1978 in literature

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List of years in literature (table)
In poetry
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1978.

Events[]

  • March 8 – Douglas Adams' comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy originates as a radio comedy broadcast on the U.K. BBC Radio 4.
  • March – Philip Larkin ends his relationships with Maeve Brennan and Betty Mackereth.[1]
  • April – James Blaylock's first published story, "The Ape-Box Affair", appears in Unearth magazine, pioneering steampunk fiction.[2]
  • August 1 – Barbara Pym is a guest on Desert Island Discs.[3]
  • October – The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles, is launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The first winner is Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.[4]
  • November 15 – Harold Pinter's play Betrayal, inspired by a seven-year clandestine extramarital affair with BBC Television presenter Joan Bakewell, opens at the National Theatre in London, directed by Peter Hall and featuring Penelope Wilton and her husband at this time, Daniel Massey, with Michael Gambon.[5]
  • December 15 – The Berlin State Library's new Haus Potsdamer Straße is opened in West Berlin's Kulturforum.[6]
  • unknown date – Antonia White's 1933 novel Frost in May becomes the first in Virago Press's Modern Classics series of reissues of books by neglected women authors, published in the UK.[7]

New books[]

Fiction[]

Children and young people[]

  • Janet and Allan Ahlberg – Each Peach, Pear, Plum (approximate year)
  • Alicia Austin – Alicia Austin's Age of Dreams
  • Judy Blume – Wifey
  • Raymond Briggs – The Snowman
  • Roald Dahl – The Enormous Crocodile
  • Rumer Godden – A Kindle of Kittens
  • Gwen Grant – Private – Keep Out
  • David Larkin (with Brian Froud and Alan Lee) – Faeries
  • Bill Peet – Eli
  • David Rees – The Exeter Blitz
  • Seymour Reit (with Roberto Innocenti)
    • All Kinds of Planes
    • All Kinds of Ships
    • All Kinds of Trains
    • Sails, Rails, and Wings
  • Louis Sachar – Sideways Stories from Wayside School (first in the Wayside School series of six books)
  • Rosemary Sutcliff – Song for a Dark Queen
  • Arnold Wesker – Fatlips: A Story for Children
  • Arnulf Zitelmann (with Willi Glasauer) – Kleiner Weg (Small Trail)

Drama[]

Poetry[]

Main article: 1978 in poetry
  • Maya Angelou – And Still I Rise
  • Robert Minhinnick – A Thread in the Maze
  • Luis Alberto Spinetta – Guitarra Negra (Black Guitar)
  • John Tripp – Collected Poems

Non-fiction[]

Births[]

  • February 1 – Arno Camenisch, Swiss writer
  • July 23 – Lauren Groff, American novelist and short story writer
  • October 24 – Kei Miller, Jamaican-born poet and fiction writer
  • unknown dates
    • Filippo Bologna, Italian novelist and screenwriter
    • David Llewellyn, Welsh screenwriter
    • Samanta Schweblin, Argentine fiction writer
    • Rachel Trezise, Welsh novelist and short story writer[9]

Deaths[]

  • January 12 – Robert Harbin, South African-born author of books on magic (born 1908)
  • March 1 – Paul Scott, English novelist, playwright and poet (born 1920)
  • March 24 – Leigh Brackett, American science fiction writer (born 1915)
  • April 14 – F. R. Leavis, English academic literary critic (born 1895)
  • May 1 – Sylvia Townsend Warner, English poet and novelist (born 1893)
  • May 12 – Louis Zukofsky, American modernist poet (born 1904)
  • June 11 – Carola Oman, English historical novelist, biographer and children's writer (born 1897)
  • June 18 – Walter C. Alvarez, American medical author (born 1884)
  • August 11 – Berta Ruck, Indian-born Welsh romantic novelist (born 1878)[10]
  • August 28 – Robert Shaw, English-born actor, novelist and playwright (born 1927)
  • September 3 – Basil Willey, English academic literary critic (died 1897)
  • September 15 – Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery), English crime writer and composer (born 1921)
  • September 28 – Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani), Italian author of Illustrissimi (born 1912)
  • November 5 – N. Crevedia, Romanian poet, novelist and journalist (born 1902)
  • November 15 – Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist and author (born 1901)[11]

Awards[]

  • Nobel Prize for Literature: Isaac Bashevis Singer[12]
  • Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year is first awarded. The winner is Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.

Canada[]

France[]

Spain[]

United Kingdom[]

United States[]

Elsewhere[]

References[]

  1. ^ Bradford, Richard (2004). First Boredom Then Fear: The Life of Philip Larkin. London: Peter Owen. p. 245. ISBN 0-7206-1147-4.
  2. ^ "Blaylock, James P". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  3. ^ Jerry Dowlen (December 2013). "The very best Christmas features... Jerry Dowlen celebrates the life and centenary of Barbara Pym..." booksmonthly.co.uk. Paul Norman. Archived from the original (monthly literary column) on 24 December 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2015. Barbara Pym's appearance on Desert Island Discs on 1 August 1978 was replayed on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 2 June 2013
  4. ^ Bent, Horace (21 October 2009). "A Bluffer's Guide to the Diagram Prize". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  5. ^ Billington, Michael (2007). Harold Pinter (Rev. ed.). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 9780571234769.
  6. ^ Bibliotheksdienst (in German). Deutscher Bibliotheksverband. 1978. p. 697.
  7. ^ Elizabeth Podnieks (2000). Daily Modernism: The Literary Diaries of Virginia Woolf, Antonia White, Elizabeth Smart, and Ana•s Nin. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-7735-2021-9.
  8. ^ Rorvik, David Michael (1978). In his Image: The Cloning of a Man. New York: J. B. Lippincott. ISBN 978-0-397-01255-8. Rorvik intentionally left the word "his" uncapitalized in the title of this book. See Talk:David Rorvik.
  9. ^ Alyce von Rothkirch; Daniel Williams (2004). Beyond the Difference: Welsh Literature in Comparative Contexts : Essays for M. Wynn Thomas at Sixty. University of Wales Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7083-1886-7.
  10. ^ "Authors : Ruck, Berta : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Margaret Mead | Biography, Theory, Books, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  12. ^ Janet Hadda (24 March 2003). Isaac Bashevis Singer: A Life. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-299-18693-7.
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