See also: 1904 in literature, other events of 1905, 1906 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
New books
Births
- January 31 - John O'Hara, writer (d. 1970)
- February 2 - Ayn Rand, author (d. 1982)
- February 7 - Paul Nizan, author (d. 1940)
- February 11 - Elizabeth Vuyk, Dutch/Indonesian writer.
- May 16 - H. E. Bates, novelist
- May 20 - Gerrit Achterberg, Dutch poet
- June 20 - Lillian Hellman, dramatist
- July 25 - Elias Canetti, novelist
- September 5 - Arthur Koestler, novelist and social philosopher
- October 15 - C. P. Snow, novelist
- November 11 - Erskine Hamilton Childers, Riddle of the Sands author
- November 30 - John Dickson Carr, crime writer
- December 4 - Munro Leaf, children's author
- December 21 - Anthony Powell, British novelist, (d. 2000)
- date unknown - Idris Davies, Anglo-Welsh poet
Deaths
- January 19 - Debendranath Tagore, philosopher
- February 15 - General Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur
- March 20 - Antonin Proust, journalist
- March 25 - Jules Verne, author
- May 23 - Mary Livermore, journalist
- August 22 - David Binning Monro, expert on Homer
- September 18 - George MacDonald, author
- October 28 - Alphonse Allais, humorist
- December 3 - John Bartlett, publisher
- December 9 - Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb classical commentator
- December 12 - William Sharp, poet, biographer and novelist
- December 29 - Creeve Roe, poet
- date unknown - R. C. Lehmann, editor of Punch magazine
Awards
