1920 in literature

The year 1920 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

*"Hercule Poirot" makes his first appearance.
*"Beyond the Horizon", Eugene O'Neill's first full-length play, opens at a special matinee at the Morosco Theater on February 2 – partly as an experiment on the part of the producer, partly to quiet the pleading of actor Richard Bennett who has demanded a chance to play the lead role. Reviewers hail the play and O'Neill becomes famous. "The Emperor Jones" is staged in November.
*"This Side of Paradise" by F. Scott Fitzgerald is published. It is a sensation, immediately establishing Fitzgerald as a writer and celebrity. Though the book's reputation will dim in later years, Dorothy Parker will recall that it was regarded as an innovative work when it first appeared.
*"The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton is published.
*"Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis is published.
*D. H. Lawrence publishes "Women in Love".
*Hart Crane publishes his poem "My Grandmother's Love Letters" in The Dial. This is his first real step towards recognition as a poet.
*Van Wyck Brooks publishes "The Ordeal of Mark Twain", arguing that Twain's genius was perverted by the conditions and culture of late 19th-century America. This is the beginning of the reassessment of Mark Twain, who until this point has been regarded primarily as a humorous entertainer. The 1920s will force a reconsideration of many 19th-century writers, most importantly Melville and Dickinson.

New books

* Sherwood Anderson — "Poor White"
* L. Frank Baum — "Glinda of Oz"
* Marjorie Bowen — "The Burning Glass"
* Rhoda Broughton — "A Fool in Her Folly"
* Edgar Rice Burroughs — "Tarzan the Untamed"
* Agatha Christie — "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (first Hercule Poirot mystery)
* Colette — "Chéri"
* John Dos Passos — "Three Soldiers"
* F. Scott Fitzgerald — "This Side Of Paradise"
* Robert Frost — "Mountain Interval"
* Zona Gale — "Miss Lulu Bett"
* D. H. Lawrence — "Women in Love"
* Sinclair Lewis — "Main Street"
* David Lindsay — "A Voyage to Arcturus
* Hugh Lofting — "The Story of Doctor Dolittle"
* H. L. Mencken — ""
* E. Phillips Oppenheim — "The Great Impersation"
*Dowell Philip O'Reilly — "Five Corners"
* Sigrid Undset — "The Bridal Wreath"
* Mary Augusta Ward — "Harvest"
* Edith Wharton — "The Age of Innocence"
* Owen Wister — "A Straight Deal"
* Zara Wright — "Black and White Tangled Threads"

New drama

*Karel Čapek - "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)"
*John Galsworthy - "The Skin Game"
*Tristan Tzara - "Le Cœur à gaz"

Poetry

*Robert Bridges - "October and Other Poems"
*T. S. Eliot - "Poems" (Twelve poems including “Lune de Miel” and “The Hippopotamus”)
*Robert Frost - "Miscellaneous Poems"
*Ezra Pound - "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly"
*Carl Sandburg - "Smoke and Steel"
*Siegfried Sassoon - "Picture Show"
*Edna St. Vincent Millay - "A Few Figs From Thistles"

Non-fiction

* Frederick Jackson Turner — "The Frontier in American History"
* H. G. Wells - "The Outline of History"

Births

*January 2 - Isaac Asimov, author (d. 1992)
*January 24 - Keith Douglas, English poet (d. 1944)
*February 11 - Daniel F. Galouye, American science fiction author (d. 1976)
*February 29 - Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
*March 10 - Boris Vian, French novelist (d. 1959)
*March 11 - D. J. Enright, English writer (d. 2002)
*April 5 - Arthur Hailey, novelist (d. 2004)
*June 8 - Gwen Harwood, Australian poet (d. 1995)
*June 18 - Rosemary Dobson, Australian poet
*June 20 - Amos Tutuola, Nigerian writer (d. 1997)
*July 12 - Pierre Berton, Canadian author (d. 2004)
*August 3 - P. D. James, English author
*August 16 - Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
*August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer
*October 8 - Frank Herbert, American science fiction author (d. 1986)
*October 15 - Mario Puzo, author of "The Godfather" (d. 1999)
*November 23 - Paul Celan, poet (d. 1970)

Deaths

*March 26 - Mary Augusta Ward, author (b. 1981)
*May 11 - William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
*June 5 - Rhoda Broughton, Welsh author (b. 1840)

Awards

* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: D. H. Lawrence, "The Lost Girl"
* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: G. M. Trevelyan, "Lord Grey of the Reform Bill"
* Nobel Prize for Literature: Knut Hamsun
* Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: "no award given"
* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: "no award given"
* Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Eugene O'Neill, "Beyond the Horizon"