1938 in literature

Events A very good year in books:

• The trilogy, U.S.A.[?] by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel[?] (1930), 1919[?] (1932), and The Big Money[?] (1936). In 2001, the trilogy would be named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• Scoop[?] by Evelyn Waugh is published. In 2001, the book would be the second of three works by him named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• The Death of the Heart[?] by Elizabeth Bowen[?] is published. In 2001, the book would be named as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

New Books

• Aunt Sara's Wooden God[?] - Mercedes Gilbert[?]
• Beyond The River[?] - George Hamlin Ross[?]
• The Bridge in The Jungle[?] - B. Traven[?]
• Brighton Rock[?] - Graham Greene
• Count Belisarius[?] - Robert Graves
• The Death of the Heart[?] - Elizabeth Bowen[?]
• Dynasty of Death[?] - Taylor Caldwell
• Epitaph For A Spy[?] - Eric Ambler[?]
• Gas Light[?] - Patrick Hamilton[?]
• Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
• Hope of Heaven[?] - John O'Hara
• Invitation To A Beheading[?] - Vladimir Nabokov
• Lassie Come-Home[?] - Eric Knight[?]
• Nausea (La Nausée) - Jean-Paul Sartre
• Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen
• Out of the Silent Planet[?] - C. S. Lewis
• Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
• Scoop[?] - Evelyn Waugh
• Thieves' Carnival[?] (Le bal des voleurs) - Jean Anouilh
• U.S.A. (trilogy)[?] - John Dos Passos
• The White Stag[?] - Kate Seredy[?]
• The Yearling - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings[?]

Births

• February 12 - Judy Blume, author
• April 29 - Larry Niven, author

Deaths

• June 26 - James Weldon Johnson

• Newberry Medal for children's literature: Kate Seredy[?], The White Stag
• Nobel Prize for literature: Pearl S. Buck
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Thornton Wilder, Our Town
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Marya Zaturenska: Cold Morning Sky
• Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: John Phillips Marquand[?] - The Late George Apley