See also: 1994 in literature, other events of 1995, 1996 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
New books
Births
Deaths
- January 9 - Peter Cook, comedian, satirist and writer
- January 31 - George Abbott, writer, director, producer
- February 4 - Patricia Highsmith, author
- February 12 - Robert Bolt, writer
- February 21 - Calder Willingham, writer
- February 23 - James Herriot, author
- April 14 - Brian Coffey, poet
- June 14 - Roger Zelazny, American writer of fantasy and science fiction
- July 16 - Stephen Spender, poet
- August 3 - Edward Whittemore, writer
- August 29 - Michael Ende, fantasy novelist
- October 22 - Kingsley Amis, author
- November 16 - Robert H. Adleman, American novelist and historian
- November 22 - Margaret St. Clair, science fiction writer
- December 2 - Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist
- December 30 - Heiner Müller, dramatist
- May Sarton - American writer
Awards
- Booker Prize: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
- Carnegie Medal: Philip Pullman, Northern Lights
- Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
- See 1995 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Nebula Award: Robert Sawyer, The Terminal Experiment
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons
- Nobel Prize for Literature: Seamus Heaney
- Prix Goncourt: Andreï Makine, Le Testament français
- Prix Décembre: Jean Échenoz, Les Grandes Blondes
- Prix Médicis French: Vassilis Alexakis, La Langue maternelle and Andreï Makine, Le testament français
- Prix Médicis International: Alessandro Baricco, Les châteaux de la colère
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Horton Foote, The Young Man From Atlanta
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Philip Levine, The Simple Truth
- Whitbread Best Book Award: Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum
