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
*Cloak of Deception - James Luceno
*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
*Edge of Victory: Conquest - Greg Keyes
*Edge of Victory: Rebirth - Greg Keyes
*Empire Falls - Richard Russo
*Exploring Spellcraft - Gerina Dunwich
*Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
*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
*Never Dream of Dying - Raymond Benson
*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
*Star by Star - Troy Denning
*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

New drama

*The Shape of Things - Neil LaBute
*Weights - Lynn Manning

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

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