This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2013.
Events
21 January – An annual Orwell Day is instituted. 26 January – Fleeing Islamist insurgents set fire to library buildings in Timbuktu containing manuscripts, mostly in Arabic, dating back to 1204. 7 March – World Book Day becomes a UNESCO-designated event marked in more than 100 countries. April – J. K. Rowling publishes a detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, with the U.K. publisher Sphere Books. The author's identity is revealed by the media in July. 23 April – World Book Night. 28 April – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Simon Stephens' stage adaptation of a novel by Mark Haddon, wins a record seven awards at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards in London. 1 July – Publisher Penguin Random House is created by a merger. 3 September – The new Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in the U.K., is opened by Malala Yousafzai. Its public spaces are integrated with those of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. October – Jo Nesbø reveals himself as Tom Johansen, author of three forthcoming novels. 28 November – Three unpublished works by J. D. Salinger (died 2010), including "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls", are leaked onto the internet.
Anniversaries
11 February
50th anniversary of the death of Sylvia Plath in 1963
200th anniversary of the birth of Harriet Jacobs in 1813
28 January – 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813
5 May – 200th anniversary of the birth of Søren Kierkegaard in 1813
2 June – 100th anniversary of the birth of Barbara Pym
29 June – 400th anniversary of the burning of the Globe Theatre during a production of Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII in 1613 2 August – 25th anniversary of the death of US short story writer Raymond Carver 7 November – 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Camus 22 November – 50th anniversary of the death of Aldous Huxley
New books
Fiction
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah
José Eduardo Agualusa – A General Theory of Oblivion (Teoria Geral do Esquecimento) Jacob M. Appel – The Biology of Luck Kate Atkinson – Life After Life Dan Brown – Inferno Adam Christopher – The Burning Dark J. M. Coetzee – The Childhood of Jesus Troy Denning – Crucible Doug Dorst – S. Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North Aminatta Forna – The Hired Man Frederick Forsyth – The Kill List Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane Elizabeth Graver – The End of the Point David G. Hartwell (ed.) – Year's best SF 18 Neamat Imam – The Black Coat Reinhard Jirgl – Nichts von euch auf Erden Stephen King – Doctor Sleep Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers Pierre Lemaitre – Au revoir là-haut (The Great Swindle) Eimear McBride – A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing Alex Miller – Coal Creek Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹) – Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年, Tsukuru to, kare no junrei no toshi) Adam Nevill – House of Small Shadows Nnedi Okorafor – Kabu-Kabu: Stories Chuck Palahniuk – Doomed Ruth Ozeki - A Tale for the Time Being Rick Riordan – The House of Hades Veronica Roth – Allegiant J. K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) – The Cuckoo's Calling Ahmed Saadawi – Frankenstein in Baghdad (فرانكشتاين في بغداد) M. G. Sanchez – The Escape Artist: a Gibraltarian novel George Saunders – Tenth of December: Stories John Scalzi – The Human Division Sjón – Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was (Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til) Marivi Soliven – The Mango Bride Robert Stone – Death of the Black-Haired Girl Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch Zlatko Topčić – Dagmar Laura van den Berg – The Isle of Youth (short story collection) Peter Watts – Beyond the Rift (collected stories) Tim Winton – Eyrie
Children's and young people
David Almond – Mouse Bird Snake Wolf
Janeen Brian – I'm A Dirty Dinosaur
Nick Bromley – Open Very Carefully
Laura Dockrill – Darcy Burdock
Anthony Horowitz – Russian Roulette
John Hornor Jacobs – The Twelve-Fingered Boy
Chris Lynch – Dead in The Water
Patricia MacLachlan – Cat Talk
Nikki McClure – How To Be A Cat
Rhode Montijo - The Gumazing Gum Girl! Book 1: Chews Your Destiny (August 20) Chris Raschka – Daisy Gets Lost Rainbow Rowell Eleanor & Park Fangirl Maggie Stiefvater – The Dream Thieves (second book in The Raven Cycle) Amy Tintera – Reboot