1920 in literature

Table of contents

1 Events 2 New Books 3 Births 4 Deaths 5 Awards

Events

• Beyond the Horizon, Eugene O'Neill's first full-length play, opens at a special matinee at the Morosco Theater on February 2 – partly as an experiment on the part of the producer, partly to quiet the pleading of actor Richard Bennett who has demanded a chance to play the lead role. Reviewers hail the play and O'Neill becomes famous. The Emperor Jones is staged in November.

• This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald is published. It is a sensation, immediately establishing Fitzgerald as a writer and celebrity. Though the book's reputation will dim in later years, Dorothy Parker will recall that it was regarded as an innovative work when it first appeared.

• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is published. In 2001, the book would be one of two books by Ms. Wharton named to the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is published. In 2001, the book would be named to the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• D.H. Lawrence publishes Women in Love. In 2001, the book would be one of three books by Lawrence to be on the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century as selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• Hart Crane publishes his poem My Grandmother's Love Letters in The Dial. This is his first real step towards recognition as a poet.

• Van Wyck Brooks publishes The Ordeal of Mark Twain, arguing that Twain's genius was perverted by the conditions and culture of late 19th-century America. This is the beginning of the reassessment of Mark Twain, who until this point has been regarded primarily as a humorous entertainer. The 1920s will force a reconsideration of many 19th-century writers, most importantly Melville and Dickinson.

New Books

• The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
• Black and White Tangled Threads - Zara Wright
• The Bridal Wreath - Sigrid Undset
• The Burning Glass - Marjorie Bowen
• Chéri - Colette
• A Few Figs From Thistles - Edna St. Vincent Millay
• A Fool in Her Folly - Rhoda Broughton
• The Frontier in American History - Frederick Jackson Turner
• Harvest - Mary Augusta Ward
• Hugh Selwyn Mauberly - Ezra Pound
• Main Street - Sinclair Lewis
• Miscellaneous Poems - Robert Frost
• Miss Lulu Bett - Zona Gale
• Mountain Interval - Robert Frost
• Mysterious Affair of Styles - Agatha Christie (first Hercule Poirot mystery)
• The Outline of History - H.G. Wells
• Picture Show - Siegfried Sassoon
• Poems - T.S. Eliot (Twelve poems including “Lune de Miel” and “The Hippopotamus.”)
• Poor White - Sherwood Anderson
• Prejudices: Second Series - H.L. Mencken
• A Straight Deal - Owen Wister
• Smoke and Steel - Carl Sandburg
• This Side of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Women in Love - D.H. Lawrence

Births

• January 2 - Isaac Asimov, author (d. 1992)
• February 11 - Daniel Francis Galouye, American science fiction author (d. 1976)
• March 10 - Boris Vian, French novelist (d. 1959)
• April 5 - Arthur Hailey, novelist
• July 12 - Pierre Berton, Canadian author
• August 16 - Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
• August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer
• October 15 - Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather (d. 1999)

Deaths

• March 26 - Mary Augusta Ward, author
• May 11 - William Dean Howells, writer
• June 5 - Rhoda Broughton, author

Awards

• Nobel Prize for Literature: Knut Hamsun
• Pulitzer Prize for the Novel : no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: No award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Eugene O'Neill, Beyond the Horizon