1959 in literature

• In Cuba , Fidel Castro comes to power as a result of a revolution .
• Asterix appears for the first time, a comic character from French comics, first published in the journal Pilot.
• Frank Herbert is starting to create a cycle of Dune novels.
• French screenwriter and playwright Marcel Achard becomes a member of the French Academy .
• The novel by David Herbert Lawrence "Lady Chatterley's Lover" ( Eng. Lady Chatterley's Lover , 1928 ) is first published in the United States after thirty years of prohibition.
• “The Story of a Nun,” a screen version of the eponymous bestseller of 1956 by Catherine S. Halmi, is coming out.

International

• Nobel Prize in Literature - Salvatore Quasimodo , " For lyrical poetry, which with classical vivacity expresses the tragic experience of our time ."
• Hugo Award - James Blish , for the novel "The Case of Conscience" ( eng. A Case of Conscience )

Israel

• Israeli State Prize for Hebrew Literature:
  • Sameh Izhar ;
  • Ezra Fleisher .

Spain

• Nadal Award - Ana Maria Matute "Primera memoria"

USSR

• Lenin Prize in Literature:
  • Mukhtar Auezov , for the novel "The Path of Abai";
  • Alexander Dovzhenko , for the literary film script "Poem of the Sea";
  • Nikolai Pogodin , for the dramatic trilogy “The Man with a Gun”, “The Kremlin Chimes”, “The Third Pathetic”

United States

• Pulitzer Prize in the artwork category written by American writer — Robert Lewis Taylor , Jammy MacFieres's Travels
• Pulitzer Prize in the category of drama for the theater - Archibald McLeish for the play “JB”
• Pulitzer Prize in the category of poetry - Stanley Kunitz, "Selected Poems of 1928-1958"

France

• Goncourt Prize - Andre Schwarz-Barth " The Last of the Righteous "
• Medici Prize - Claude Mauriac , " Le Dîner en ville "
• Renodo Prize - Albert Palle ( fr. Albert Palle ), " L'Expérience "
• Femina Prize - Bernard Privat ( Fr. Bernard Privat ), " Au pied du mur "
• Pheneon Prize - Armand Gatti (play "Black Fish")

Novels

• Billie the Liar - a novel by Keith Waterhouse
• " Goldfinger " - Jan Fleming 's novel about the adventures of agent James Bond
• " Naked Breakfast " - a novel by William Burroughs
• "Tin Drum" - Günter Grass debut novel
• “ Borrowed Life ” - a novel by Erich Maria Remarque
• "Martero" - a novel by Natalie Sarrot
• "The Cat among the Pigeons " - a novel by Agatha Christie
• " The Ghost House on the Hill " - a novel by Shirley Jackson
• “The Spin of the Earth” - Grigory Baklanov's novel in the genre of village prose
• "Compose Yourself" - Rex Stout 's novel from the series about Nero Wolfe
• "The Sirens of Titan " - a novel by Kurt Vonnegut
• “The Perfect Pig Poster, or Memoirs of the Economic Adviser of Minna Karlsson-Kananen” - a satirical novel by Martti Larni
• “ Raised virgin soil ” - the second volume of the novel by M. A. Sholokhov was published
• “The Gilded Age ” - first published satirical novel by Mark Twain
• “We only dream of peace” - VN Sobko's novel
• "Psycho" - a novel by Robert Bloch
• " Eden " - a novel by Stanislav Lem
• “Fair in the poorhouse” - the debut novel of John Updike
• "Henderson, Lord of the Rain" - a novel by Saul Bellow

Tale

• “Alyosha Pepper in the country of the homunculi” - a fantastic story by Sergey Zemaitis

Short Prose

• "Under the Sun" - a collection of stories by Yuri Trifonov
• The Bruise Remedy - Ray Bradbury Storybook
• "Farewell, Columbus" - a collection of stories by Philip Roth
• "Secret Weapon" - a collection of short stories by Julio Cortazar

Plays

• “The Recluses of Altona” - a play by Jean-Paul Sartre
• “Irkutsk Story” - a play by Alexei Arbuzov
• “Night sky” - play by Alexander Gladkov
• "Sweet Bird of Youth" - a play by Tennessee Williams

Poetry

• "About the different differences." Poems and short stories by Sergey Baruzdin
• "Masters" - a poem by Andrei Voznesensky

Literature

Publicism

• "The Militarist and Industrial Revolution" - an essay by Fritz Sternberg
• "The Last Nine Days of Bismarck" ( Eng. The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck ) - the book of Cecil Scott Forester

• January 20 - Robert Salvatore , American science fiction writer.
• February 2 - Jari Tervo, Finnish writer and poet.
• February 24 - Katie Arnoldi ( Eng. Katie Arnoldi ), American writer, former bodybuilder.
• February 24 - Stefano Bortolucci ( Italian. Stefano Bortolussi ), Italian writer, poet and translator.
• February 24 - Mon Santiso ( isp. Mon Santiso ), Spanish and Galician journalist, TV host and actor.
• February 24 - Owen Gleiberman ( English Owen Gleiberman ), American film critic .
• March 5 - Marianna Tsoi , writer, music producer, wife of rock musician Viktor Tsoi .
• March 15 - Ben Okri , English writer, of Nigerian descent.
• March 18 - Luc Besson , French film director, writer and screenwriter, author of a series of novels about Arthur .
• July 16 - Alexander Chernitsky , a publicist writer, author of over 30 books for children and adults.
• August 10 - Vyacheslav Ivanovich Degtev , writer.
• August 27 - Janet Winterson , English writer
• September 26 - Ilya Kormiltsev , Russian poet, translator, music and literary critic.
• October 31 - Neil Stephenson , American science fiction writer.

• January 7 - Lavrenyov, Boris Andreevich , Russian writer.
• February 28 - Maxwell Anderson , American playwright and theorist of the theater (b. 1888 ).
• March 22 - Olga Knipper-Chekhov , actress, wife of A.P. Chekhov (b. 1868 ).
• March 26 - Raymond Chandler , American writer, author of detectives (b. 1888 ).
• April 17 - Boris Nikolaevich Shiryayev , Russian writer, prose writer of the “second wave” (b. 1887 ).
• May 20 - Alfred Schütz , Austrian sociologist and philosopher (b. 1899 ).
• June 7 - Petras Vaichiunas , Lithuanian poet and playwright.
• June 23 - Boris Vian , French prose writer, poet, jazz musician (b. 1920 ).