1991 in literature
See also: 1990 in literature, other events of 1991, 1992 in literature, list of years in literature.
Events
New Books
- American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
- As the Crow Flies - Jeffrey Archer
- The Bourne Ultimatum - Robert Ludlum
- Damage - Josephine Hart
- Dead Certainties - Simon Schama
- Den of Thieves - James B. Stewart
- Dirty Weekend - Helen Zahavi
- The Doomsday Conspiracy - Sidney Sheldon
- Druids - Morgan Llywelyn
- The Firm - John Grisham
- For Love of the Game - Michael Shaara (posthumous)
- Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture - Douglas Coupland
- He, She and It - Marge Piercy
- Heartbeat - Danielle Steel
- Imajica - Clive Barker
- Jernigan - David Gates
- The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan
- A Life of Picasso - John Richardson
- Loves Music, Loves to Dance - Mary Higgins Clark
- Mexico - James A. Michener
- Possession: A Romance - A. S. Byatt
- Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
- Say It With Poison - Ann Granger
- The Secret Pilgrim - John le Carré
- Star Wars: Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn
- Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry
- The Sum of All Fears - Tom Clancy
- A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley
- Through the Vast Halls of Memory - Haifa Zangana
- Time's Arrow, or The Nature of the Offense - Martin Amis
- The Van - Roddy Doyle
- Wicca Craft - Gerina Dunwich
- Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
Births
Deaths
- January 29 - Yasushi Inoue, historian
- February 24 - John Daly, journalist, game show host
- April 29 - Claude Gallimard, French publishing magnate
Awards
- Booker Prize: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
- See 1991 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Nebula Award: Michael Swanwick, Stations of the Tide
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee
- Nobel Prize for Literature: Nadine Gordimer
- Prix Goncourt: Pierre Combescot, Les Filles du Calvaire
- Prix Décembre: Raphaël Confiant, Eau de café
- Prix Médicis: Pierre Simon, La Dérive des sentiments
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Neil Simon, Lost in Yonkers
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: John Updike: Rabbit At Rest
- Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction: Edward O. Wilson: The Ants
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mona Van Duyn: Near Changes
- Whitbread Best Book Award: John Richardson, A Life of Picasso