1992 in literature

See also: 1991 in literature, other events of 1992, 1993 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• The Bridges of Madison County, originally self-published by author Robert James Waller, will go on to become the largest selling novel in history with more than 60 million copies sold.
• The Goosebumps series of books, penned by R.L. Stine, are first published.

New books

• All Around the Town  – Mary Higgins Clark
• Anvil of Stars – Greg Bear
• The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
• The Children of Men – P.D. James
• The Crow Road  – Iain Banks
• Dolores Claiborne  – Stephen King
• The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
• Jazz – Toni Morrison
• Jewels  – Danielle Steel
• Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett
• Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus – John Gray
• Mixed Blessings  – Danielle Steel
• Paddy Clarke – Roddy Doyle
• The Pelican Brief  – John Grisham
• The Queen and I – Sue Townsend
• Secrets of Love Magick – Gerina Dunwich
• Shampoo Planet – Douglas Coupland
• Silent Passage  – Gail Sheehy
• Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
• The Stars Shine Down  – Sidney Sheldon
• The Tale of the Body Thief  – Anne Rice
• Tales from Firozsha Baag – Rohinton Mistry
• The Thief of Always  – Clive Barker
• The Trial of Madame Caillaux – Edward Berenson
• The Valkyries – Paulo Coelho
• Waiting to Exhale  – Terry McMillan

Births

Deaths

• February 10 – Alex Haley, Roots author
• February 16 – Angela Carter, author
• April 6 – Isaac Asimov, author
• April 21 – Väinö Linna, Finnish novelist
• April 28 – Iceberg Slim, novelist
• May 22 – Elizabeth David, cookery writer
• July 22 – Reginald Bretnor, science fiction writer
• September 5 – Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr., American writer of fantasy and science fiction
• December 25 – Monica Dickens, novelist
• December 27 – Kay Boyle, writer, educator, political activist

Awards

• Booker Prize: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
• See 1992 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Nebula Award: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Derek Walcott
• Prix Goncourt: Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
• Prix Décembre: Henri Thomas, La Chasse au trésor and Roger Grenier, Regardez la neige qui tombe
• Prix Médicis French: Michel Rio, Tlacuilo
• Prix Médicis International: Louis Begley, Une éducation polonaise
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: James Tate, Selected Poems
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Robert Schenkkan, The Kentucky Cycle
• Whitbread Best Book Award: Jeff Torrington, Swing Hammer Swing!