2008 in literature

Events

• January 1 – In the UK's 2008 New Year Honours List, Hanif Kureishi, Jenny Uglow, Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature."
• February 29 – Belgian-born "Misha Defonseca" admits that her bestselling is a literary forgery.
• April – Signet Books announce they will cease to publish the American historical romance novelist Cassie Edwards after a dispute over plagiarism.
• May 7–11 – The first Palestine Festival of Literature is held.
• June 15 – Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times interview how he felt about the death of his rival William F. Buckley, Jr., replies: "I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred."
• July – Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is the winner of a poll to select the "Best of the Booker".

• The first Twitter novels appear.

  New books

Fiction

• Aravind Adiga
• *The White Tiger
• *Between the Assassinations
• Uwem Akpan – Say You're One of Them
• Paul Auster – Man in the Dark
• Sebastian Barry – The Secret Scripture
• Henry Bauchau – Le Boulevard périphérique
• John Berger – From A to X
• Charles Bock – Beautiful Children
• Roberto Bolaño –
• Christopher Buckley – Supreme Courtship
• Alastair Campbell – All in the Mind
• Martín Caparrós – A quien corresponda
• Eleanor Catton – The Rehearsal
• Wendy Coakley-Thompson – Triptych
• Robert Crais – Chasing Darkness
• Debra Dean – Confessions of a Falling Woman
• Klaus Ebner – Hominid
• Ralph Ellison – Three Days Before the Shooting...
• :fr:Mathias Énard|Mathias Énard – :fr:Zone |Zone
• Sebastian Faulks – Devil May Care
• Keith Gessen – All the Sad Young Literary Men
• Shanta Gokhale – Tyā varshī
• Juan Goytisolo – Exiled from Almost Everywhere
• Paul Griffiths – let me tell you
• Lauren Groff – The Monsters of Templeton
• Peter Handke – The Moravian Night
• Johan Harstad – DARLAH
• Zoë Heller – The Believers
• Aleksandar Hemon – The Lazarus Project
• M. H. Herlong – The Great Wide Sea
• Samantha Hunt – The Invention of Everything Else
• Siri Hustvedt – The Sorrows of an American
• Karl Iagnemma – The Expeditions
• Robert Juan-Cantavella – El Dorado
• Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs – And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
• Christian Kracht – Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und im Schatten
• László Krasznahorkai – Seiobo There Below
• Jhumpa Lahiri – Unaccustomed Earth
• Paul Laurendeau – Femmes fantastiques
• Kelly Link – Pretty Monsters
• David Lodge – Deaf Sentence
• James McBride – Song Yet Sung
• Joe McGinniss Jr. – The Delivery Man
• Ronit Matalon – The Sound of Our Steps
• Lydia Millet – How the Dead Dream
• Toni Morrison – A Mercy
• Nunoe Mura – GeGeGe no Nyōbō
• Joyce Carol Oates – My Sister, My Love
• Sofi Oksanen – Puhdistus
• Chuck Palahniuk – Snuff
• Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Painter of Battles
• Jodi Picoult – Change of Heart
• José Luis Rodríguez Pittí – Sueños urbanos
• Richard Price – Lush Life
• Ruth Rendell – Portobello
• Nina Revoyr – The Age of Dreaming
• Nathaniel Rich – The Mayor's Tongue
• Marilynne Robinson – Home
• Charlotte Roche – Feuchtgebiete
• Mary Ann Rodman – Jimmy's Stars
• Philip Roth – Indignation
• Salman Rushdie – The Enchantress of Florence
• Will Self – The Butt
• Curtis Sittenfeld – American Wife
• Sjón – Rökkurbýsnir
• Elizabeth Strout – Olive Kitteridge
• Tom Rob Smith – Child 44
• Joan Thomas – Reading by Lightning
• David Turashvili – Flight from the USSR
• John Updike – The Widows of Eastwick
• Tobias Wolff – Our Story Begins

  Genre fiction

• Jim Butcher – Small Favor
• Matthew J. Costello –
• Cornelia Funke – Inkdeath
• Stephen King – Duma Key
• Patricia A. McKillip – The Bell at Sealey Head
• Stephenie Meyer – Breaking Dawn
• Douglas Preston – Blasphemy
• Matthew Stover – Caine Black Knife
• Brent Weeks – The Way of Shadows

  Children and young people

• David Almond
• *The Savage
• *Jackdaw Summer
• Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson – Science Fair
• Nick Bland – The Very Cranky Bear
• Frank Cottrell-Boyce – Desirable
• Eoin Colfer –
• Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
• John Fardell – Manfred the Baddie
• Mem Fox – Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
• John Green – Paper Towns
• Brian Greene – Icarus At The Edge Of Time
• Charlie Higson – Young Bond: By Royal Command
• Minoru Kawakami and Satoyasu – Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere
• D. J. MacHale – Raven Rise
• Patricia Martin - Lulu Atlantis and the Quest for True Blue Love
• Jenny Nimmo – Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock
• Garth Nix – Superior Saturday
• Christopher Paolini – Brisingr
• Rick Riordan – The Maze of Bones
• Angie Sage – Queste
• Michael Salzhauer – My Beautiful Mommy

  Drama

• Salvatore Antonio – In Gabriel's Kitchen
• Howard Brenton – Never So Good
• Mary Higgins Clark – Where Are You Now?
• Paul Dwyer – The Bougainville Photoplay Project
• Nicholas de Jongh – Plague Over England
• Johan Heldenbergh and Mieke Dobbels – The Broken Circle Breakdown featuring the cover-ups of Alabama
• Ella Hickson – Eight
• Sam Holcroft – Cockroach
• Elaine Murphy – Little Gem
• Lynn Nottage – Ruined
• Tyler Perry – The Marriage Counselor
• Taavi Vartia – Kaikkien aikojen Pertsa ja Kilu

  Poetry

Non-fiction

• The Academi – Encyclopaedia of Wales
• Julie Andrews – '
• Kwame Anthony Appiah – Experiments in Ethics
• Dan Ariely – Predictably Irrational
• Margaret Atwood – '
• Mary Beard – Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town
• Dionne Brand – A Kind of Perfect Speech
• Augusten Burroughs – A Wolf at the Table
• Michael Chabon – Maps and Legends
• D. K. Chakrabarti – The Battle for Ancient India: An essay in the sociopolitics of Indian archaeology
• Sloane Crosley – I Was Told There'd Be Cake
• John Duignan – '
• Eminem – The Way I Am
• Richard Florida – Who's Your City?
• Raymond Geuss – Philosophy and Real Politics
• Philip Hoare – Leviathan, or The Whale
• Chloe Hooper – '
• B. B. Lal – Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir, and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology, and Other Sciences
• Scholastique Mukasonga – La femme aux pieds nus
• Haruki Murakami – What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
• Shuja Nawaz – '
• Frances Osborne – The Bolter: Idina Sackville
• Chris Pash – The Last Whale
• Peter Rees – The Other ANZACs
• David Sedaris – When You Are Engulfed in Flames
• Vaclav Smil – Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems
• Chunghee Sarah Soh – The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan
• Kate Summerscale – The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, or The Murder at Road Hill House
• Ronnie Thompson – '
• Bjørn Christian Tørrissen – One for the Road
• Barbara Walters – Audition: A Memoir
• Russell Wangersky – '
• Meralda Warren and others – Mi Base side orn Pitcairn
• Dagmar S. Wodtko, Britta Irslinger and Carolin Schneider – Nomina im Indogermanischen Lexikon
• Jim Holt – '
• Thomas Cairns Livingstone –

  Deaths

• January 2 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish novelist and screenplay writer
• January 3 – Henri Chopin, French poet
• January 11 – Nancy Phelan, Australian writer
• January 13 – Patricia Verdugo, Chilean journalist and writer
• January 16 – Hone Tuwhare, New Zealand poet
• January 17 – Edward D. Hoch, American detective fiction writer
• January 26
• *John Ardagh, Nyasaland-born English journalist and writer
• *Abraham Brumberg, American writer and editor
• January 29 – Margaret Truman, American crime novelist and singer
• January 30 – Miles Kington, Northern Irish-born English journalist and writer
• February 4 – Rose Hacker, English writer and journalist
• February 7 – Richard Altick, American literary historian
• February 8 – Phyllis A. Whitney, Japan-born American mystery writer
• February 10 – Steve Gerber, American comic book writer
• February 18 – Alain Robbe-Grillet, French novelist
• February 21
• *Archie Hind, Scottish novelist
• *Robin Moore, American novelist and memoirist
• February 22 – Stephen Marlowe, American science fiction and crime writer
• February 28 – Julian Rathbone, English novelist
• February 29 – Val Plumwood, Australian philosopher
• March 16 – Jonathan Williams, American poet
• March 19
• *Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer and futurologist
• *Hugo Claus, Belgian writer in Flemish and English
• March 23 – E. A. Markham, Montserrat poet, writer and activist
• April 3 – Andrew Crozier, English poet and scholar
• April 7 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese writer and journalist
• April 13 – Robert Greacen, Irish poet
• April 17
• *Aimé Césaire, Martinique poet and writer in French
• *Zoya Krakhmalnikova, Russian writer and editor
• April 18
• *Michael de Larrabeiti, English young-adult novelist and travel writer
• *William W. Warner, American biologist and Pulitzer Prize writer
• May 1 – Elaine Dundy, American novelist, biographer and playwright
• May 9 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish critic and writer
• May 11 – Jeff Torrington, Scottish novelist
• May 12 – Oakley Hall, American novelist
• May 14 – Roy Heath, Guyanese novelist
• May 19 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright
• May 23 – Alan Brien, English journalist and novelist
• May 28 – Elinor Lyon, British children's writer
• June 2 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-born French historian and journalist
• June 4 – Matthew Bruccoli, American biographer and scholar
• June 5 – Angus Calder, British writer and scholar
• June 8 – Peter Rühmkorf, German poet and writer
• June 9 – Algis Budrys, American science fiction writer of Lithuanian origin
• June 10
• *Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyz writer in Kyrgyz and Russian
• *Eliot Asinof, American novelist and baseball writer
• June 16 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian novelist
• June 18 – Tasha Tudor, American children's writer and illustrator
• June 22 – Albert Cossery, Egyptian-born French novelist
• June 24 – Ruth Cardoso, Brazilian anthropologist and writer
• June 25 – Lyall Watson, South African scientist and new age writer
• June 27 – Lenka Reinerová, Czech writer in German
• July 1
• *Clay Felker, American magazine editor and journalist
• *Robert Harling, English typographer and novelist
• July 2 – Simone Ortega, Spanish cookery writer
• July 4
• *Thomas M. Disch, American science fiction author and poet.
• *Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch novelist and writer in Dutch and English
• July 20 – Roger Wolcott Hall, American memoirist and novelist
• July 27 – Bob Crampsey, Scottish writer
• July 30 – Peter Coke, English playwright
• August 3 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Nobel laureate
• August 7 – Simon Gray, English playwright and memoirist
• August 9 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet
• August 11 – George Furth, American playwright
• August 17 – Dave Freeman, American writer and advertising executive
• August 23 – John Russell, English art critic
• August 25 – Ahmed Faraz, Pakistani poet in Urdu
• August 31 – Ken Campbell, English novelist and playwright
• September 5 – Robert Giroux, American editor and publisher
• September 7 – Gregory Mcdonald, American mystery writer
• September 12 – David Foster Wallace, American novelist
• September 17 – James Crumley, American crime writer
• September 20 – Duncan Glen, Scottish poet, critic and literary historian
• September 23 – William Woodruff, English historian and autobiographer
• September 24 – Bengt Anderberg, Swedish poet, novelist and children's writer
• September 29 – Hayden Carruth, American poet and literary critic
• October 4 – Peter Vansittart, English novelist and historical writer
• October 14 – Barrington J. Bayley, English science fiction writer
• October 26 – Tony Hillerman, American mystery writer
• October 27 – Es'kia Mphahlele, South African writer in English
• October 29 – William Wharton, American novelist
• October 31 – Studs Terkel, American historian and broadcaster
• November 4 – Michael Crichton, American writer and scholar
• November 13 – Jules Archer, American historian and author
• November 14 – Kristin Hunter, American author and academic
• December 1 – Dorothy Sterling, American non-fiction writer for children and historian
• December 15 – Anne-Catharina Vestly, Norwegian children's book author
• December 24 – Harold Pinter, English playwright and screenwriter.
• December 31 – Donald E. Westlake, American novelist

  Awards and honors

• Camões Prize: João Ubaldo Ribeiro
• Europe Theatre Prize: Patrice Chéreau
• International Dublin Literary Award: Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game
• International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Bahaa Taher, Sunset Oasis
• Nobel Prize in Literature: J. M. G. Le Clézio

  Australia

• Miles Franklin Award: Steven Carroll, The Time We Have Taken

  Canada

• Canada Reads: Paul Quarrington, King Leary
• Dayne Ogilvie Prize: Main award, Zoe Whittall; honours of distinction, Brian Francis, John Miller.
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Bruce Serafin, Stardust
• Governor General's Awards: Multiple categories; see 2008 Governor General's Awards.
• Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction: Taras Grescoe, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood
• Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize: Miriam Toews, The Flying Troutmans
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce
• Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award: Michael Winter

  United Kingdom

• Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year: The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais, Philip M. Parker
• Caine Prize for African Writing: Henrietta Rose-Innes, "Poison"
• Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Philip Reeve, Here Lies Arthur
• Man Booker Prize: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
• Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction: to The Road Home by Rose Tremain

  United States

• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2008 Lambda Literary Awards.
• National Book Award for Fiction: to Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Laura Amy Schlitz, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Kate Christensen, The Great Man
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
• Whiting Awards: