1959 In Literature

Article Index for
1959 In

Website Links For
1959

Information About

1959 In Literature

The year 1959 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

EVENTS

Aldous Huxley turns down the offer of a Knighthood .

First appearance of Astérix the Gaul.

Colin Dexter begins teaching at Corby Grammar School.

Frank Herbert begins researching ''Dune''.

Frederik Pohl becomes editor of ''Galaxy'' magazine.

Marcel Achard is elected to the Académie Française .

NEW BOOKS

Isaac Asimov - '' Nine Tomorrows ''

Saul Bellow - '' Henderson The Rain King ''

Robert Bloch - '' Psycho ''

Ray Bradbury - '' A Medicine For Melancholy ''

John Brunner

---'' Echo In The Skull ''

---'' The World Swappers ''

Algis Budrys - '' The Falling Torch ''

William S. Burroughs - '' Naked Lunch ''

Taylor Caldwell - '' Dear And Glorious Physician ''

Richard Condon - '' The Manchurian Candidate ''

Alexander Cordell - '' Rape Of The Fair Country ''

Robert Crichton - ''The Great Impostor''

Allen Drury - '' Advise And Consent ''

Alfred Duggan - '' Children Of The Wolf ''

Gerald Durrell - '' My Family And Other Animals ''

Lawrence Durrell - '' Mountolive ''

Ian Fleming - '' Goldfinger ''

Paul Gallico - '' Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris ''

Günter Grass - '' The Tin Drum ''

Robert A. Heinlein

---'' The Menace From Earth ''

---'' Starship Troopers ''

---'' The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag ''

Shirley Jackson - '' The Haunting Of Hill House ''

William J. Lederer and Eugene L. Burdick - '' The Ugly American ''

H.P. Lovecraft and Divers Hands - '' The Shuttered Room And Other Pieces ''

John Lymington - '' Night Of The Big Heat ''

Naguib Mahfouz - '' The Children Of Gebelaawi ''

Norman Mailer - '' Advertisement For Myself ''

James A. Michener - '' Hawaii ''

Mervyn Peake - '' Titus Alone ''

Robert Randall (pseudonym of Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett ) - '' The Dawning Light ''

Mordecai Richler - '' The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz ''

Philip Roth - '' Goodbye, Columbus ''

Robert Ruark - '' Poor No More ''

Terry Southern - '' The Magic Christian ''

John Updike - ''The Same Door''

Leon Uris - '' Exodus ''

Kurt Vonnegut - '' The Sirens Of Titan ''

NEW DRAMA

Tennessee Williams - '' Sweet Bird Of Youth ''

NON-FICTION

Kenneth Anger - '' Hollywood Babylon ''

Thomas B. Costain - '' The Three Edwards '' (Third book in the Plantagenet or Pageant of England series)

L. Sprague De Camp - '' Engines ''

August Derleth

---''''

---'' Some Notes On H.P. Lovecraft ''

Savitri Devi - '' Impeachment Of Man ''

C. S. Forester - '' Sink The Bismarck! '' aka ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck''

Erving Goffman - '' The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life ''

Garrett Mattingly - '' The Defeat Of The Spanish Armada ''

Karl Popper - '' The Logic Of Scientific Discovery ''

Cornelius Ryan - '' The Longest Day ''

William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White - '' The Elements Of Style ''

BIRTHS

March 15 - Ben Okri , poet and novelist

March 18 - Frédéric-Yves Jeannet , novelist and critic

May 3 - Ben Elton , British comedian and author

October 31 - Neal Stephenson - science fiction writer

''date unknown

--- Paul Anderson , journalist

--- Maurice Georges Dantec , science fiction author

--- R. A. Salvatore , Science Fiction and Fantasy author

DEATHS

January 3 - Edwin Muir , poet, novelist and translator

January 29 - Pauline Smith , novelist

February 22 - Percy F. Westerman , children's author

February 23 - Luis Palés Matos , poet

February 28 - Maxwell Anderson , playwright, film writer

March 26 - Raymond Chandler , American novelist

April 14 - Julien Josephson , screenwriter

May 18 - Apsley Cherry-Garrard , explorer and memoirist

June 23 - Boris Vian , French novelist

June 30 - José Vasconcelos , political writer

September 18 - Benjamin Péret , poet

''date unknown''

--- Olga Knipper , widow of Anton Chekhov and star of many of his plays

--- Alfred Schütz , philosopher and sociologist

AWARDS

Hugo Award - James Blish , ''A Case of Conscience''

, ''The Witch of Blackbird Pond''

, ''Primera memoria''

, ''J. B.''

, ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters''

, ''Selected Poems 1928-1958''