See also: 1867 in literature, other events of 1868, 1869 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
- First edition of the World Almanac published
New Books
- The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
- Slaves of Paris - Emile Gaboriau
- Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
- The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Little Meg's children - Hesba Stretton
- Robert Falconer - George MacDonald
- The Luck of Roaring Camp - Bret Harte
- Deep Down - RM Ballantyne
- Biarritz - Hermann Goedsche
- Dead-Sea Fruit - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Haunted Lives - Sheridan Le Fanu
Births
- February 23 - W. E. B. Du Bois (+ 1963)
- March 28 - Maxim Gorky, author (+ 1936)
- May 6 - Gaston Leroux, author (+ 1927)
- October 18 - Ernst Didring, Swedish writer (+ 1931)
Deaths