2006 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 2006.

Events

• April 7 – Mr Justice Peter Smith delivers judgment in the copyright case begun on February 27 against publisher Random House over the bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003) in the High Court of Justice in London, finding that author Dan Brown has not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh in their book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (published in 1982 as non-fiction). The judgment itself contains a coded message on the whim of the judge.^[1]
• Summer – Brutalism becomes the first literary movement to be launched via the social networking site Myspace.^[2]
• June – Ciaran Creagh's play Last Call, based loosely on the hanging of murderer Michael Manning in 1954 as witnessed by the playwright's father, is staged in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, where it is set.
• June–September – Elif Şafak is tried for "insulting Turkishness" in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul, published earlier in the year, but eventually acquitted.
• July 14 – The Times Literary Supplement reports on the discovery of a missing copy of Shelley's Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, an 1811 pamphlet containing a 172-line poem which criticizes war, politics and religion; although published anonymously, the poem is thought to have contributed to the rebel poet's expulsion from the University of Oxford (which acquires the unique copy of the pamphlet in 2015).^[3]
• July 21 – The writers of America's Next Top Model go on strike while working on Cycle 7, due to be broadcast on the new CW Network in September 2006. The writers seek representation through the Writers Guild of America, which would allow them regulated wages, access to portable health insurance, and pension benefits. These benefits would be similar to those given to writers on scripted shows.
• August 1 – The University of Helsinki library becomes the National Library of Finland (Kansalliskirjasto).
• September – Museum of Modern Literature opens in Marbach am Neckar, Schiller's birthplace in Germany.
• September 20 – The Writers Guild of America, West, holds a Los Angeles rally in support of the "America's Next Top Model" writers' strike. President Patric Verrone says: "Every piece of media with a moving image on a screen or a recorded voice must have a writer, and every writer must have a WGA contract."^[4]
• November 6 – WGAw files an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after "Top Model" producers say that the next season of the show will not require writers. In response, Verrone said, "as they demanded union representation, the company decided they were expendable. This is illegal strikebreaking."^[5]
• The first full-length novel in the Manx language, Dunveryssyn yn Tooder-Folley ("The Vampire Murders") is published by Brian Stowell, after being serialized in the press.

New books

Deaths

• January 4 – Irving Layton, Canadian poet (born 1912)
• January 16 – Jan Mark, English children's writer (born 1943)
• January 30 – Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (born 1950)
• January – Hilda Ellis Davidson, English antiquarian and academic (born 1914)
• February 2 – Chris Doty, Canadian dramatist (born 1966)
• February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist writer (born 1921)
• February 8 – Michael Gilbert, English crime writer (born 1912)
• February 9 – Ena Lamont Stewart, Scottish playwright (born 1912)
• February 11 – Peter Benchley, American novelist (born 1940)
• February 17 – Sybille Bedford, German-born English novelist and journalist (born 1911)
• February 20 – Lucjan Wolanowski (Lucjan Kon), Polish writer, journalist and traveler (born 1920)
• February 21
  • Gennadiy Aygi, Chuvashian poet and translator (born 1934)
  • Theodore Draper, American historian (born 1912)
• February 22 – Hilde Domin, German writer (born 1909)
• February 24 – Octavia E. Butler, American science fiction writer (born 1947)
• February 25 – Margaret Gibson, Canadian novelist and story writer (born 1948)
• March 27 – Stanisław Lem, Polish science fiction writer (born 1921)
• March 30 – John McGahern, Irish novelist, dramatist and short story writer (born 1934)
• April 3 – Muhammad al-Maghut, Syrian Ismaili poet (born 1934)
• April 6 – Leslie Norris, Anglo-Welsh poet and author (born 1921)
• April 13 – Muriel Spark, Scottish-born novelist (born 1918)^[8]
• April 25 – Jane Jacobs, American urban planning critic and activist (born 1916)
• May 9 – Jerzy Ficowski, poet, writer and translator (born 1924)
• May 16 – Clare Boylan, Irish novelist (born 1948)^[9]
• May 18 – Gilbert Sorrentino, American novelist and poet (born 1929)
• June 17 – James H. McClure, South African-born crime writer (born 1939)
• June 28 – Nigel Cox, New Zealand novelist (born 1951)
• July 17 – Mickey Spillane, American crime writer (born 1918)
• July 28 – David Gemmell, English fantasy novelist (born 1948)
• August 16 – Alex Buzo, Australian playwright and author (born 1944)
• August 17 –Shamsur Rahman, Bengali poet (born 1929)
• August 21 – S. Yizhar, Israeli novelist (born 1916)
• August 25 – Silva Kaputikyan, Armenian poet (born 1919)
• August 30 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist, 1988 Nobel laureate (born 1911)
• September 1 – György Faludy, Hungarian poet, writer and translator (born 1910)
• September 12 – Edna Staebler CM, Canadian author and literary journalist (born 1906)^[10]
• October 13 – Protiva Bose, Bengali writer and singer (born 1915)
• October 17 – Ursula Moray Williams, English children's writer (born 1911)
• October 25 – Paul Ableman, English writer of erotic fiction and playwright (born 1927)
• November 1 – William Styron, American novelist (born 1925)
• November 6 – Nelson S. Bond, American writer (born 1908)
• November 9 – Ellen Willis, American journalist and critic (born 1941)
• November 10 – Jack Williamson, American science fiction author (born 1908)
• November 15 – George G. Blackburn MC, Canadian author (born 1917)^[11]
• November 23
  • Jesús Blancornelas, Mexican journalist (born 1936)
  • Richard Clements, English journalist (born 1928)
• November 24
  • William Diehl, American author (born 1924)
  • Phyllis Fraser, American writer, publisher and actor (born 1916)
  • George W. S. Trow, American writer and media critic (born 1943)
• November 27 – Bebe Moore Campbell, American author (born 1950)
• December 21 – Philippa Pearce, English children's writer (born 1920)
• December 26 – John Heath-Stubbs, English poet and translator (born 1918)

Awards

• Nobel Prize in Literature: Orhan Pamuk
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Cormac McCarthy, The Road
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Byron Rogers, The Man Who Went into the West: The life of R.S. Thomas
• The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Belinda Castles, The River Baptists
• Compton Crook Award: Maria Snyder, Poison Study
• C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: John Tranter, Urban Myths: 210 Poems
• Europe Theatre Prize: Harold Pinter
• Eric Gregory Award: Fiona Benson, Retta Bowen, Frances Leviston, Jonathan Morley, Eoghan Walls
• 2006 Governor General's Awards: see article
• Griffin Poetry Prize: Sylvia Legris, Nerve Squall and Kamau Brathwaite, Born to Slow Horses
• Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Jaya Savige, Latecomers
• Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2006 Lambda Literary Awards.
• Man Booker Prize: Kiran Desai for The Inheritance of Loss.
• Miles Franklin Award: Roger McDonald, The Ballad of Desmond Kale
• Premio Nadal: Eduardo Lago, Llámame Brooklyn
• Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Fleur Adcock
• Scotiabank Giller Prize: Vincent Lam, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
• Wallace Stevens Award: Michael Palmer
• Whiting Awards:
  • Fiction: Charles D’Ambrosio, Yiyun Li, Micheline Aharonian Marcom, Nina Marie Martínez, Patrick O’Keeffe
  • Plays: Stephen Adly Guirgis, Bruce Norris
  • Poetry: Sherwin Bitsui, Tyehimba Jess, Suji Kwock Kim
• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Francis Chalifour, After^[12]
• Camões Prize: José Luandino Vieira (refused)
• Orange Prize for Fiction: to On Beauty by Zadie Smith
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: to March by Geraldine Brooks
• National Book Award for Fiction: to The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
• National Book Critics Circle Award: to The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: to The March by E.L. Doctorow

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of poetry awards
• 2006 in Australian literature
• 2006 in comics

References