2005 in literature

Events

• January 16 – This is the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes' publication of the first part of Don Quixote in Spain.
• February 25 – Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation.
• March 26 – The classic U.K. science fiction series Doctor Who returns to television with a script by Russell T Davies, the executive producer.
• April 23 – The Grande Bibliothèque at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec is opened.
• June 13 – The poet Dannie Abse is injured and his wife Joan killed in an accident on the M4 in South Wales.
• August 15 – An integrated National Library of Norway opens to readers in Oslo for the first time.

  New books

Fiction

• Tariq Ali – A Sultan in Palermo
• Rajaa Alsanea – Girls of Riyadh
• Avi – Never Mind
• Tash Aw – The Harmony Silk Factory
• Steve Aylett – Lint
• Doreen Baingana – Tropical Fish
• John Banville – The Sea
• Sebastian Barry – A Long Long Way
• Nelson Bond – Other Worlds Than Ours
• Dionne Brand – What We All Long For
• Orson Scott Card
• *Magic Street
• *Shadow of the Giant
• Rita Chowdhury – Deo Langkhui
• Wendy Coakley-Thompson – What You Won't Do for Love
• Eoin Colfer – '
• Bernard Cornwell – The Pale Horseman
• Colin Cotterill – Thirty-Three Teeth
• Robert Crais – The Forgotten Man
• Mitch Cullin – A Slight Trick of the Mind
• Michael Cunningham – Specimen Days
• Rana Dasgupta – Tokyo Cancelled
• Lindsey Davis – See Delphi and Die
• Abha Dawesar – Babyji
• L. Sprague de Camp – '
• Troy Denning
• *The Joiner King
• *The Swarm War
• *The Unseen Queen
• Bret Easton Ellis – Lunar Park
• Alicia Erian – Towelhead
• Steve Erickson – Our Ecstatic Days
• Sebastian Faulks – Human Traces
• Juan Francisco Ferré – La fiesta del asno
• Amanda Filipacchi – Love Creeps
• Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• Nicci French – Catch Me When I Fall
• Gayleen Froese – Touch
• Cornelia Funke – Inkspell
• David Gibbins – Atlantis
• Kate Grenville – The Secret River
• Margaret Peterson Haddix – Among the Enemy
• Joanne Harris – Gentlemen & Players
• Carl Hiaasen – Flush
• Charlie Higson – SilverFin
• Peter Hobbs – The Short Day Dying
• John Irving – Until I Find You
• Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go
• Uzodinma Iweala – Beasts of No Nation
• Rabee Jaber – بيريتوس: مدينة تحت الأرض
• Raymond Khoury – The Last Templar
• Stephen King – The Colorado Kid
• Dean Koontz – Velocity
• Elizabeth Kostova – The Historian
• Stieg Larsson – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Marina Lewycka – A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
• Yiyun Li – A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
• James Luceno
• *'
• *Labyrinth of Evil
• Mike McCormack – Notes from a Coma
• Ian McEwan – Saturday
• Elizabeth McKenzie - Stop That Girl
• Kevin MacNeil – The Stornoway Way
• Gregory Maguire – Son of a Witch
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Memories of My Melancholy Whores
• Stephenie Meyer – Twilight
• David Michaels – '
• Robert Muchamore
• *Maximum Security
• *The Killing
• Péter Nádas – Parallel Stories
• Garth Nix – Drowned Wednesday
• Chuck Palahniuk – Haunted
• Christopher Paolini – Eldest
• Robert B. Parker – School Days
• Ruth Rendell – End in Tears
• Salman Rushdie – Shalimar the Clown
• Darren Shan – Lord Loss
• Michael Slade – Swastika
• Zadie Smith – On Beauty
• Olen Steinhauer – 36 Yalta Boulevard
• Matthew Stover – '
• Thomas Sullivan – Second Soul
• Jean-François Susbielle – La Morsure du dragon
• Vikas Swarup – Q & A
• Rupert Thomson – Divided Kingdom
• Harry Turtledove – '
• Andrew Vachss – Two Trains Running
• Catherynne M. Valente – '
• Michal Viewegh – Lekce tvůrčího psaní
• Narayan Wagle – Palpasa Cafe
• David Weber – At All Costs
• Samantha Weinberg – '
• Kirby Wright – Punahou Blues
• Markus Zusak – The Book Thief

  Children and young people

• Jackie French – They Came on Viking Ships
• Jonathon Scott Fuqua – King of the Pygmies
• Julius Lester – The Old African
• Jenny Nimmo – Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
• Jane O'Connor – Fancy Nancy
• Margie Palatini – The Three Silly Billies
• Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson – And Tango Makes Three
• Rick Riordan – The Lightning Thief
• J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Yrsa Sigurðardóttir – Þriðja táknið
• Lemony Snicket – The Penultimate Peril
• Dugald Steer –
• Scott Westerfeld – Uglies

  Drama

• Catherine Filloux – Lemkin's House
• debbie tucker green
• *stoning mary
• *generations
• Oleg Kagan – The Black Hat
• Carlos Lacamara – Nowhere on the Border
• The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble – Wounded
• Peter Morris – Guardians
• Vern Thiessen – Shakespeare's Will
• Laura Wade
• *Colder Than Here
• *Breathing Corpses
• Vincent Woods – A Cry from Heaven

  Poetry

• Carol Ann Duffy – Rapture

  Non-fiction

• Svetlana Alexievich – Voices from Chernobyl
• Matthew Bortolin - The Dharma of Star Wars
• Edwin Bryant – Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and inference in Indian history
• Francis Chalifour – After
• Jung Chang & Jon Halliday – '
• Theodore Dalrymple – '
• Michel Déon – Horseman, Pass By!
• Jared Diamond – '
• Joan Didion – The Year of Magical Thinking
• Amir-Abbas Fakhravar – Still, the Scraps of Prison
• Robert Fisk – '
• Randy Grim – Miracle Dog
• John Grogan – Marley & Me
• Michael Gross – '
• Adam Hochschild – Bury the Chains
• Tom Holland – Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
• Tony Judt – '
• W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne - Blue Ocean Strategy
• Lawrence M. Krauss – Hiding in the Mirror
• Mark Levin – Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America
• Alexander Masters – '
• Azadeh Moaveni – Lipstick Jihad
• Peter C. Newman – '
• Lisa Randall – Warped Passages
• Jean Raspail – En Canot sur les chemins d'eau du Roi
• James S. Shapiro – 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
• Masamune Shirow – Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface
• Rebecca Solnit – A Field Guide to Getting Lost
• David Southwell – Secrets and Lies
• James B. Stewart – DisneyWar
• Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam

  Deaths

• January 4 – Humphrey Carpenter, English biographer, children's fiction writer and radio broadcaster
• January 7 – Pierre Daninos, French novelist
• January 14 – Charlotte MacLeod, American mystery writer
• January 15
• *Walter Ernsting, German science fiction author
• *Elizabeth Janeway, American feminist author
• January 19 – K. Sello Duiker, South African novelist
• January 20 – Roland Frye, American theologian and critic
• January 21
• *John L. Hess, American journalist and critic
• *Theun de Vries, Dutch writer and poet
• January 24 – Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian science fiction writer
• January 25 – Max Velthuijs, Dutch writer and illustrator
• January 29 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli satirist, dramatist, and screenwriter
• February 10 – Arthur Miller, American playwright
• February 11 – Jack L. Chalker, American science fiction writer
• February 20 – Hunter S. Thompson, American writer, creator of Gonzo journalism
• February 21 – Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban novelist
• February 25 – Phoebe Hesketh, English poet
• March 7 – Willis Hall, English playwright
• March 8
• *Alice Thomas Ellis, English novelist, essayist and cookery book author
• *Anna Haycraft, English novelist
• March 10 – Patience Gray, English cookery and travel writer
• March 17 – Andre Norton, American science fiction writer
• March 22 – Anthony Creighton, English playwright
• March 30 – Robert Creeley, American poet
• April 5 – Saul Bellow, Canadian writer
• April 7 – Yvonne Vera, Zimbabwean novelist
• April 26 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan novelist
• May 7 – Tristan Egolf, American novelist
• June 9 – Hovis Presley, English poet
• June 10 – Nick Darke, Cornish playwright
• June 14 – Norman Levine, Canadian short story writer
• June 16 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican novelist
• June 20 – Larry Collins, American novelist
• June 22 – William Donaldson, English satirist
• June 27 – Shelby Foote, American novelist
• June 28 – Philip Hobsbaum, Scottish poet and critic
• June 30 – Christopher Fry, English dramatist
• July 6
• *Evan Hunter, American novelist
• *Claude Simon, French Nobel laureate in literature
• July 7 – Gustaf Sobin, American poet
• July 17 – Gavin Lambert, English novelist and biographer
• July 19 – Edward Bunker, American crime writer
• August 9 – Judith Rossner, American novelist
• August 16 – William Corlett, English author and playwright
• August 21 – Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet
• August 29 – Sybil Marshall, English novelist
• September 3 – R. S. R. Fitter, English nature writer
• September 26 – Helen Cresswell, English children's writer
• September 27
• *Ronald Pearsall, English writer
• *Mary Lee Settle, American novelist
• October 2 – August Wilson, American playwright
• October 17 – Ba Jin, Chinese novelist
• October 31 – Amrita Pritam, Indian Punjabi poet and novelist
• November 1 – Michael Thwaites, Australian poet
• November 2 – Gordon A. Craig, Scottish historian
• November 4 – Michael G. Coney, Canadian science-fiction writer
• November 5 – John Fowles, English writer
• November 21 – Aileen Fox, English archaeologist
• November 26 – Stan Berenstain, American children's writer and illustrator
• December 1 – Mary Hayley Bell, dramatist
• December 2 – Christine Pullein-Thompson, English novelist
• December 9 – Robert Sheckley, American short story writer
• December 15 – Julián Marías, Spanish philosopher and author
• December 16 – Kenneth Bulmer, English novelist and short story writer

  Awards

• Nobel Prize in Literature: Harold Pinter
• Camões Prize: Lygia Fagundes Telles

  Australia

• The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Andrew T. O'Connor, Tuvalu
• C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: M. T. C. Cronin, 1–100
• Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Samuel Wagan Watson, Smoke Encrypted Whispers
• Miles Franklin Award: Andrew McGahan, The White Earth

  Canada

• Governor General's Award for English-language fiction: David Gilmour, A Perfect Night to Go to China
• Griffin Poetry Prize: Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Towards Oishida and Charles Simic, Selected Poems: 1963-2003
• Hugo Award for Best Novel: Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: David Bergen, The Time in Between
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Anne Coleman, I'll Tell You a Secret

  United Kingdom

• Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting : Duncan Macmillan, Monster
• Caine Prize for African Writing: S. A. Afolabi, "Monday Morning"
• Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Mal Peet, Tamar
• Cholmondeley Award: Jane Duran, Christopher Logue, M. R. Peacocke, Neil Rollinson
• Commonwealth Writers Prize: Andrea Levy, Small Island
• Dagger of Daggers: John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
• Eric Gregory Award: Melanie Challenger, Carolyn Jess, Luke Kennard, Jaim Smith
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Sue Prideaux, Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Ian McEwan, Saturday
• Man Booker International Prize : Ismail Kadare
• Man Booker Prize: John Banville, The Sea
• Samuel Johnson Prize: Jonathan Coe,
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin
• Somerset Maugham Award: Justin Hill, Passing Under Heaven; Maggie O'Farrell, The Distance Between Us
• Whitbread Book of the Year Award: Hilary Spurling, Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909-1954

  United States

• Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: B. H. Fairchild
• Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Rick Hilles, Brother Salvage: Poems
• Arthur Rense Prize: Daniel Hoffman
• Bollingen Prize for Poetry: Jay Wright
• Brittingham Prize in Poetry: Susanna Childress, Jagged with Love
• Compton Crook Award: Tamara Siler Jones, Ghosts in the Snow
• Frost Medal: Marie Ponsot
• Hugo Award: Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2005 Lambda Literary Awards.
• National Book Award for Poetry: W. S. Merwin, Migration: New and Selected Poems
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to War Trash by Ha Jin
• Newbery Medal: Cynthia Kadohata, Kira-Kira
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to The March by E.L. Doctorow
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: John Patrick Shanley, Doubt: A Parable
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Ted Kooser, Delights & Shadows
• Wallace Stevens Award: Gerald Stern
• Whiting Awards:
• Wordcraft Writer of the Year Award for Poetry: Allison Hedge Coke, Off-Season City Pipe

  Other

• International Dublin Literary Award: Edward P. Jones, The Known World
• German Book Prize : Arno Geiger, :de:Es geht uns gut|Es geht uns gut
• Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres: Patti Smith