1956 in literature

The year 1956 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

* Writing under the pseudonym of "Emile Ajar", author Romain Gary becomes the only person ever to win the Prix Goncourt twice.
*Iris Murdoch marries John Bayley.
*Aldous Huxley marries author Laura Archera.
*C. S. Lewis marries Joy Gresham.
* Finished in 1952, Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz's "Cairo Trilogy" ("Palace Walk", "Palace of Desire", "Sugar Street"), is first published.
* First book in the long-running 87th Precinct series, Cop Hater, is first published, written by Ed McBain
*Nineteen-year-old Hunter S. Thompson is arrested for robbery.
*Sixteen-year-old Michael Moorcock becomes editor of "Tarzan Adventures".
*Jorge Luis Borges becomes a professor of literature at the University of Buenos Aires.
*Martin Gardner begins his "Mathematical Games" column in "Scientific American".

New books

*Kingsley Amis - "That Uncertain Feeling"
*Poul Anderson - "Planet of No Return"
*Isaac Asimov - "The Naked Sun"
*James Baldwin - "Giovanni's Room"
*Saul Bellow - "Seize the Day"
*Pierre Berton - "The Mysterious North"
*Alfred Bester - "The Stars My Destination" (as "Tiger! Tiger!")
*Anthony Burgess - "Time for a Tiger"
*Pearl S. Buck - "Imperial Woman"
*Albert Camus - "The Fall" ("La Chute")
*Arthur C. Clarke - "The City and the Stars"
*A. J. Cronin
**"A Thing of Beauty"
**"Crusader's Tomb"
*Philip K. Dick
**"The Man Who Japed"
**"Minority Report"
*Gordon R. Dickson
**"Alien From Arcturus"
**"Mankind on the Run"
*Gerald Durrell - "My Family and Other Animals"
*Ian Fleming - "Diamonds Are Forever"
*Romain Gary - "Les racines du ciel"
*William Golding - "Pincher Martin"
*Henri René Guieu - "Les Monstres du Néant"
*Mark Harris - "Bang the Drum Slowly"
*Marguerite Henry - "Misty of Chincoteague"
*Frank Herbert - "The Dragon in the Sea"
*Georgette Heyer - "Sprig Muslin"
*Kathryn Hulme - "The Nun's Story"
*C. S. Lewis
**"The Last Battle"
**""
*Rose Macaulay - "The Towers of Trebizond"
*Ed McBain - "Cop Hater"
*Naguib Mahfouz
**"Cairo Trilogy"
**"Palace Walk"
*Grace Metalious - "Peyton Place"
*Nicholas Monsarrat - "The Tribe That Lost Its Head"
*Farley Mowat - "Lost in the Barrens"
*Agnar Mykle - "Song of the Red Ruby"
*Edwin O'Connor - "The Last Hurrah"
*Pier Paolo Pasolini - "Ragazzi di vita"
*Mervyn Peake - "Boy in Darkness"
*Mary Renault - "The Last of the Wine"
*Kenneth Roberts - "Boon Island"
*João Guimarães Rosa - "The Devil to Pay in the Backlands" ("Grande Sertão: Veredas")
*Françoise Sagan - "A Certain Smile"
*Samuel Selvon - "The Lonely Londoners"
*Irwin Shaw - "Lucy Crown"
*Khushwant Singh - "Train to Pakistan"
*Rex Stout - "Might as Well Be Dead"
*Rex Stout - "Three Witnesses"
*Kay Thompson - "Eloise"
*A. E. van Vogt - "The Wizard of Linn"
*Angus Wilson - "Anglo-Saxon Attitudes"
*P. G. Wodehouse - "French Leave"
*Eiji Yoshikawa - "Heike Story"

New drama

*Patrick Dennis - "Auntie Mame"
*Jean Genet - "Le balcon (The Balcony)"
*Hugh Leonard - "The Big Birthday Suit"
*Saunders Lewis - "Siwan (play)"
*John Osborne - "Look Back in Anger"
*Erich Maria Remarque - "Full Circle"

Poetry

*"Aniara" - Harry Martinson
*"Howl and Other Poems" - Allen Ginsberg

Non-fiction

*A. J. Liebling - "The Sweet Science"
*Norman Mailer - ""

Births

*January 2 - Storm Constantine
*March 23 - Steven Saylor, historical novelist
*May 4 - David Guterson, journalist and novelist
*May 20 - Boris Akunin, novelist and essayist
*June 9 - Patricia Cornwell, crime novelist
*October 9 - Robert Reed, science fiction author
*October 13 - Chris Carter, screenwriter
*November 26 - John McCarthy, journalist and kidnap victim
*"date unknown"
**James Belich, historian
**Amy Gerstler, poet
**Alexander Jablokov, American writer and novelist
**Jack Womack, novelist

Deaths

*January 14 - Sheila Kaye-Smith, novelist
*January 31 - A.A. Milne, dramatist and children's author
*March 30 - Edmund Clerihew Bentley, novelist and inventor of the clerihew
*May 20 - Max Beerbohm, humorist
*June 22 - Walter de la Mare, poet
*July 8 - Giovanni Papini, essayist, poet, novelist
*August 14 - Bertolt Brecht, dramatist
*September 6 - Michael Ventris, linguist
*December 13 - Arthur Grimble, travel writer
*December 25 - Robert Walser, novelist

Awards

* Duff Cooper Prize: Alan Moorehead, "Gallipoli"
* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Rose Macaulay, "The Towers of Trebizond"
* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: St John Greer Ervine, "George Bernard Shaw"
* Newbery Medal for children's literature: Jean Lee Latham, "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch"
* Nobel Prize for literature: Juan Ramón Jiménez
* Premio Nadal: José Luis Martín Descalzo, "La frontera de Dios"
* Prix Goncourt: Romain Gary for "Les racines du ciel"
* Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, "Diary of Anne Frank"
* Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: MacKinlay Kantor - "Andersonville"
* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Elizabeth Bishop: "Poems - North & South"
* Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Edmund Blunden