1951 in literature

Events

• Flannery O'Connor is diagnosed with lupus.

• From Here to Eternity by James Jones[?] is published. In 2001, the book would be listed as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• A Question of Upbringing[?] by Anthony Powell is published. It is the first novel of his A Dance to the Music of Time[?] duodecalogy. In 2001, this twelve-volume series of novels published between 1951 and 1975 will be named to the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is published. In 2001, the book would be listed as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

New Books

• The Balance Wheel[?] - Taylor Caldwell
• The Blessing[?] - Nancy Mitford
• Boy at the Window[?] - Owen Dodson[?]
• The Caine Mutiny - Herman Wouk[?]
• The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
• The Cruel Sea[?] - Nicholas Monsarrat[?]
• Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov
• The Foundling[?] - Cardinal Spellman
• From Here to Eternity - James Jones[?]
• Lie Down In Darkness[?] - William Styron
• The Loved and the Lost[?] - Morley Callaghan
• Moses - Sholem Asch[?]
• My Cousin Rachel[?] - Daphne du Maurier
• Prince Caspian - C. S. Lewis
• A Question of Upbringing[?] - Anthony Powell
• Return to Paradise[?] - James A. Michener
• Spartacus[?] - Howard Fast
• The Wanderer[?] - Mika Waltari
• A Woman Called Fancy[?] - Frank Yerby[?]

Births

• August 20 - Greg Bear, science fiction author
• August 24 - Orson Scott Card, science fiction author

Deaths

• February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, novelist
• February 13 - Lloyd C. Douglas[?], author
• February 19 - André Gide, author
• March 14 - Algernon Blackwood, writer
• March 25 - Oscar Micheaux, African-American, author & filmmaker

Awards

• Newberry Medal for children's literature: Elizabeth Yates[?], Amos Fortune, Free Man
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Pär Fabian Lagerkvist
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Conrad Richter[?], The Town
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carl Sandburg, Complete Poems