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In poetry: 1981; 1982; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1986; 1987

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1984.

Events

April 4 – The narrative of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) begins and causes widespread discussion. G. K. Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904) is also set in this year; and Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 (いちきゅうはちよん, Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon, 2009–2010) is set in a parallel version of it.
June 16 – Cirque du Soleil is founded in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.^[1]
July – Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities begins serialization in Rolling Stone.
December 19 – Ted Hughes' appointment as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom is announced in succession to Sir John Betjeman,^[2] Philip Larkin having turned down the post.
unknown dates
- Prvoslav Vujčić's second poetry collection, Kastriranje vetra (Castration of the Wind), written during a week's imprisonment in Tuzla for criticising the state, is banned in Yugoslavia.
- Of Mice and Men, the 1937 novel by John Steinbeck, is removed from Tennessee public schools, when the School Board Chair promises to oust all "ostensibly filthy" books from public school curricula and libraries.^[3]
- Redu in Belgium becomes a book town.
- Saqi Books, an independent U.K. publisher, is founded by Mai Ghoussoub.

New books

Poetry

John Ashbery – A Wave
Louise Erdrich – Jacklight
Christopher Gilbert – Across the Mutual Landscape
Paulette Jiles – Celestial Navigation
Sharon Olds – The Dead and the Living

Non-fiction

Charles Berlitz – Atlantis: The Eighth Continent
Church in Wales – Book of Common Prayer for use in the Church in Wales
Morrill Cody and Hugh Ford – The Women of Montparnasse, the Americans in Paris
Roald Dahl – Boy an autobiography
Louise Hay – You Can Heal Your Life
Lee Iacocca – Iacocca: An Autobiography
Pauline Kael – Taking It All In
Steven Levy – Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
Audre Lorde – Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Robin Morgan (ed.) – Sisterhood Is Global
M. Alice Ottoboni – The Dose Makes the Poison: A Plain-Language Guide to Toxicology
Derek Parfit – Reasons and Persons
Joan Peters – From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine
Dan Simonescu – Contribuții: literatura română medievală (Contributions: Medieval Romanian Literature)
Herbert Jay Stern – Judgment in Berlin^[5]
E. O. Wilson – Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species

Births

February 19 - Marissa Meyer, American science-fiction author
April 16 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American novelist
May 9 – Ezra Klein, American journalist and columnist
May 21 – Jackson Pearce, American young-adult novelist
June 5 – Simon Rich, American humorist, novelist and screenwriter
July 11 - Marie Lu, American young-adult novelist
July 12 – Amanda Hocking, American fantasy novelist
August 8 – Owen Jones, English columnist and author and commentator
October 13 - Lauren DeStefano, American young-adult author
November 20 – Halley Feiffer, American playwright and actress
December 10 – Helen Oyeyemi, English novelist and playwright

Deaths

February 12 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine novelist, short story writer and essayist (born 1914)
February 21 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
February 22
- Uwe Johnson, German writer in England (born 1934)
- Jessamyn West, American novelist (born 1902)
March 4 – Odd Bang-Hansen, Norwegian novelist and children's writer (born 1908)
March 8 – Eleanor Graham, English children's writer and editor (born 1896)
March 12 – Arnold Ridley, English playwright and actor (born 1896)
March 26 – Branko Ćopić, Bosnian Serb writer (suicide, born 1915)
April 1 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (born 1900)
April 15
- William Empson, English literary critic and poet (born 1906)
- Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer (born 1925)
April 21
- Marcel Janco, Romanian–Israeli artist, art theorist, essayist and poet (born 1895)
- Manuel Mujica Láinez, Argentine novelist (born 1910)
April 24 – Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish writer (born 1891)
May 16 – Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (born 1913)
May 19 – John Betjeman, English poet laureate (born 1906)
June 6 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian soldier and author (born 1912))
June 10 – Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Turkish poet and novelist (born 1901)
June 30 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright (born 1905)^[6]
July 6 – Denys Val Baker, Welsh novelist and short story writer (born 1917)
August 14 – J. B. Priestley, English novelist and playwright (born 1894)
August 25 – Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons), American fiction writer (born 1924)
September 7 – Liam O'Flaherty, Irish novelist and short story writer (born 1896)
October 31 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian playwright (born 1900)
November 6 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist and dramatist (born 1929)
November 10 – Xavier Herbert, Australian novelist (born 1901)
November 12 – Chester Himes, American writer (born 1909)
December 4 – Ștefan Voitec, Romanian politician and journalist (born 1900)
December 6 – Gray Barker, American writer on paranormal (born 1925)
December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)