See also: 1993 in literature, other events of 1994, 1995 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
New books
Births
Deaths
- January 30 - Pierre Boulle, author
- February 6 - Jack Kirby, comic book writer
- February 27 - Harold Acton, author, the inspiration for Anthony Blanche
- March 9 - Charles Bukowski, novelist
- March 28 - Eugene Ionesco, playwright
- April 16 - Ralph Ellison, scholar, writer
- May 30 – Juan Carlos Onetti, Uruguayan writer
- June 7 - Dennis Potter, controversial TV dramatist
- August 7 - Rosa Chacel, controversial Spanish writer
- September 7 - James Clavell, blockbusting novelist
- November 12 - J. I. M. Stewart, novelist and critic
- December 24 - John Osborne, dramatist
Awards
- Booker Prize: James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
- Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: M.G. Vassanji, The Book of Secrets
- See 1994 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Nebula Award: Greg Bear, Moving Mars
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Lois Lowry, The Giver
- Nobel Prize for Literature: Kenzaburo Oe
- Prix Goncourt: Didier Van Cauwelaert, Un Aller simple
- Prix Décembre: Jean Hatzfeld, L'Air de guerre and Éric Holder, La Belle Jardinière
- Prix Médicis French: Yves Berger, Immobile dans le courant du fleuve
- Prix Médicis International: Robert Schneider, Frère Sommeil
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Edward Albee, Three Tall Women
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Yusef Komunyakaa, Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems
- Whitbread Best Book Award: William Trevor, Felicia’s Journey
