1884 in literature

See also: 1883 in literature, other events of 1884, 1885 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• February 1 – Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

New books

• Controcorrente – Joris-Karl Huysmans
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
• 'I Say No' – Wilkie Collins
• Ishmael. A Novel – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• The Ladies Lindores – Margaret Oliphant
• Miss Bretherton – Mary Augusta Ward
• A Mummer's Wife – George A. Moore
• Ramona – Helen Hunt Jackson
• A rebours – Joris-Karl Huysmans
• Tommy Upmore – Richard Doddridge Blackmore
• The Wizard's Son – Margaret Oliphant

Births

• January 2 – Oscar Micheaux, African-American author & filmmaker (+ 1951)
• March 13 – Sir Hugh Walpole, novelist (+ 1941)
• August 8 – Sara Teasdale, poet (d. 1933)
• August 24 – Earl Derr Biggers, writer

Deaths

• November 6 – William Wells Brown, African-American writer
• April 11 – Charles Reade, English writer

Awards