1997 in literature

See also: 1996 in literature, other events of 1997, 1998 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• Tom Clancy signed a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. (both part of Pearson Education), that paid him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . He then signed a second agreement for another US$25 million for a four-year book/multimedia deal. Clancy followed this up with an agreement with Berkley Books for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the an ABC television miniseries in an agreement worth US$22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

• The memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, is removed from the ninth-grade English curriculum in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, because it "portrays white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid people."

New books

• American Pastoral  – Philip Roth
• Are You Experienced? – William Sutcliffe
• Barney's Version – Mordecai Richler
• The Best Laid Plans  – Sidney Sheldon
• The Bible Code  – Michael Drosnin
• Budgie: The Little Helicopter – Sarah Ferguson
• Cat & Mouse  – James Patterson
• Cold Mountain  – Charles Frazier
• Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs  – Dave Barry
• Deja Dead – Kathy Reichs
• Diana: Her True Story – Andrew Morton
• Everyday Wicca – Gerina Dunwich
• Fall On Your Knees – Ann-Marie MacDonald
• The Ghost  – Danielle Steel
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – J. K. Rowling
• Hornet's Nest  – Patricia Cornwell
• I Am the Most Interesting Book of All (translation) – Marie Bashkirtseff
• Instruments of Darkness – Nancy Huston
• Jingo – Terry Pratchett
• Larry's Party  – Carol Shields
• Moab Is My Washpot – Stephen Fry (autobiography)
• Morisson of Peking – Cyril Pearl
• Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet – Karen Armstrong
• Night Train – Martin Amis
• The Partner  – John Grisham
• Pretend You Don't See Her – Mary Higgins Clark
• The Ranch  – Danielle Steel
• The Red Tent – Anita Diamant
• Special Delivery  – Danielle Steel
• The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman
• Timequake – Kurt Vonnegut
• Toulouse-Lautrec: The Soul of Montmartre – Reinhold Heller
• Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Albom
• Unnatural Exposure  – Patricia Cornwell
• A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
• A Wiccan's Guide to Prophecy and Divination – Gerina Dunwich

Births

Deaths

• January 19 – James Dickey, poet, novelist
• April 5 – Allen Ginsberg, poet
• October 14 – Harold Robbins, novelist

Awards

• Booker Prize: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Mordecai Richler: – Barney's Version
• See 1997 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Javier Marias, A Heart So White
• Nebula Award: Vonda McIntyre, The Moon and the Sun
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: E. L. Konigsburg, The View from Saturday
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Dario Fo
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
• Prix Goncourt: Patrick Rambaud, La Bataille
• Prix Décembre: Lydie Salvayre, La Compagnie des spectres
• Prix Médicis International: T. Coraghessan Boyle, America
• Prix Médicis French: Les Sept Noms du peintre – Philippe Le Guillou
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Steven Millhauser – Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Lisel Mueller: Live Together: New and Selected Poems
• Whitbread Best Book Award: Ted Hughes, Tales from Ovid