1966 in literature
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See also: 1965 in literature, other events of 1966, 1967 in literature, list of years in literature.
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Events
- In a landmark obscenity case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the banned novel John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland did not meet the Roth standard for obscenity.
- Author Jacqueline Susann has her first novel, Valley of the Dolls published. From a friend, she obtained a list of the bookstores upon which the New York Times relied for sales figures to determine its bestseller list. Ms. Susann then used her own money to buy large quantities of her own book at these selected stores resulting in her novel going to #1 on the "Times" bestseller list. Valley of the Dolls is the second best selling novel of all time.
- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is published.
New books
- The Adventurers - Harold Robbins
- The Anti-Death League - Kingsley Amis
- Capable of Honor - Allen Drury
- The Circle Game - Margaret Atwood
- The Dartmoor Worker anthology of William Crossing
- Der Meteor - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- The Devil's Brigade - Robert H. Adleman
- The Double Image - Helen McInnes
- The Embezzler - Louis Auchincloss
- Expeditions - Margaret Atwood
- Fantastic Voyage - Isaac Asimov
- The Fixer - Bernard Malamud
- In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
- Jean de Florette - Marcel Pagnol
- Last Picture Show - Larry McMurtry
- The Magic Finger - Roald Dahl
- Manon des sources - Marcel Pagnol
- The Master and Margarita - Mihail Bulgakov
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
- Octopussy and The Living Daylights - Ian Fleming
- The Soldier's Art - Anthony Powell
- The Solid Mandala - Patrick White
- Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein - Margaret Atwood
- The Sun King - Nancy Mitford
- Tai-Pan - James Clavell
- Tell No Man - Adela Rogers St. Johns
- A Thousand Days - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
- Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
- Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Births
- April 12 - Jim Duffy, political writer
- September 24 - Rhys Hughes, short story writer
- date unknown - Sarah Waters, novelist
Deaths
- January 18 - Kathleen Norris, writer
- March 10 - Frank O'Connor, short-story writer
- April 1 - Flann O'Brien, satirist
- April 2 - C. S. Forester, Hornblower author
- April 10 - Evelyn Waugh
- April 13 - Georges Duhamel, novelist
- June 7 - Jean Arp, sculptor, painter, and poet
- June 10 - Henry Treece, historical novelist
- June 30 - Margery Allingham, crime novelist
- July 25 - Frank O'Hara, poet
- August 6 - Cordwainer Smith, science fiction author
- September 25 - Mina Loy, poet and artist
- September 28 - André Breton, surrealist author
- November 26 - Siegfried Kracauer, journalist and critic
Awards
- See 1966 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Hugo Award: Frank Herbert, Dune and Roger Zelazny, ... And Call Me Conrad
- Nebula Award: Samuel R. Delany, Babel-17 and Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Elizabeth Borten de Trevino, I, Juan de Pareja
- Nobel Prize for literature: Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Nelly Sachs
- Prix Goncourt: Edmonde Charles-Roux, Oublier Palerme
- Prix Médicis: Marie-Claire Blais, Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Katherine Anne Porter, Collected Stories
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Richard Eberhart, Selected Poems
- Viareggio Prize: Alfonso Gatto, La storia delle vittime