2001 in literature

See also: 2000 in literature, other events of 2001, 2002 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, hits movie theaters. The film is directed by Peter Jackson

• February 15 – Author Michael Crichton signed a new two book deal with HarperCollins Publishers reportedly earning $40 million for the two books.

• July 20 – London: After being found guilty of two counts of perjury and two of perverting the course of justice, a shackled Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare is taken to Belmarsh jail in a van, seated next to a convicted knife murderer.

New books

• All Families Are Psychotic – Douglas Coupland
• The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents – Terry Pratchett
• The Ash Garden – Dennis Bock
• Austerlitz – W.G. Sebald
• Back When We Were Grownups – Anne Tyler
• Baudolino – Umberto Eco
• Black House – Stephen King
• The Bonesetter's Daughter – Amy Tan
• Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
• The Cold Six Thousand – James Ellroy
• The Constant Gardener – John le Carré
• The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
• Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age – Steven Levy
• The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
• Death in Holy Orders – P.D. James
• Dolce Agonia – Nancy Huston
• Dreamcatcher – Stephen King
• Empire Falls – Richard Russo
• Exploring Spellcraft – Gerina Dunwich
• Fatal Voyage – Kathy Reichs
• The Fiery Cross – Diana Gabaldon
• Five Quarters of the Orange – Joanne Harris
• The Fourth Hand – John Irving
• Fury – Salman Rushdie
• The Future of Ideas – Lawrence Lessig
• Giving Something Back – Robert N. Kucey
• Greenhouse: The 200-Year Story of Global Warming – Gale E. Christianson
• The Idea of Perfection – Kate Grenville Picador
• The Last Hero – Terry Pratchett
• Leap Of Faith – Danielle Steel
• Life of Pi – Yann Martel
• Man Ray's Montparnasse – Herbert R. Lottman
• Marie Antoinette: The Journey – Antonia Fraser
• Mary Shelley – Miranda Seymour
• The Modern Witch's Complete Sourcebook – Gerina Dunwich
• Nickel and Dimed – Barbara Ehrenreich
• A Painted House – John Grisham
• Rouge Brésil – Jean-Christophe Rufin
• Seabiscuit: An American Legend – Laura Hillenbrand
• ISADORA: The Sensational Life of Isadora Duncan – Peter Kurth
• Skipping Christmas – John Grisham
• The Stone Carvers – Jane Urquhart
• Stupid White Men – Michael Moore
• Thief of Time – Terry Pratchett
• Thinks ... – David Lodge
• The Trial of Henry Kissinger – Christopher Hitchens
• The White Castle – Orhan Pamuk

Births

Deaths

• January 31 – Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer
• February 7 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author, aviator
• February 14 – Alan Ross,78, poet and editor
• March 12  – Robert Ludlum, author
• May 11 – Douglas Adams, author (heart attack) (b. 1952)
• May 13 – R.K. Narayan, 94, Indian novelist
• June 1 – Hank Ketcham, 81, cartoonist, creator of Dennis the Menace
• June 27 – Tove Jansson, children's author
• July 3 – Mordecai Richler
• August 1 – Poul Anderson – fantasy / sci-fi author
• August 6 – Jorge Amado, 88, Brazilian writer
• August 20 – Fred Hoyle, Astronomer and science fiction writer
• November 10 – Ken Kesey, 66, author.

Awards

• Booker Prize: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
• Finlandia Prize: Hannu Raittila Canal Grande
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Richard B. Wright – Clara Callan
• See 2001 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Griffin Poetry Prize: Anne Carson, Men in the Off Hours and Nikolai Popov and Heather McHugh, translation of Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan
• Hugo Award: J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• IMPAC Award: Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder
• Nobel Prize for Literature: V.S. Naipaul
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Kate Grenville Picador, The Idea of Perfection
• Prix Décembre: Chloé Delaume, Le Cri du sablier
• Prix Femina: Marie Ndiaye, Rosie Carpe
• Prix Goncourt: Jean-Christophe Rufin, Rouge Brésil
• Prix Médicis French: Edwy Plenel, Secrets de jeunesse
• Prix Médicis Non-Fiction: Le Loup mongol
• Prix Médicis International: Antonio Skarmeta, La noce du poète
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: David Auburn, Proof
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stephen Dunn, Different Hours
• Samuel Johnson Prize: Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich
• Viareggio Prize: Nicolò Ammaniti, Io non ho paura, Michele Ranchetti, Verbale, and Giorgio Pestelli, Canti del destino