This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1988.

Events

* March 7 – Nine thousand movie and television writers of the Writers' Guild of America go on strike a day after rejecting a final offer from producers. *

May 28 Events Pre-1600 *585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from ...

– 31 – The first

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

of literature is held in the Welsh Marches. *June – The Panasonic Globe Theatre,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, opens with an Ingmar Bergman production of Shakespeare's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. *

August 7 Events Pre-1600 * 461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the ''magister militum'' Ricimer. * 626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Co ...

– The Writers Guild of America strike formally ends. * November 15 – Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 reforms copyright law in the United Kingdom, with special provision for

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospit ...

for sick children to benefit in perpetuity from royalties in

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

's 1904 play ''

Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...

''. *''unknown date'' –

Vasily Grossman Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...

's 1960 novel ''

Life and Fate ''Life and Fate'' (russian: Жизнь и судьба) is a novel by Vasily Grossman, written in the Soviet Union in 1959 and published in 1980. Technically, it is the second half of the author's conceived two-part book under the same title. Alt ...

'' (''Жизнь и судьба'') is published for the first time in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, in the magazine '' Oktyabr''.

New books

Fiction

* Caio Fernando Abreu – ''Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso'' (Dragons, short stories) * Margaret Atwood – '' Cat's Eye'' *

Bernardo Atxaga Bernardo Atxaga (born 27 July 1951), pseudonym of Joseba Irazu Garmendia, is a Spanish Basque writer and self-translator. Biography Atxaga was born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain in 1951. He received a diploma in economics from t ...

– '' Obabakoak'' (short stories) *

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...

**'' Memories of the Space Age'' **'' Running Wild'' * Iain M. Banks – ''

The Player of Games ''The Player of Games'' is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1988. It was the second published Culture novel. A film version was planned by Pathé in the 1990s, but was abandoned. Plot Jernau Morat G ...

'' *

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

**''

Cabal A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually unbeknownst to those who are outside their group. T ...

'' **'' The Hellbound Heart'' * Thomas Berger – ''The Houseguest'' * Michael Blake – ''

Dances with Wolves ''Dances with Wolves'' is a 1990 American epic western film starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner in his feature directorial debut. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 novel '' Dances with Wolves'' by Michael Blake that tells the ...

'' * Dionne Brand – ''Sans Souci and Other Stories'' *

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

– '' The Toynbee Convector'' (short story) *

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

– ''

Treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

'' * Peter Carey – '' Oscar and Lucinda'' * Roger Caron – ''Jojo'' *

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

– ''

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh ''The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'' is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing as a 21-year-old undergrad ...

'' * Tom Clancy – '' The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' *

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more book ...

– '' The Alchemist'' * Hugh Cook – ''The Walrus and the Warwolf'' *

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

**'' Sharpe's Rifles'' **''Wildtrack'' *

Jim Crace James Crace (born 1 March 1946) is an English novelist, playwright and short story writer. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999, Crace was born in Hertfordshire and has lectured at the University of Texas at Austin. His n ...

– ''

The Gift of Stones ''The Gift of Stones'' is a 1988 novel by British author Jim Crace. The novel, written in poetic language, takes place at the end of the Neolithic period, as the introduction of bronze tools disrupt the established order. It is narrated by the v ...

'' *

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, '' Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC i ...

– ''

Nervous Conditions ''Nervous Conditions'' is a novel by Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga, first published in the United Kingdom in 1988. It was the first book published by a black woman from Zimbabwe in English. ''Nervous Conditions'' won the Commonwealth Wri ...

'' * Robertson Davies – '' The Lyre of Orpheus'' * L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp – '' The Stones of Nomuru'' *

Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...

– '' Libra'' * Dương Thu Hương – '' Paradise of the Blind (Những thiên đường mù)'' * Allan W. Eckert – ''The Dark Green Tunnel'' *

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

– ''

Foucault's Pendulum ''Foucault's Pendulum'' (original title: ''Il pendolo di Foucault'' ) is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988, and an English translation by William Weaver appeared a year later. ''Foucault's P ...

(Il pendolo di Foucault)'' * John Gardner – ''

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gr ...

'' *

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...

– '' The Silence of the Lambs'' *

Joseph Heller Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for ...

– '' Picture This'' * Alan Hollinghurst – '' The Swimming Pool Library'' * William Horwood – '' Duncton Wood'' *

Hamid Ismailov Hamid Ismailov (russian: Хамид Исмайлов) ( uz, Hamid Ismoilov / Ҳамид Исмоилов or Абдулҳамид Исмоил) born May 5, 1954 in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, is an Uzbek journalist and writer who was forced to flee Uzbeki ...

– Собрание Утончённых * Judith Krantz – '' 'Til We Meet Again'' * Doris Lessing – ''

The Fifth Child ''The Fifth Child'' is a short novel by the British writer Doris Lessing, first published in the United Kingdom in 1988, and since translated into several languages. It describes the changes in the happy life of a married couple, Harriet and Davi ...

'' * Bernard-Henri Lévy – '' Les Derniers Jours de Charles Baudelaire'' *

Robert Ludlum Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 – March 12, 2001) was an American author of 27 thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original '' The Bourne Trilogy'' series. The number of copies of his books in print is estimated b ...

– '' The Icarus Agenda'' *

Javier Marías Javier Marías Franco (20 September 1951 – 11 September 2022) was a Spanish author, translator, and columnist. Marías published fifteen novels, including '' A Heart So White'' (''Corazón tan blanco,'' 1992'')'' and '' Tomorrow in the Battle ...

– ''Todas las almas'' (All Souls) * David Markson – '' Wittgenstein's Mistress'' * James A. Michener – ''

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

'' * Robert B. Parker – '' Crimson Joy'' * Belva Plain – ''Tapestry'' *

Ellis Peters Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her ''nom de plume'' Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her transla ...

**'' The Confession of Brother Haluin'' **'' A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael'' *

Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel '' The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Prisoner's Dilemma The Prisoner's Dilemma is an example of a game analyzed in game theory. It is also a thought experiment that challenges two completely rational agents to a dilemma: cooperate with their partner for mutual reward, or betray their partner ("def ...

'' *

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...

– '' On Stranger Tides'' *

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...

**''

Sourcery ''Sourcery'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the fifth book in his '' Discworld'' series, published in 1988. On the Discworld, sourcerers – wizards who are sources of magic, and thus immensely more powerful ...

'' **''

Wyrd Sisters ''Wyrd Sisters'' is Terry Pratchett's sixth ''Discworld'' novel, published in 1988. It re-introduces Granny Weatherwax of ''Equal Rites''. Plot ''Wyrd Sisters'' features three witches: Granny Weatherwax; Nanny Ogg, matriarch of a large tri ...

'' * Christoph Ransmayr – '' The Last World'' *

Jean Raspail Jean Raspail (, 5 July 1925 – 13 June 2020) was a French author, traveler, and explorer. Many of his books are about historical figures, exploration and indigenous peoples. He was a recipient of the prestigious French literary awards Grand Pri ...

– '' Blue Island'' * Alina Reyes – ''The Butcher'' * David Adams Richards – '' Nights Below Station Street'' *

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

– ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

'' * Richard Russo – '' The Risk Pool'' * R. A. Salvatore – ''The Crystal Shard'' (first of '' The Icewind Dale Trilogy'') *

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxe ...

– '' The Sands of Time'' * Clark Ashton Smith – '' A Rendezvous in Averoigne'' * Danielle Steel – '' Zoya'' * Thomas Sullivan – ''The Phases of Harry Moon'' *

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bor ...

– '' The Kentish Manor Murders'' * Nikolai Tolstoy – '' The Coming of the King'' *

Anne Tyler Anne Tyler (born October 25, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published twenty-four novels, including '' Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' (1982), ''The Accidental Tourist'' (1985), and ''Breathi ...

– '' Breathing Lessons'' *

Andrew Vachss Andrew Henry Vachss ( ; October 19, 1942 – November 23, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths. Early life and career Vachss grew up in Manhattan o ...

– ''

Blue Belle ''Blue Belle'', also known as ''Annie'', is a 1976 drama film directed by Massimo Dallamano and starring Annie Belle, Felicity Devonshire, and Maria Rohm. Its Italian title is ''Fine dell'innocenza'' (). Premise A young woman meets up with her ...

'' * Mario Vargas Llosa – '' In Praise of the Stepmother (Elogio de la madrastra)'' *

Banana Yoshimoto is the pen name of Japanese writer . From 2002 to 2015, she wrote her name in hiragana (). Biography Yoshimoto was born in Tokyo on July 24, 1964, and grew up in a liberal family. Her father is the poet and critic Takaaki Yoshimoto, and her sist ...

– ''

Kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...

Children and young people

Chris Van Allsburg Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for ''Jumanji'' (1981) and ''The Polar Express'' (1985), both of which he a ...

– '' Two Bad Ants'' * Martin Auer – '' Now, Now, Markus (Bimbo und sein Vogel)'' * Lyll Becerra de Jenkins - '' The Honorable Prison'' * Roald Dahl – '' Matilda'' * Janice Elliott – ''The Empty Throne'' (second in ''The Sword and the Dream'' series) *

Virginia Hamilton Virginia Esther Hamilton (March 12, 1936 – February 19, 2002) was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including '' M. C. Higgins, the Great'' (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Bo ...

(with Barry Moser) – ''In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World'' *

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...

– ''

Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...

'' * Elizabeth Laird – ''

Red Sky in the Morning ''Red Sky in the Morning'' is a young adult novel by Elizabeth Laird, first published in 1988. The novel was published as ''Loving Ben'' in its initial American release. Plot Anna is happy when her parents announce to her that they are ha ...

'' (also as '' Loving Ben'') * Geraldine McCaughrean – '' A Pack of Lies'' * Patricia McKissack – '' Mirandy and Brother Wind'' * Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (with Eva Moore et al.) – ''Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems'' *

Christopher Tolkien Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father ...

(with J. R. R. Tolkien and Alan Lee) – '' The Return of the Shadow'' * P. L. Travers – '' Mary Poppins and the House Next Door'' * Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (with Willi Glasauer) – ''Escenas de la Literatura Universal y Retratos de Grandes Autores (Scenes from World Literature and Portraits of Greatest Authors)''

Drama

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

– ''

Single Spies ''Single Spies'' is a 1988 double bill written by the English playwright Alan Bennett. It consists of ''An Englishman Abroad'' and '' A Question of Attribution'', the former an adaptation of a television play the author had written for the BBC i ...

'' (stage versions of ''

An Englishman Abroad ''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The pr ...

'' and '' A Question of Attribution'') * Thomas Bernhard – ''Heldenplatz'' * David Henry Hwang – '' M. Butterfly'' * Ann-Marie MacDonald – '' Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)'' *

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...

– ''

Lettice and Lovage ''Lettice and Lovage'' is a comical and satirical play by Peter Shaffer.''A Dictionary of Writers and their Works'' (2 ed.) (2012) Oxford University Press; It is centered around a flamboyant tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind a ...

'' * Tom Stoppard – '' Hapgood'' * Botho Strauß – '' Seven Doors (Sieben Türen)''

Poetry

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

– '' El imperio de los sueños'' (Empire of Dreams) * James Merrill – '' The Inner Room'' * Grazyna Miller – "Curriculum"

Non-fiction

David Herbert Donald David Herbert Donald (October 1, 1920 – May 17, 2009) was an American historian, best known for his 1995 biography of Abraham Lincoln. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for earlier works; he published more than 30 books on United S ...

– '' Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe'' *

Albert Goldman Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American academic and author. Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines. He is best known f ...

– '' The Lives of John Lennon'' * Sita Ram Goel – '' Catholic Ashrams'' * Stephen Hawking – '' A Brief History of Time'' * K. S. Lal – '' The Mughal Harem'' * Patrick Macnee and Marie Cameron – ''Blind in One Ear: The Avenger Returns'' (Macnee's autobiography) *

Michel Maffesoli Michel Maffesoli (born 14 November 1944) is a French sociologist. He is a former pupil of Gilbert Durand and Julien Freund, and an emeritus professor at Paris Descartes University. His work touches upon the issue of community links and the p ...

– ''

The Time of the Tribes ''The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society'' (french: Le Temps des tribus : le déclin de l'individualisme dans les sociétés de masse) is a 1988 book by the French sociologist Michel Maffesoli. It argues that mass so ...

'' (''Le Temps des tribus'') * Lou Mollgaard – '' Kiki: Reine de la Montparnasse'' * Rosalind Miles – '' The Women's History of the World'' *

Alanna Nash Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer. Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1950, Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books. She is a 1972 graduat ...

– ''Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch'' * Lady Violet Powell – ''The Life of a Provincial Lady: A Study of E. M. Delafield and Her Works'' *

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

– '' The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography'' * Miranda Seymour – ''A Ring of Conspirators: Henry James and his Literary Circle, 1895–1915'' * Joe Simpson – ''Touching the Void (book), Touching the Void'' *William L. Sullivan (author), William L. Sullivan – ''Listening for Coyote'' *Frédéric Vitoux (writer), Frédéric Vitoux – ''Céline: A Biography'' (''La Vie de Céline'')

Births

*January 28 - Pierce Brown, American science-fiction writer *May 18 – Luu Quang Minh, Vietnamese writer and singer *August 19 - Veronica Roth, American young-adult novelist and short story writer *October 14 – Ocean Vuong, Vietnamese-American poet *November 9 - Tahereh Mafi, American young-adult novelist *''unknown date'' – Fiona Mozley, English novelist and medievalist

Deaths

*February 3 – Robert Duncan (poet), Robert Duncan, American poet (born 1919 in literature, 1919) *February 6 – Marghanita Laski, English biographer, novelist and broadcaster (born 1915 in literature, 1915) *February 28 – Kylie Tennant, Australian novelist, playwright and historian (born 1912 in literature, 1912) *March 19 – Máirtín Ó Direáin, Irish-language poet (born 1910 in literature, 1910) *April 12 – Alan Paton, South African novelist and political activist (born 1903 in literature, 1903) *April 15 – Modest Morariu, Romanian poet, essayist, prose writer and translator (born 1929 in literature, 1929) *April 21 – I. A. L. Diamond, Bessarabian-born American comedy writer (born 1920 in literature, 1920) *May 3 – Premendra Mitra, Bengali poet, novelist and short story writer (born 1904 in literature, 1904) *May 8 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (born 1907 in literature, 1907) *May 10 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (born 1902 in literature, 1902) *May 23 – Aya Kitō, Japanese diarist (born 1962 in literature, 1962) *June 6 – Gheorghe Eminescu, Romanian historian and memoirist (lung disease, born 1890 in literature, 1890) *June 10 – Louis L'Amour, American western novelist (born 1908 in literature, 1908) *June 21 – George Ivașcu, Romanian journalist, literary critic, and communist militant (born 1911 in literature, 1911) *July 10 – Enrique Lihn, Chilean poet, playwright, and novelist (cancer, born 1929 in literature, 1929) *July 12 – Joshua Logan, American stage and film writer (born 1908 in literature, 1908) *August 2 – Raymond Carver, American short-story writer and poet (born 1938 in literature, 1938) *August 20 – Joan G. Robinson, English children's writer and illustrator (born 1910 in literature, 1910) *August 23 – Menotti Del Picchia, Brazilian poet, journalist and painter (born 1892 in literature, 1892) *August 28 – Max Shulman, American novelist, short-story writer and dramatist (born 1919 in literature, 1919) *September 28 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist (born 1912 in literature, 1912) *October 1 – Sacheverell Sitwell, English art critic (born 1897 in literature, 1897) *October 10 – Bhabani Bhattacharya, Indian fiction writer (born 1906 in literature, 1906) *October 12 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, British children's author (born 1895 in literature, 1895) *October 16 – Christian Matras (poet), Christian Matras, Faroese poet (born 1900 in literature, 1900) *November 2 – Stewart Parker, Northern Irish poet and playwright (cancer, born 1941 in literature, 1941) *November 8 – Hamad al-Hajji, Saudi Arabian poet (born 1939 in literature, 1939) *December 16 – Frank Bonham, American western and young adult novelist (born 1914 in literature, 1914)

Awards

*Nobel Prize for Literature: Naguib Mahfouz

Australia

*The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Tom Flood, ''Oceana Fine'' *C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Judith Beveridge, ''The Domesticity of Giraffes'' *Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Judith Beveridge, ''The Domesticity of Giraffes'' *Mary Gilmore Prize: Judith Beveridge, ''The Domesticity of Giraffes'' *Miles Franklin Award: No award presented

Canada

*See 1988 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

France

*Grand Prix de Littérature Policière#International Prize, Grand Prix de Littérature Policière International:

, ''Andrew Vachss#The Burke series, Strega'' *Prix Goncourt: Érik Orsenna, ''L'Exposition coloniale'' *Prix Médicis French: Christiane Rochefort, ''La Porte du fond'' *Prix Médicis International: Thomas Bernhard, ''les Maîtres anciens''

United Kingdom

*Booker Prize: Peter Carey, '' Oscar and Lucinda'' *Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Geraldine McCaughrean, '' A Pack of Lies'' *Cholmondeley Award: John Heath-Stubbs, Sean O'Brien (writer), Sean O'Brien, John Whitworth (poet), John Whitworth *Eric Gregory Award: Michael Symmons Roberts, Gwyneth Lewis, Adrian Blackledge, Simon Armitage, Robert Crawford (Scottish poet), Robert Crawford *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Piers Paul Read, ''A Season in the West'' *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Brian McGuinness, ''Wittgenstein, A Life: Young Ludwig (1889–1921)'' *Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Derek Walcott *1988 Whitbread Awards, Whitbread Best Book Award: Paul Sayer, ''The Comforts of Madness (novel), The Comforts of Madness'' *The Sunday Express Book of the Year: David Lodge (author), David Lodge, ''Nice Work''

United States

*Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Maxine Scates, ''Toluca Street'' *Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Richard Wilbur *Frost Medal: Carolyn Kizer *National Book Award for Fiction: Pete Dexter, ''Paris Trout'' *National Book Critics Circle: Bharati Mukherjee, ''The Middleman and Other Stories'' *Nebula Award: Lois McMaster Bujold, ''Falling Free'' *Newbery Medal for children's literature: Russell Freedman, ''Lincoln: A Photobiography'' *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: T. Coraghessan Boyle, ''World's End (Boyle novel), World's End'' *Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Alfred Uhry, ''Driving Miss Daisy'' *Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Toni Morrison, ''Beloved (novel), Beloved'' *Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: William Morris Meredith, Jr., William Meredith: ''Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems'' *Whiting Awards: Fiction: Lydia Davis, Bruce Duffy, Jonathan Franzen, Mary La Chapelle, William T. Vollmann. Nonfiction: Gerald Early, Geoffrey O'Brien. Poetry: Michael Burkard, Li-Young Lee, Sylvia Moss

Spain

*Premio Nadal: , ''Retratos de ambigú''

References

{{Year in literature article categories 1988 books, Years of the 20th century in literature