See also: 1877 in literature, other events of 1878, 1879 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
New Books
- Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
- Sans Famille - Hector Malot
- The Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy
- The Haunted Hotel - Wilkie Collins
- Beatrice Tyldesley - William Harrison Ainsworth
- Poganuc People: Their Loves and Lives - Harriet Beecher Stowe
- An Open Verdict - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- The Primrose Path - Margaret Oliphant
Births
- January 6 - Carl Sandburg, poet, historian (+ 1967)
- January 12 - Ferenc Molnár, writer (+ 1952)
- September 20 - Upton Sinclair (+ 1968)
Deaths