1920 in literature
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See also: 1919 in literature, other events of 1920, 1921 in literature, List of years in literature.
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Events
- Hercule Poirot makes his first appearance.
- 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.
- Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is published.
- D.H. Lawrence publishes Women in Love.
- 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 (d. 2004)
- July 12 - Pierre Berton, Canadian author
- August 16 - Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
- August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer
- October 8 - Frank Herbert, American science fiction author
- 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