2010 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 2010.

Events

Mario Vargas Llosa in 2010

• February – The Wheeler Centre, Australia's "literary hub", is officially opened.^[1]
• April 3 – First release of the Apple iPad electronic book reading device.^[2]
• April 12 – Little-known author Paul Harding wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his debut novel Tinkers (2009) published by tiny Bellevue Literary Press.^[2]
• June 24 – Neil Gaiman becomes the first author to win both the Carnegie Medal in Literature and the Newbery Medal for the same book — The Graveyard Book.^[3]
• July 27 – Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy becomes an international sensation. As of May 2010, a total of 27 million copies have been sold worldwide.^[4][5] On July 27 Amazon says Larsson is first author to sell more than 1 million Kindle e-books.^[2]
• August 13 – Time magazine puts Jonathan Franzen on its cover for his novel Freedom, the first time an author has appeared here since 2000 with Stephen King.^[2]
• October 7 – The 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".
• October 12 – Howard Jacobson wins the Man Booker Prize for The Finkler Question
• November 9 – Johanna Skibsrud wins the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel The Sentimentalists.^[6]
• November 16 – The 2010 Governor General's Awards are announced. Winners include Dianne Warren for English fiction, Kim Thúy for French fiction, Richard Greene for poetry and Robert Chafe for drama.^[7]
• November – Mark Twain's Autobiography is published (officially) 100 years after the author's death, the delay instructed by Twain himself. Unofficial copies had been published several times during the 20th century.
• Book censorship in the Republic of Ireland by the state ceases as all prior bans expire.

New books

Fiction

• Martin Amis – The Pregnant Widow (February 4)
• Paul Auster – Sunset Park (November 9)
• Paolo Bacigalupi – Ship Breaker (May 1)
• Peter Carey – Parrot and Olivier in America (April 20)
• Eddie Chuculate – Cheyenne Madonna (June 20)
• Robert Coover – Noir (March 4)
• Michael Cunningham – By Nightfall (September 28)
• Don DeLillo – Point Omega (February 2)
• Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad (June 15)
• Bret Easton Ellis – Imperial Bedrooms (June 15)
• Joshua Ferris – The Unnamed (January 18)
• Jonathan Franzen – Freedom (August 31)
• Matthew Gallaway – The Metropolis Case (November 8)
• Seth Grahame-Smith – Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
• Sara Gruen – Ape House (September 7)
• Michel Houellebecq – The Map and the Territory (La Carte et le territoire, September 4)
• Rabee Jaber – دروز بلغراد (Duruz Bilghrad: Hikayat Hanna Yaqub, The Druze of Belgrade: the history of Hanna Yaqub)
• Howard Jacobson – The Finkler Question (October 12)
• Anjali Joseph – Saraswati Park (July 8)
• Stacey Kade – The Ghost and The Goth (July 6)
• Stephen King
  • Blockade Billy (April 20)
  • Full Dark, No Stars (November 9)
• Nicole Krauss – Great House (October 12)
• Stieg Larsson – The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (May 10)
• John Le Carre – Our Kind of Traitor (October 12)
• Dennis Lehane – Moonlight Mile (November 2)
• Tao Lin – Richard Yates (September 7)
• Ian McEwan – Solar (March 30)
• Jon McGregor – Even the Dogs^[8]
• Yann Martel – Beatrice and Virgil (April 6)
• David Mitchell – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (June 29)
• Martin Mosebach – What Was Before
• Ben Myers – Richard: A Novel (October 1)
• Chuck Palahniuk – Tell All (May 4)
• Philip Pullman – The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (May 20)
• Lincoln Peirce – Big Nate: In a Class by Himself (March 23)
• Philip Roth – Nemesis (October 5)
• Amy Sackville – The Still Point (February 4)
• Ashwin Sanghi – Chanakya's Chant
• David Sedaris – Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (September 28)
• Sarah Selecky – This Cake Is for the Party
• Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love Story (July 27)
• Kim Thúy – Ru
• Valerie Toranian – Pour en Finir avec la Femme (To Do Away with the Woman)
• Mario Vargas Llosa – The Dream of the Celt (November 3)

Children and young people

• Swati Avasthi – Split
• David Almond
  • The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon
  • My Name is Mina
  • Slog's Dad
• Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay (August 24)
• Diane Duane – A Wizard of Mars (April 12)
• John Flanagan – The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (November 2010)
• Matthew J. Kirby – The Clockwork Three (October 1)
• Laura Leiner
  • Szent Johanna gimi 1 – Kezdet (Start, first in the St. Joan High School series of seven books)
  • Szent Johanna gimi 2 – Együtt (Together)
  • Szent Johanna gimi 3 – Egyedül (Alone)
• Robert Muchamore – Brigands M. C. (May 6)
• Jim Murphy - THE CROSSING: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution
• Garth Nix – Lord Sunday (February)
• James Patterson – Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel (March 15)
• Jerry Pinkney (adaption) - Three Little Kittens
• Philip Reeve – A Web of Air (April 5)
• Rick Riordan
  • The Lost Hero (October 12)
  • The Red Pyramid
• Clare Vanderpool – Moon Over Manifest (October 12)
• Kiersten White – Paranormalcy (August 31)
• N.D. Wilson – The Chestnut King

Drama

• Peter Handke – Storm Still
• Shahid Nadeem – Dara
• Bruce Norris – Clybourne Park
• Nina Raine – Tribes
• Anya Reiss – Spur of the Moment
• Alexis Stamatis – Dakrygona (Tear Gas)
• Laura Wade – Posh

Poetry

• Stephen Sondheim – Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954–1981) (October 26)

See also 2010 in poetry.

Science fiction and fantasy

• Jim Butcher – Changes (April 6)
• Amish Tripathi – The Immortals of Meluha (February)

Non-fiction

• Bill Bryson – At Home: A Short History of Private Life (May 27)
• George W. Bush – Decision Points (November 9)
• Hans Fredrik Dahl (ed.) – Norsk presses historie 1660–2010
• Sam Harris – The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (October 5)
• Laura Hillenbrand – Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (November 16)
• Joel Kotkin – The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050
• David Lipsky – Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (April 13)
• Nursultan Nazarbayev – The Way of Kazakhstan (May 18)
• Sergio Rubin – El jesuita
• Niki Segnit – The Flavour Thesaurus: Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook
• Jane Smiley – The Man Who Invented The Computer (December)
• Jon Stewart – Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (September 21)
• Darin Strauss – Half a Life (September 21)
• Edmund de Waal – The Hare with Amber Eyes. A Hidden Inheritance
• John Leigh Walters – A Very Capable Life^[9]

Deaths

• January 1
  • Bingo Gazingo, American performance poet (born 1924)
  • Billy Arjan Singh, Indian author (born 1917)
• January 2 – Rajendra Keshavlal Shah, Indian poet (born 1913)
• January 3 – Isak Rogde, Norwegian translator (born 1947)
• January 4
  • Knox Burger, American editor, writer and agent (born 1922)
  • Hywel Teifi Edwards, Welsh historian and writer (born 1934)
• January 5 – Bernard Le Nail, French writer and historian (born 1946)
• January 6 – George Leonard, American writer and editor (born 1923)
• January 8 – Slavka Maneva, Macedonian writer and poet (born 1934)
• January 9 – Laura Chapman Hruska, American writer and editor (born 1935)
• January 11 – Miep Gies, Austrian-born Dutch biographer (born 1909)
• January 14 – P. K. Page, Canadian poet (born 1916)
• January 16 – Takumi Shibano (柴野拓美), Japanese novelist (born 1926)
• January 17 – Erich Segal, American author and academic (born 1937)
• January 18 – Robert B. Parker, American detective writer (born 1932)
• January 19 – Vladimir Karpov, Soviet Russian writer (born 1922)
  

  Robert B. Parker
• January 20 – Abraham Sutzkever, Polish-born Israeli poet (born 1913)
• January 21 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian novelist (born 1953)
• January 26 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist (born 1917)
• January 27
  • J. D. Salinger, American novelist (born 1919)
  • Howard Zinn, American historian (born 1922)
• January 31
  • Kage Baker, American science fiction and fantasy author (born 1952)
  • Tomás Eloy Martínez, Argentine writer (born 1934)
• February 2
  • Rosa Lobato de Faria, Portuguese writer (born 1932)
  • Eustace Mullins, American writer, author and biographer (born 1923)
• February 5 – Peter Calvocoressi, Pakistani-born English historian and publisher (born 1912)
• February 6 – Robert Dana, American poet (born 1929)
• February 7 – William Tenn (Philip Klass), American science fiction writer (born 1920)
  

  Robert Dana
• February 8 – Wahei Tatematsu (立松和平), Japanese novelist (born 1947)
• February 10 – H. V. F. Winstone, English biographer and journalist (born 1926)
• February 11 – Colin Ward, English anarchist writer (born 1924)
• February 13 – Lucille Clifton, American poet (born 1936)
• February 14 – Dick Francis, Welsh novelist (born 1920)
• February 16 – Jim Harmon, American science fiction writer (born 1933)
• February 17 – Arnold Beichman, American writer (born 1913)
• February 23 – Mervyn Jones, English novelist and biographer (born 1922)
• February 27 – Carlos Montemayor, Mexican writer (born 1947)
• March 1 – Barry Hannah, American novelist and short story writer (born 1942)
• March 3 – Momo Kapor, Serbian writer (born 1937)
• March 8 – Jerry E. Smith, American author (born 1950)
• March 9 – Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo, São Tome poet (born 1926)
• March 10 – Truddi Chase, American autobiographical author (born c. 1935)
• March 11 – Matilde Elena López, Salvadoran poet, essayist and playwright (born 1919)
• March 12 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (born 1920)
• March 14 – Vinda Karandikar, Indian poet and writer in Marathi (born 1918)
• March 15
  • Joseph Galdon, Filipino writer (born 1928)
  • Patricia Wrightson, Australian children's writer (born 1921)
• March 16 – Jane Sherman, American writer (born 1908)
• March 17 – Sid Fleischman, American children's writer (born 1920)
• March 18 – Amanda Castro, Honduran poet (born 1962)
• March 20 – Ai Ogawa, American poet (born 1947)
• March 21 – Susana, Lady Walton, Argentine writer (born 1926)
• March 24 – William Mayne, English children's novelist (born 1928)
• March 28 – Zofia Romanowiczowa, Polish writer and translator (born 1922)
• April 2 – Carolyn Rodgers, American poet (born 1940)
• April 9
  • Hisashi Inoue (井上 ひさし), Japanese novelist and playwright (born 1934)
  • Kerstin Thorvall, Swedish author, illustrator and journalist (born 1925)
• April 14 – Erika Burkart, Swiss German-language author (born 1922)
• April 16 – Carlos Franqui, Cuban writer and activist (born 1921)
• April 20 – Myles Wilder, American television comedy writer (born 1933)
• April 23 – Peter Porter, Australian-born British poet (born 1929)
• April 25 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist (born 1928)
• April 28
  • Evelyn Cunningham, American journalist (born 1916)
  • Stefania Grodzieńska, Polish writer and actress (born 1914)
• May 1 – T. M. Aluko, Nigerian writer (born 1918)^[10]
• May 3
  • Mohammed Abed al-Jabri, Moroccan philosopher and writer (born 1935)
  • Peter O'Donnell, English novelist (born 1920)
• May 6 – Hoàng Cầm, Vietnamese poet and playwright (born 1922)
• May 7
  • Rane Arroyo, American poet (cerebral hemorrhage, born 1954)^[11]
  • Anders Buraas, Norwegian journalist (born 1915)
• May 12 – Allan Manings, American television writer (born 1924)
• May 18 – Edoardo Sanguineti, Italian poet (born 1930)
• June 18 – José Saramago, Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1922)
• June 19 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican writer, critic and activist (born 1938)
• July 2 – Beryl Bainbridge, English novelist (born 1932)
• July 4 – Robert Neil Butler, American physician and author (born 1927)
• July 9 – Jessica Anderson, Australian novelist and short story writer (born 1916)
• August 6 – Tony Judt, English historian (born 1948)
• August 9 – Juan Marichal, Spanish historian (born 1922)
• August 10 – Marie de Garis, Guernsey ethnographer and philologist (born 1910)
• August 12 – Laurence Gardner, English writer (born 1943)
• August 13 – Patrick Cauvin, French novelist (born 1932)
• August 14 – Terje Stigen, Norwegian author (born 1922)
• August 16 – Narayan Gangaram Surve, Indian poet (born 1926)
• August 17
  • Sir Frank Kermode, Manx-born literary critic (born 1919)
  • Ludvík Kundera, Czech writer and translator (born 1920)
  • Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (born 1920)
• August 18 – Efraim Sevela, Russian writer and screenwriter (born 1928)
• August 20 – David J. Weber, American historian and author (born 1940)
• August 21 – Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, Argentine writer (born 1941)
• August 27
  • George Hitchcock, American poet (born 1914)
  • Ravindra Kelekar, Indian author and poet (born 1925)
• August 29 – A. C. Baantjer, Dutch author (born 1923)
• August 31 – Vance Bourjaily, American novelist, playwright and essayist (born 1922)
• September 3 – Micky Burn, English writer and poet (born 1912)
• September 5
  • Elizabeth Jenkins, English author (born 1905)^[12]
  • Lewis Nkosi, South African writer (born 1936)
• September 7 – Barbara Holland, American author (born 1933)
• September 10 – Edwin Charles Tubb, English science fiction author (born 1919)
• September 11 – Fathi Osman, Egyptian author (born 1928)
• September 12 – Judith Merkle Riley, American author (born 1942)
• September 18 – James Bacon, American author (born 1914)
• September 20 – Jennifer Rardin, American author (born 1965)
• September 24 – Gilda O'Neill, English novelist and historian (born 1951)
• September 29 – Clifford B. Hicks, American writer and editor (born 1920)
• October 1 – Mikhail Roshchin, Russian playwright (born 1933)
• October 4 – Henrique de Senna Fernandes, Macanese author (born 1923)
• October 5
  • Alba Bouwer, South African writer in Afrikaans (born 1920)
  • Bernard Clavel, French writer (born 1923)
• October 11 – Claire Rayner, English author (born 1931)
• October 12 – Belva Plain, American novelist (born 1915)
• October 13 – Donald H. Tuck, Australian science fiction bibliographer (born 1922)
• October 20
  • Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-born English novelist (born 1925)
  • Robert Katz, American writer (born 1933)
  • Julian Roberts, English scholar and librarian (born 1930)
• October 21 – A. Ayyappan, Indian poet in Malayalam (born 1945)
• October 22 – Alí Chumacero, Mexican writer and poet (born 1918)
• October 23 – George Cain, American author (born 1943)
• October 24 – Joseph Stein, American playwright (born 1912)
• October 25 – Vesna Parun, Croatian poet (born 1922)
• October 29 – Bärbel Mohr, German author (born 1964)
• October 30 – Harry Mulisch, Dutch writer (born 1927)
• November 1 – Monica Johnson, American novelist (born 1946)
• November 3 – P. Lal, Indian writer (born 1929)
• November 4 – Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Filipino poet (born 1932)
• November 5 – Adrian Păunescu, Romanian author and poet (born 1943)
• November 8
  • Philip Carlo, American crime author (born 1949)
  • George Solomos, American poet and writer (born 1925)
• November 9 – Ektor Kaknavatos, Greek poet (born 1920)
• November 11 – Carlos Edmundo de Ory, Spanish poet (born 1923)
• November 15
  • Edmond Amran El Maleh, Moroccan writer (born 1917)
  • Hugh Prather, American self-help author (born 1938)
• November 16 – Ragnhild Magerøy, Norwegian writer (born 1920)
• November 21 – Norris Church Mailer, American author (born 1949)
• November 25
  • Alfred Balk, American journalist and author (born 1930)
  • Yaroslav Pavulyak, Ukrainian poet (born 1948)
• November 29 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet (born 1937)
• December 5
  • David French, Canadian playwright (born 1939)
  • Heda Margolius Kovály, Czech author (born 1919)
• December 6 – Martin Russ, American author (born 1931)
• December 7 – Elizabeth Edwards, American author (born 1949)
• December 14 – Ruth Park, New Zealand children's writer (born 1917)
• December 20 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (born 1949)^[13]
• December 24 – Elisabeth Beresford, French-born English children's writer (born 1926)

Awards

• Camões Prize: Ferreira Gullar
• International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Gerbrand Bakker, The Twin
• Nobel Prize in Literature: to Mario Vargas Llosa
• Petrarca-Preis: Pierre Michon, for his body of work

Australia

• Miles Franklin Award: Peter Temple, Truth

Canada

• Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, Nancy Jo Cullen; honours of distinction, Lisa Foad, George K. Ilsley.
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life^[9]
• Governor General's Awards: Multiple categories; see 2010 Governor General's Awards.
• Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction: James FitzGerald, What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past
• Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Emma Donoghue, Room
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: Johanna Skibsrud, The Sentimentalists
• Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award: Miriam Toews

United Kingdom

• Man Booker Prize: to The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
• Orange Prize for Fiction: to The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

United States

• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2010 Lambda Literary Awards.
• National Book Award for Fiction: to Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to War Dances by Sherman Alexie
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: to Tinkers by Paul Harding
• Whiting Awards:

Fiction: Michael Dahlie, Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Lydia Peelle

Nonfiction: Elif Batuman, Amy Leach, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

Plays: David Adjmi

Poetry: Matt Donovan, Jane Springer, L.B. Thompson

References

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of poetry awards
• 2010 in Australian literature