2004 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2004. == Events == January The poet Jang Jin-sung, in trouble with the North Korean authorities, defects to South Korea. The Richard & Judy Book Club is launched on UK daytime television. February – Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation. February 16 – Edwin Morgan becomes Scotland's first official national poet, the Scots Makar, appointed by the Scottish Parliament. May 23 – Seattle Central Library, designed by Rem Koolhaas, opens to the public. June 1 – Controversy surrounds Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (高見広春), when an 11-year-old fan of the story in Sasebo, Nagasaki, murders her classmate, 12-year-old Satomi Mitarai, in a way that mimics a scene from the story. October 14 – Edinburgh becomes UNESCO's first City of Literature. October 31 – Denoël in Paris publishes Irène Némirovsky's Suite française, consisting of two novellas, Tempête en juin and Dolce, written and set in 1940–1941, from a sequence left unfinished on the author's death in Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942. December 18 – The première of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's play Behzti (Dishonour) at England's Birmingham Repertory Theatre is cancelled after violent protests by members of the Sikh community. unknown dates Kansas City Public Library's Community Bookshelf is built. The typeface Calibri, designed by Luc(as) de Groot, is introduced. == New books == === Fiction === Cecelia Ahern – PS, I Love You Blue Balliett – Chasing Vermeer Iain M. Banks – The Algebraist Steven Barnes – The Cestus Deception Alistair Beaton – A Planet for the President Thomas Berger – Adventures of the Artificial Woman Roberto Bolaño (posthumous) – 2666 T. C. Boyle – The Inner Circle Gennifer Choldenko – Al Capone Does My Shirts Kate Christensen – The Epicure's Lament: A Novel Stephen Clarke – A Year in the Merde Susanna Clarke – Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Wendy Coakley-Thompson – Back to Life Suzanne Collins – Gregor the Overlander J. J. Connolly – Layer Cake Afua Cooper – The Hanging of Angelique Bernard Cornwell Sharpe's Escape The Last Kingdom Douglas Coupland – Eleanor Rigby Stevie Davies – Kith & Kin L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg – Sagas of Conan Michel Déon – Your Father's Room Cory Doctorow – Eastern Standard Tribe Saken Omur – Joyful Road Ben Elton – Past Mortem Gustav Ernst – Grado. Süße Nacht Giorgio Faletti – Niente di vero tranne gli occhi Jon Fosse – Det er Ales (Aliss at the Fire) Karen Joy Fowler – The Jane Austen Book Club Ge Fei (格非) – 人面桃花 (Renmian Taohua, Peach Blossom Beauty) Robert Goddard – Play to the End Adrien Goetz – La Dormeuse de Naples Helon Habila – Waiting for an Angel Margaret Peterson Haddix – Among the Brave Elisabeth Harvor, All Times Have Been Modern (Canada) Michael Helm – In the Place of Last Things Carl Hiaasen – Skinny Dip Alan Hollinghurst – The Line of Beauty Jiang Rong – Wolf Totem Cynthia Kadohata – Kira-Kira Mitsuyo Kakuta (角田 光代) – Woman on the Other Shore Peg Kehret – Escaping the Giant Wave Thomas Keneally – The Tyrant's Novel Stephen King The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower John Kiriamiti – My Life in Prison Karl Ove Knausgård – A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven (En tid for alt) László Krasznahorkai – Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens (Rombolás és bánat az Ég alatt) Thor Kunkel – Endstufe David Leavitt – The Body of Jonah Boyd Tanith Lee – Piratica David Lodge – Author, Author Andreï Makine – The Woman Who Waited (La femme qui attendait) Henning Mankell – Depths (Djup) David Michaels – Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell David Mitchell – Cloud Atlas Aka Morchiladze – Santa Esperanza Bharati Mukherjee – The Tree Bride Alice Munro – Runaway V. S. Naipaul – Magic Seeds Garth Nix – Grim Tuesday Cees Nooteboom – Lost Paradise (Paradijs verloren) Linda Sue Park – When My Name Was Keoko Jodi Picoult – My Sister's Keeper Terry Pratchett A Hat Full of Sky Going Postal Michael Reaves and Steve Perry – MedStar I: Battle Surgeons and MedStar II: Jedi Healer Marilynne Robinson – Gilead Philip Roth – The Plot Against America Edward Rutherfurd – Dublin: Foundation Nick Sagan – Edenborn Andrzej Sapkowski – Warriors of God David Sherman and Dan Cragg – Jedi Trial Kyle Smith – Love Monkey David Southwell – Conspiracy Files Muriel Spark – The Finishing School Olen Steinhauer – The Confession Neal Stephenson The Confusion (Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle) The System of the World (Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle) Sean Stewart – Yoda: Dark Rendezvous Michel Thaler – Le Train de Nulle Part Colm Tóibín – The Master Zlatko Topčić – Bare Skin Karen Traviss – Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact Jonathan Trigell – Boy A Andrew Vachss – Down Here Vivian Vande Velde – Heir Apparent Bob Weltlich – Crooked Zebra A. N. Wilson – My Name Is Legion Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Shadow of the Wind Juli Zeh – Gaming Instinct Florian Zeller – La Fascination du pire (The Fascination of Evil) === Children and young people === David Almond – Kate, the Cat and the Moon Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson - Peter and the Starcatchers Mary Bartek – Funerals and Fly Fishing John Fardell – The Seven Professors of the Far North Mem Fox – Where Is the Green Sheep? Cornelia Funke – When Santa Fell to Earth Virginia Hamilton (with Barry Moser) – Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny: An Original African American Scare Tale E. L. Konigsburg - The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place Gordon Korman – Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – The Stolen Smile Robert Muchamore – The Recruit (first in the CHERUB series) Jenny Nimmo – Charlie Bone and the Blue Boa Liz Pichon – My Big Brother, Boris Carlos Cuauhtémoc Sánchez – The Eyes of My Princess Lemony Snicket – The Grim Grotto Dugald Steer (with Nghiem Ta, etc.) – Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris === Drama === Alan Bennett – The History Boys Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti – Behzti Neil Brand – Stan (radio) Bryony Lavery – Frozen Brent Hartinger – Geography Club Louis Nowra – The Woman with Dog's Eyes John Patrick Shanley – Doubt Florian Zeller – L'Autre (The Other) === Poetry === Seamus Heaney – Beacons at Bealtaine === Non-fiction === Steve Almond – Candyfreak Thomas P.M. Barnett – The Pentagon's New Map Ingmar and Ingrid Bergman and Maria von Rosen – Tre dagböcker (Three diaries) T. Mike Childs – The Rocklopedia Fakebandica Richard A. Clarke – Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror Jonathan Coe – Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B. S. Johnson Allison Hedge Coke – Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer Anne Coleman – I'll Tell You a Secret Flora Fraser – Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III Leonie Frieda – Catherine de' Medici David Graeber – Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology Sheila Hancock – The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw Gareth Stedman Jones – An End to Poverty? Ryszard Kapuściński – Travels with Herodotus Pedro Lemebel – Adiós mariquita linda Doris Lessing – Time Bites: Views and Reviews Lawrence Lessig – Free Culture Mario Vargas Llosa – The Temptation of the Impossible Roger Lowenstein – Origins of the Crash Hugh Masekela – Still Grazing (autobiography) Predrag Miletić – Biciklom do Hilandara Farah Pahlavi – An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah Chuck Palahniuk – Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories Michael Palin – Himalaya Sethy Regenvanu – Laef blong mi (From village to nation: an autobiography) Anita Roddick – Take it Personally: How globalization affects you and powerful ways to challenge it Miranda Seymour – The Bugatti Queen: In Search of a Motor-Racing Legend Owen Sheers – The Dust Diaries Rebecca Solnit – Hope in the Dark Ben Stein – Can America Survive? The Rage of the Left, The Truth, and What to Do About It Jon Stewart and writers of The Daily Show – America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction Milt Thomas – Cave of a Thousand Tales J. Maarten Troost – The Sex Lives of Cannibals United Kingdom Government – Delivering Security in a Changing World Francis Wheen – How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World (also Idiot Proof: A Short History of Modern Delusions) Alford A. Young Jr. – The Minds of Marginalized Black Men == Films == 2046 - inspired by Liu Yichang's "The Drunkard" Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The Phantom of the Opera == Deaths == January 3 – Lillian Beckwith, English novelist (born 1916) January 4 Joan Aiken, English novelist and children's writer (born 1924) Jeff Nuttall, English poet, artist and activist (born 1933) Dorota Terakowska, Polish writer and journalist, author of fantasy books for children and young adults (born 1938) John Toland, American author and historian (born 1912) January 10 Alexandra Ripley, American novelist (born 1934) (or January 11) Spalding Gray, American writer and actor (born 1942) January 13 – Zeno Vendler, American philosopher and linguist (born 1921) January 14 – Jack Cady, American fantasy and horror novelist (born 1932) January 15 Alex Barris, Canadian actor and writer (born 1922) Olivia Goldsmith, American novelist (complications from cosmetic surgery, born 1949) January 24 – Abdul Rahman Munif, Arab writer (born 1933) January 29 Janet Frame, New Zealand novelist, poet and short story writer (born 1924) M. M. Kaye, Indian-born English novelist (born 1908) February 2 – Alan Bullock, English historian (born 1914) February 4 – Hilda Hilst, Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist (born 1930) February 5 – Frances Partridge, English diarist (born 1900) February 7 – Norman Thelwell, English cartoonist (born 1923) February 17 – Bruce Beaver, Australian poet and novelist (born 1928) February 27 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and editor (born 1910) February 28 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian (born 1914) February 29 – Jerome Lawrence, American playwright (born 1915) March 9 – Albert Mol, Dutch author, actor and dancer (born 1917) March 27 – Robert Merle, French novelist (born 1908) March 29 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, dramatist and memoirist (born 1921) March 30 Alistair Cooke, English-born American journalist and broadcaster (born 1908) Michael King OBE, New Zealand historian, author and biographer (born 1945) April 19 Norris McWhirter, English writer and activist (born 1925) John Maynard Smith, English evolutionary biologist and writer (born 1920) April 25 – Thom Gunn, English poet (born 1929) April 26 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author (born 1928) May 2 – Paul Guimard, French writer (born 1921) May 12 Syd Hoff, American author and illustrator (born 1912) Alexander Skutch, American scientific writer and naturalist (born 1904) May 31 – Lionel Abrahams, South African novelist, poet and essayist (born 1928) July 1 – Peter Barnes, English playwright (born 1931) July 8 – Paula Danziger, American children's and young adult novelist (born 1945) August 8 – Farida Diouri, Moroccan novelist (born 1953) August 12 – Humayun Azad, Bangladeshi author, poet, scholar and linguist (born 1947) August 14 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish writer and Nobel laureate (born 1911) August 30 – Mario Levrero, Uruguayan novelist (born 1940) September 18 – Norman Cantor, Canadian historian (born 1929) September 24 – Françoise Sagan, French novelist (born 1935) September 28 – Mulk Raj Anand, Indian novelist in English (born 1905) October – Natalya Baranskaya, Russian short-story writer (born 1908) October 8 – Jacques Derrida, Algerian-born French literary critic (born 1930) October 13 – Bernice Rubens, Welsh-born novelist (born 1928) October 16 Vincent Brome, English biographer and novelist (born 1910) Harold Perkin, English social historian (born 1926) October 20 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (born 1923) November 9 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and crime novelist (heart attack, born 1954) November 24 – Arthur Hailey, Canadian novelist (born 1920) December 2 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (born 1921) December 8 – Jackson Mac Low, American poet (born 1922) December 12 – Phaswane Mpe, South African novelist (born 1970) December 13 – Jón frá Pálmholti (Jón Kjartansson), Icelandic writer and journalist (born 1930) December 18 – Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (born 1926) December 28 – Susan Sontag, American novelist (born 1933) == Awards == Nobel Prize for Literature: Elfriede Jelinek Camões Prize: Agustina Bessa-Luís === Australia === The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Julienne van Loon, Road Story Victorian Premier's Literary Award C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Judith Beveridge, Wolf Notes Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Pam Brown, Dear Deliria: New & Selected Poems Mary Gilmore Prize: David McCooey, Blister Pack; Michael Brennan, Imageless World Miles Franklin Award: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire Victorian Premier's Literary Award Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction: Annamarie Jagose, Slow Water === Canada === Giller Prize: Alice Munro, Runaway Governor General's Awards: See 2004 Governor General's Awards Griffin Poetry Prize: Anne Simpson, Loop and August Kleinzahler, The Strange Hours Travelers Keep Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue === Sweden === Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award: Lygia Bojunga Nunes === United Kingdom === Caine Prize for African Writing: Brian Chikwava, "Seventh Street Alchemy" Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions Cholmondeley Award: John Agard, Ruth Padel Lawrence Sail, Eva Salzman Eric Gregory Award: Nick Laird, Elizabeth Manuel, Abi Curtis, Sophie Levy, Saradha Soobrayen James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Jonathan Bate, John Clare: A Biography James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: David Peace, GB84 Man Booker Prize: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty Orange Prize for Fiction: Andrea Levy, Small Island Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Hugo Williams Whitbread Best Book Award: Andrea Levy, Small Island === United States === Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Henry Taylor Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Aaron Smith, Blue on Blue Ground Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Jeremy Glazier, "Conversations with the Sidereal Messenger" Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: B.H. Fairchild, Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower Midwest Brittingham Prize in Poetry: John Brehm, Sea of Faith Compton Crook Award: E. E. Knight, Way of the Wolf Frost Medal: Richard Howard Hugo Award for Best Novel: Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2004 Lambda Literary Awards. National Book Award for Fiction: to The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck National Book Critics Circle Award: to Gilead by Marilynne Robinson PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to The Early Stories: 1953–1975 by John Updike Wallace Stevens Award: Mark Strand Whiting Awards: Fiction: Daniel Alarcón, Kirsten Bakis, Victor LaValle Nonfiction: Allison Glock, John Jeremiah Sullivan Plays: Elana Greenfield, Tracey Scott Wilson Poetry: Catherine Barnett, Dan Chiasson, A. Van Jordan === Elsewhere === Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Péter Esterházy Premio Nadal: Antonio Soler, El camino de los ingleses == See also == List of years in literature Literature Poetry List of literary awards List of poetry awards The Best American Short Stories 2004 2004 in Australian literature == Notes == Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford companion to children's literature (Second ed.). Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-871554-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) == References == == External links == Popular Books of 2004 at Goodreads Published 2004 Books at Goodreads 2004 Books at Goodreads