1938 in literature

See also: 1937 in literature, other events of 1938, 1939 in literature, list of years in literature.

Table of contents

1 Events 2 New Books 3 Births 4 Deaths 5 Awards

Events

A very good year in books:

• The trilogy, U.S.A by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), and The Big Money (1936). In 2001, the trilogy would be named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• Scoop by Evelyn Waugh is published. In 2001, the book would be the second of three works by him named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen is published. In 2001, the book would be named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• Jorge Luis Borges is injured in an accident and develops blood poisoning in December. While recovering next year he will write his first short story in his characteristic style.

• Samuel Beckett's first novel Murphy is published.

New Books

• Aunt Sara's Wooden God - Mercedes Gilbert
• Beyond The River - George Hamlin Ross
• The Bridge in The Jungle - B. Traven
• Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
• Count Belisarius - Robert Graves
• The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
• Dynasty of Death - Taylor Caldwell
• Epitaph For A Spy - Eric Ambler
• Gas Light - Patrick Hamilton
• Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
• Hope of Heaven - John O'Hara
• Invitation To A Beheading - Vladimir Nabokov
• Lassie Come-Home - Eric Knight
• Nausea (La Nausée) - Jean-Paul Sartre
• Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen
• Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Lewis
• Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
• Scoop - Evelyn Waugh
• Thieves' Carnival (Le bal des voleurs) - Jean Anouilh
• U.S.A. (trilogy) - John Dos Passos
• The White Stag - Kate Seredy
• The Yearling - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Births

• February 12 - Judy Blume, author
• April 29 - Larry Niven, author

Deaths

• June 26 - James Weldon Johnson

Awards

• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Kate Seredy, The White Stag
• Nobel Prize for literature: Pearl S. Buck
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Thornton Wilder, Our Town
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Marya Zaturenska: Cold Morning Sky
• Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: John Phillips Marquand - The Late George Apley