1979 in literature

Events

• Sophie's Choice by William Styron is published. In 2001, the book would be named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul is published. In 2001, the book would be one of two books by Naipaul to be included on the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

New Books

• A Bend in the River - V. S. Naipaul
• Beyond Reason - Margaret Trudeau
• The Dead Zone - Stephen King
• The Executuoner's Song - Norman Mailer
• Ghost Story - Peter Straub
• Ghost Writer - Philip Roth
• Jailbird - Kurt Vonnegut
• Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer
• Kindred - Octavia Butler
• The Last Enchantment - Howard Fast
• Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There - Philip P. Hallie
• Lion of Ireland: The Legend of Brian Boru - Morgan Llywelyn
• The Matarese Circle - Robert Ludlum
• Memories of Another Day - Harold Robbins
• Montmartre - Philippe Jullian
• Overload - Arthur Hailey
• The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe
• Smiley's People - John le Carré
• Sophie's Choice - William Styron
• White House Years - Henry Kissinger
• Year of the French - Thomas Flanagan

Births

Deaths

Awards

• Booker Prize: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore
• See 1979 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Nebula Award: Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
• Odysseus Elytis won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979.
• Prix Goncourt: Antonine Maillet, Pélagie la Charette
• Prix Médicis French: Claude Durand, La Nuit zoologique
• Prix Médicis International:
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Sam Shepard, Buried Child
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: John Cheever - The Stories of John Cheever
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Robert Penn Warren: Now and Then
• Viareggio Prize: Giorgio Manganelli, Centuria

Referenced By