1953 in literature

The year 1953 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

* January 22 - "The Crucible", a drama by Arthur Miller, opens on Broadway.
* February 19 - Censorship: The State of Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
* After five years as an English Teacher, Frederick Buechner moves to New York to become a full time writer.
*"Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin 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.
* April 13 - The face of popular literature is transformed with the publication of Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale".
*Ronald Harwood becomes Sir Donald Wolfit's dresser.
*John Dickson Carr writing as "Carter Dickson" publishes his final Sir Henry Merrivale mystery novel.
*Ian Fleming's James Bond was first brought into the world in Casino Royale.

New books

*Sholom Aleichem - "Adventures of Mottel the Cantor's Son"
*Isaac Asimov - "Second Foundation"
*James Baldwin - "Go Tell It on the Mountain"
*Saul Bellow - "The Adventures of Augie March"
*Alfred Bester - "The Demolished Man"
*Zealia Bishop - "The Curse of Yig"
*Ray Bradbury
**"Fahrenheit 451"
**"The Golden Apples of the Sun"
*Gwendolyn Brooks - "Maud Martha"
*William S. Burroughs - "Junkie"
*John Dickson Carr writing as "Carter Dickson" - "The Cavalier's Cup"
*Raymond Chandler - "The Long Goodbye"
*Arthur C. Clarke
**"Against the Fall of Night"
**"Childhood's End"
*Beverly Cleary - "Otis Spofford"
*Ivy Compton-Burnett - "The Present and the Past"
*A. J. Cronin - "Beyond This Place"
*L. Sprague de Camp
**"The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens"
**"Sprague de Camp's New Anthology of Science Fiction"
**"The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales"
*L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt - "Tales from Gavagan's Bar"
*Lloyd C. Douglas - "The Robe"
*Ian Fleming - "Casino Royale"
*Ernest K. Gann - "The High and the Mighty"
*Davis Grubb - "The Night of the Hunter"
*Mark Harris - "The Southpaw"
*James Hilton - "Time and Time Again"
*David Karp - "One"
*Ira Levin - "A Kiss Before Dying"
*C. S. Lewis - "The Silver Chair"
*James A. Michener - "The Bridges at Toko-Ri"
*Zoe B. Oldenbourg - "The Cornerstone"
*Mervyn Peake - "Mr Pye"
*Ellery Queen - "The Scarlet Letters"
*Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - "The Sojourner"
*Annemarie Selinko - "Désirée"
*Samuel Shellabarger - "Lord Vanity"
*Wilmar H. Shiras - "Children of the Atom"
*Rex Stout - "The Golden Spiders"
*Leon Uris - "Battle Cry"
*Boris Vian - "Heartsnatcher"
*A. E. van Vogt - "The Universe Maker"
*Evelyn Waugh - "Love Among the Ruins"
*Ben Ames Williams - "The Unconquered"
*John Wyndham - "The Kraken Wakes"

New drama

*Arthur Adamov - "Le Professeur Taranne"
*Agatha Christie - "Witness for the Prosecution"
*Max Frisch - "Biedermann und die Brandstifter (The Fire Raisers)"
*Witold Gombrowicz - "Ślub (The Wedding)"
*Arthur Miller - "The Crucible"

hort stories

*Roald Dahl - "Nunc Dimittis"

Poetry

*"Faber Book of Twentieth Century Verse"

Non-fiction

*George Dangerfield - "The Era of Good Feelings" (Bancroft Prize)
*L. Sprague de Camp - "Science-Fiction Handbook"
*G. R. Elton - "The Tudor Revolution in Government"
*Heinrich Harrer - "Seven Years in Tibet"
*Nancy Mitford - "Madame de Pompadour"

Births

*February 10 - John Shirley, science fiction and horror writer
*March 12 - Carl Hiaasen, author
*March 25 - John Tierney, "New York Times" journalist
*April 3 - Pieter Aspe, author of the "Inspector Van In" novels
*May 19 - Victoria Wood, comedienne and writer
*July 14 - Bent Lorentzen, novelist
*July 29 - Frank McGuinness, dramatist and poet
*August 10 - Mark Doty, poet
*September 23 - Nicholas Witchell, TV journalist
*November 5 - Joyce Maynard, memoirist and former lover of J. D. Salinger
*"date unknown"
**Pat Cadigan, science fiction author
**George Dyson, science historian
**Peter Robinson, poet

Deaths

*April 4 - Rachilde (Marguerite Vallette-Eymery), French author
*April 9 - C. E. M. Joad, philosopher
*April 24 - Alfred Vierkandt, sociologist
*June 5 - Moelona, novelist and translator
*June 25 - Richard Jebb, journalist
*July 6 - Julia de Burgos, poet
*July 16 - Hilaire Belloc, humorous poet, essayist and travel writer
*August 30 - Maurice Nicoll, psychologist
* November 8 - John van Melle, South African author
* November 9 - Dylan Thomas, poet and author
* November 27 - Eugene O'Neill, playwright
* November 30 - Francis Picabia, painter, poet
*"date unknown"
**Idris Davies, poet
**Gordon Hall Gerould, philologist
**Alice Milligan, poet
**T. F. Powys, novelist, brother of John Cowper Powys
**Eirik Vandvik, classicist and translator

Awards

* National Book Award for Fiction: Ralph Ellison: "Invisible Man"
* Christopher Award: Marie Killilea, "Karen"
* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Margaret Kennedy, "Troy Chimneys"
* James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Carola Oman, "Sir John Moore"
* Newbery Medal for children's literature: Ann Nolan Clark, "Secret of the Andes"
* Nobel Prize for Literature: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
* Premio Nadal: Luisa Forrellad, "Siempre en capilla"
* Pulitzer Prize for Drama: William Inge, "Picnic"
* Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Ernest Hemingway - "The Old Man and the Sea"
* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Archibald MacLeish: "Collected Poems 1917-1952"
* King's Gold Medal for Poetry: Arthur Waley