Goodman, American screenwriter (born 1930)^[61]
September 27
- David Croft, English television writer and producer (born 1922)^[62]
- Sara Douglass, Australian fantasy author (ovarian cancer, born 1957)^[63]
September 29 – Hella Haasse, Dutch novelist (born 1918)^[64]
October 4 – Vittorio Curtoni, Italian science fiction writer and translator (born 1949)^[65]
October 10 – Uno Röndahl, Swedish writer (born 1924)
October 11 – Ewald Osers, Czech translator and poet (born 1917)^[66]
October 12 – Lowell H. Harrison, American historian (born 1922)^[67]
October 15 – Earl McRae, Canadian journalist (born 1942)^[68]
October 18
- Paul Everac, Romanian writer (born 1924)^[69]
- Friedrich Kittler, German literary scholar and media theorist (born 1943)^[70]
October 19
- Kakkanadan, Indian Malayalam writer (born 1935)^[71]
- Bohdan Osadchuk, Ukrainian historian and journalist (born 1920)^[72]
October 21
- Hikmet Bilâ, Turkish journalist and author (lung cancer, born 1954)^[73]
- Tone Pavček, Slovenian author and translator (born 1928)^[74]
October 23
- Florence Parry Heide, American children's author (born 1919)^[75]
- Bogdan Zakrzewski, Polish historian and researcher of Polish literature (born 1916)^[76]
October 24 – Morio Kita (北杜夫), Japanese novelist, essayist and psychiatrist (born 1927)^[77]
November 3
- H. G. Francis, German science fiction author (born 1936)^[78]
- Morris Philipson, American novelist and publisher (born 1926)^[79]
November 21
- Arie van Deursen, Dutch historian (born 1931)^[80]
- Theodore Enslin, American poet (born 1925)^[81]
- Anne McCaffrey, American fantasy writer (born 1926)^[82]
November 25 – Leonid Borodin, Russian novelist, journalist and Soviet dissident, (born 1938)^[83] (Russian)
November 26 – Rashid Karim, Bangladeshi novelist (born 1925)^[84]
November 30
- Ana Daniel, Portuguese poet (born 1928)^[85]
- Partap Sharma, Indian playwright (born 1939)^[86]
December 15 – Christopher Hitchens, English journalist and commentator (esophageal cancer, born 1949)^[87]
December 20 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (born 1926)^[88]
December 23 – Tripuraneni Maharadhi, Indian screenwriter (born 1930)^[89]
December 27 – Thinley Norbu, Tibetan Buddhist writer and teacher (born 1931)^[90]
December 30 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet (born 1920)^[91]
December 31
- Celia Dale, English fiction writer and book reviewer (born 1912^[92]
- Penny Jordan, English romantic novelist (born 1946)^[93]