Events
*January 1 – The publishing firm Jonathan Cape is founded in Bloomsbury, London, by Herbert Jonathan Cape and Wren Howard. *February – Margaret Caroline Anderson and Jane Heap, publishers of ''The Little Review'', are Obscenity trial of Ulysses in The Little Review, convicted of obscenity in a New York City, New York court for publishing the "Nausicaa" episode of James Joyce's ''Ulysses (novel), Ulysses''. *March – Jorge Luis Borges returns to his native Buenos Aires in Argentina after a period living with his family in Europe. *April 20 – The Hungarian Ferenc Molnár's play ''Liliom'' is first produced on Broadway theatre, Broadway in English. *May 9 – The première of Luigi Pirandello's ''Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore)'' at the Teatro Valle in Rome divides the audience. *May – A production of ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' directed by Robert Atkins at The Old Vic, London, restores the unexpurgated text for the first time since Shakespeare's day. *June 6 – The première of Tristan Tzara's parodic ''The Gas Heart (Le Cœur à gaz)'' takes place at a Dada Salon at the Galerie Montaigne in Paris. It provokes audience derision. *June 10 – D. H. Lawrence's novel ''Women in Love'' is first published commercially by Martin Secker in London. *September 5 – The Cervantes Theatre (Buenos Aires) opens with a production of Lope de Vega's ''La dama boba'' (The Foolish Lady, 1613 in literature, 1613). *September 26 – The Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich, England, an old chapel, is turned into an English Renaissance theatre for period drama by an amateur Repertory theatre, repertory company directed by Walter Nugent Monck. It opens with ''As You Like It''. *December 9 – John William Gott becomes the last person in England imprisoned for blasphemous libel. *December 31 – Mexican poetry, Mexican poet Manuel Maples Arce distributes the first Stridentism, Stridentist manifesto, ''Comprimido estridentista'', in the broadsheet ''Actual'' No. 1 in Mexico City.New books
Fiction
*Elizabeth von Arnim - ''Vera (novel), Vera'' *Ryūnosuke Akutagawa – "Autumn Mountain" (秋山, ''Akiyama'') *Ruby M. Ayres **''The Second Honeymoon'' **''The Uphill Road'' *E.F. Benson **''Dodo Wonders'' **''Lovers and Friends'' *Edgar Rice Burroughs – ''Tarzan the Terrible'' *James Branch Cabell – ''Figures of Earth'' *Hall Caine – ''The Master of Man'' *Karel Čapek – ''Trapné povídky'' (Embarrassing Stories, translated as ''Money and other stories'') *Willa Cather – ''Alexander's Bridge'' *Arthur Chapman (poet), Arthur Chapman – ''Mystery Ranch'' *A. E. Coppard – ''Adam & Eve & Pinch Me: Tales'' *Mary Cholmondeley – ''The Romance of His Life'' *Marie Corelli – ''The Secret Power'' *Miloš Crnjanski – ''The Journal of Čarnojević'' (Дневник о Чарнојевићу, ''Dnevnik o Čarnojeviću'') *Walter de la Mare – ''Memoirs of a Midget'' *Ethel M. Dell - ''The Obstacle Race'' *Mary Frances Dowdall – ''Three Loving Ladies'' *Edna Ferber - ''The Girls'' *Fran Saleški Finžgar – ''Pod svobodnim soncem'' (Under the free sun) *F. Scott Fitzgerald **''The Beautiful and Damned'' (serialized in Metropolitan Magazine (New York), ''Metropolitan Magazine'' (New York)) **''Flappers and Philosophers'' (short stories) *Mikkjel Fønhus – ''Troll-Elgen'' *John Galsworthy – ''To Let'' (last book of ''The Forsyte Saga'') *H. Rider Haggard – ''She and Allan'' *A. P. Herbert – ''The House by the River'' *Georgette Heyer – ''The Black Moth'' *Arthur Stuart-Menteth Hutchinson, A. S. M. Hutchinson – If Winter Comes (novel), ''If Winter Comes'' *Aldous Huxley – ''Crome Yellow'' *Frigyes Karinthy – ''Capillaria'' *Sheila Kaye-Smith – ''Joanna Godden'' *Gaston Leroux – ''The Crime of Rouletabille'' *Marie Belloc Lowndes – ''What Timmy Did'' *Denis Mackail – ''Romance to the Rescue'' *Compton Mackenzie – ''Rich Relatives'' *René Maran – ''Batouala'' *Lucy Maud Montgomery, L. M. Montgomery – ''Rilla of Ingleside'' *George Moore (novelist), George Moore – ''Heloise and Abelard'' *Paul Morand – ''Tender Shoots'' (''Tendres stocks'', short stories) * E. Phillips Oppenheim – ''Jacob's Ladder (Oppenheim novel), Jacob's Ladder'' *Baroness Orczy **''Castles in the Air'' (short stories) **''The First Sir Percy'' *Alejandro Pérez Lugín – ''Currito of the Cross (novel), Currito of the Cross (Currito de la Cruz)'' *Gene Stratton Porter – ''Her Father's Daughter'' *Marcel Proust **''The Guermantes Way'' (''Le Côté de Guermantes II'', second part of vol. 3 of ''In Search of Lost Time'') **''Sodom and Gomorrah'' (''Sodome et Gomorrhe I'', first part of vol. 4 of ''In Search of Lost Time'') *Sukumar Ray – ''HaJaBaRaLa'' *Iñigo Ed. Regalado – ''May Pagsinta'y Walang Puso'' *Dorothy Richardson - ''Deadlock'' *Berta Ruck - ''Sweet Stranger'' *Rafael Sabatini – ''Scaramouche (novel), Scaramouche'' *Naoya Shiga – ''A Dark Night's Passing'' (暗夜行路, ''An'ya Kōro''; serialized 1921–37) *May Sinclair - ''Mr. Waddington of Wyck'' *Annie M. Smithson - ''Carmen Cavanagh'' *Booth Tarkington – ''Alice Adams (novel), Alice Adams'' *Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy – ''The Road to Calvary'' (publication begins) *Sigrid Undset – ''Husfrue'' (The Wife or The Mistress of Husaby, second part of ''Kristin Lavransdatter'') *Edgar Wallace **''The Book of All Power'' **''The Law of the Four Just Men'' *Eugene Walter (playwright), Eugene Walter – ''The Byzantine Riddle and other stories'' * Arthur Weigall – ''Burning Sands (novel), Burning Sands'' *Elinor Wylie – ''Nets to Catch the Wind'' *Francis Brett Young **''The Black Diamond (novel), The Black Diamond'' **''The Red Knight (novel), The Red Knight'' *Yevgeny Zamyatin – ''We (novel), We'' (Мы; completed)Children and young people
*Dorita Fairlie Bruce – ''Dimsie Goes to School, The Senior Prefect'' (later entitled ''Dimsie Goes to School'') *Eleanor Farjeon – ''Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard'' *Charles Boardman Hawes – ''The Great Quest'' *Hendrik Willem van Loon – ''The Story of Mankind'' (non-fiction) *Else Ury – ''Nesthäkchen Flies From the Nest''Drama
Poetry
*Robert Frost – ''Mountain Interval'' (second print) *Langston Hughes – "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", in ''The Crisis'' *Amy Lowell - ''Legends'' *Katherine Tynan - ''The Handsome Brandons'' *William Carlos Williams – ''Sour Grapes (book), Sour Grapes'' *William Butler Yeats – ''Michael Robartes and the Dancer''Non-fiction
*Adolphe Appia – ''L'Œuvre d'art vivant'' (The Living Work of Art) *Charles Bean (ed.) – ''Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918'', vol. 1 *Joseph Chaikov – ''Skulptur'' (first Yiddish-language work on the subject) *Grace King– ''Creole Families of New Orleans'' *Frank H. Knight – ''Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit'' *D. H. Lawrence **''Sea and Sardinia'' **(as Lawrence H. Davison) – ''Movements in European History'' *Edward Sapir – ''Language: an introduction to the study of speech'' *Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk – ''Capital and Interest, Further Essays on Capital and Interest'' *Ludwig Wittgenstein – ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'' *Zitkala-Sa – ''American Indian Stories''Births
*January 5 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (died 1990 in literature, 1990) *January 19 – Patricia Highsmith, American crime writer (died 1995 in literature, 1995) *February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist author (died 2006 in literature, 2006) *February 5 – Marion Eames, Welsh novelist writing mainly in Welsh (died 2007 in literature, 2007) *February 15 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and writer (died 1985 in literature, 1985) *March 1 – Richard Wilbur, American poet and translator (died 2017 in literature, 2017) *March 3 – Paul Guimard, French novelist (died 2004 in literature, 2004) *March 24 – Wilson Harris, Guyanese-born poet, novelist and essayist (died 2018 in literature, 2018) *April 21 – Angela Bianchini, Italian fiction writer and literary critic (died 2018) *May 20 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (died 1947 in literature, 1947) *May 23 **James Blish, American science fiction author (died 1975 in literature, 1975) **Ray Lawler, Australian dramatist *May 29 **Mona Van Duyn, American poet (died 2004 in literature, 2004) **Henry Scholberg, American bibliographer (died 2012 in literature, 2012) *June 11 – Michael Meyer (translator), Michael Meyer, English translator and biographer (died 2000 in literature, 2000) *June 14 – John Bradburne, English poet and missionary (killed 1979 in literature, 1979) *August 11 – Alex Haley, American writer (died 1992 in literature, 1992) *August 17 – Elinor Lyon, British children's writer (died 2008 in literature, 2008) *August 18 – Frédéric Jacques Temple, French poet and writer (died 2020 in literature, 2020) *September 12 – Stanisław Lem, Polish science fiction novelist, philosopher, satirist and physician (died 2006 in literature, 2006) *September 15 – Richard Gordon (English author), Richard Gordon, English author (died 2017 in literature, 2017) *September 16 – Mohamed Talbi, Tunisian historian (died 2017 in literature, 2017) *September 26 – Cyprian Ekwensi, Nigerian writer (died 2007 in literature, 2007) *October 2 – Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery), English crime writer (died 1978 in literature, 1978) *October 9 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer (died 2014 in literature, 2014) *October 17 – George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet (died 1996 in literature, 1996) *November 6 – James Jones (author), James Jones, American novelist (died 1977 in literature, 1977) *November 22 – Brian Cleeve, Irish author (died 2003 in literature, 2003) *December 20 – Israil Bercovici, Romanian dramatist and historian (died 1988 in literature, 1988)Deaths
*February 6 – Abba Goold Woolson, American author and poet (born 1838 in literature, 1838) *February 17 – Rosetta Luce Gilchrist, American physician, author (born 1850 in literature, 1850) *February 24 – John Habberton, American critic (born 1842 in literature, 1842) *March 22 – E. W. Hornung, English author (born 1866 in literature, 1866) *April 6 – Maximilian Berlitz, German-born American textbook writer and language school proprietor (born 1852 in literature, 1852) *May 5 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian publicist (born 1864 in literature, 1864) *May 12 – Emilia Pardo Bazán, Spanish novelist (born 1851 in literature, 1851) *May 13 – Jean Aicard, French writer (born 1848 in literature, 1848) *June 5 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (born 1862 in literature, 1862) *June 18 – Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer (born 1851 in literature, 1851) *June 20 – Mary Lynde Craig, American writer, teacher, attorney, activist (born 1834 in literature, 1834) *June 26 – Alfred Percy Sinnett, English Theosophist author (born 1840 in literature, 1840) *July 4 – Antoni Grabowski, Polish Esperantist (born 1857 in literature, 1857) *July 7 – Luca Caragiale, Romanian poet, novelist and translator (pneumonia, born 1893 in literature, 1893) *August 1 – Helen Vickroy Austin, American journalist and horticulturist (born 1829 in literature, 1829) *August 7 – Alexander Blok, Russian poet (born 1880 in literature, 1880) *August 8 – Juhani Aho, Finnish author and journalist (born 1861 in literature, 1861) *August 19 – Georges Darien, French anarchist writer (born 1862 in literature, 1862) *August 25 – Nikolay Gumilev, Russian poet (executed, born 1886 in literature, 1886) *September 3 - Maria I. Johnston, American author, journalist, editor and lecturer (born 1835 in literature, 1835) *September 22 - Ivan Vazov, Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright (born 1850 in literature, 1850) *October 1 – Lillian Rozell Messenger, American poet (born 1843 in literature, 1843) *October 10 – Otto von Gierke, German historian (born 1841 in literature, 1841) *November 1 – Sarah Dyer Hobart, American author of poetry, prose, and songs (born 1845/46) *November 8 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet, dramatist and translator (born 1849 in literature, 1849) *November 14 – Christabel Rose Coleridge, English novelist and editor (born 1843 in literature, 1843) *December 28 – Hester A. Benedict, American poet (born 1838 in literature, 1838) *''date unknown'' **Emma Churchman Hewitt, American author and journalist (born 1850 in literature, 1850) **Della Campbell MacLeod, American author and journalist (born ca. 1884 in literature, 1884)Awards
*James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Walter de la Mare, ''Memoirs of a Midget'' *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Lytton Strachey, ''Queen Victoria'' *Nobel Prize in Literature: Anatole France *Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Zona Gale, ''Miss Lulu Bett (play), Miss Lulu Bett'' *Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: ''no award given'' *Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: Edith Wharton, ''The Age of Innocence''References
1921 books, Years of the 20th century in literature {{DEFAULTSORT:1921 In Literature