This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2025.
Anniversaries 14 January – Yukio Mishima was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 18 January – Gilles Deleuze was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 20 January – Ernesto Cardenal was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 20 January – Eugen Gomringer was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 1 February – Alfred Grosser was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 4 February – Russell Hoban was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 6 February – Pramoedya Ananta Toer was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 22 February – Edward Gorey was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 24 February – Etel Adnan was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 10 March – Manolis Anagnostakis was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 12 March – Harry Harrison was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 21 March – Peter Brook was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 25 March – Flannery O'Connor was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 11 May – Rubem Fonseca was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 27 May – Jean-Paul Aron was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 27 May – Tony Hillerman was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 6 June – Thomas Mann was born in 1875 (150th Anniversary). 10 June – James Salter was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 30 June – Philippe Jaccottet was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 19 July – Jean-Pierre Faye was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 20 July – Frantz Fanon was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 26 July – Ana María Matute was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 1 August – Ernst Jandl was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 18 August – Brian Aldiss was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 25 August – Thea Astley was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 27 August – Saiichi Maruya was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 6 September – Andrea Camilleri was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 15 September – Giuseppe Fava was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 19 September – Tatsuhiro Ōshiro was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 24 September – Kunio Tsuji was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 3 October – Gore Vidal was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 11 October – Elmore Leonard was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 13 October – Frank D. Gilroy was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 20 October – Art Buchwald was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 2 November – Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered in 1975 (50th Anniversary). 14 November – Jean Paul died in 1825 (200th Anniversary). 4 December Rainer Maria Rilke was born in 1875 (150th Anniversary). Hannah Arendt died in 1975 (50th Anniversary). 5 December – E. Marlitt was born in 1825 (200th Anniversary). 7 December – Thornton Wilder died in 1975 (50th Anniversary). 8 December – Carmen Martín Gaite was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 12 December – Ahmad Shamlou was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). 16 December – Jane Austen was born in 1775 (250th Anniversary). 19 December Tankred Dorst was born in 1925 (100th Anniversary). Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 (50th Anniversary). 21 December – Giovanni Boccaccio died in 1375 (650th Anniversary).
New books Dates after each title indicate U.S. publication, unless otherwise indicated.
Fiction +New adult fiction, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTitleDate of pub. Aria Aber Good Girl Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Dream Count Amal El-Mohtar The River Has Roots David Szalay Flesh Suzanne Collins Sunrise on the Reaping Abdulrazak Gurnah Theft Ben Okri Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Brokenhearted John Scalzi When the Moon Hits Your Eye Review in Publishers Weekly, November 27, 2025. Lindsey Davis There Will Be Bodies Katie Kitamura Audition Virginia Evans The Correspondent Isabel Allende My Name Is Emilia del Valle Ocean Vuong The Emperor of Gladness Jessie Elland The Ladie Upstairs Stephen King Never Flinch Katie YeeMaggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar Ian McEwan What We Can Know Helen DeWitt and Ilya GridneffYour Name HereSeptember 23Lily KingHeart the LoverSalman RushdieThe Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories
Children and young adults +New nonfiction, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTitleDate of pub.Stephen King by Maurice SendakHansel and GretelFebruary 2Jacqueline Wilson, by Rachael DeanThe Seaside SleepoverMarch 27Rick Riordan and Mark OshiroThe Court of the DeadSeptember 23ND StevensonScarlet MorningSeptember 23Charlie MackesyAlways Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the StormOctober 14Jeff KinneyDiary of a Wimpy Kid: PartypooperOctober 21
Poetry +New poetry, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTitleDate of pub.Ref.Robbie CoburnThe Foal in the Wire
Translations Notable translations first published in English: +New translations, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTranslator(s)TitleDate of pub.Ref.Chaim Grade Rose WaldmanSons and DaughtersSolvej BalleSophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer RussellOn the Calculation of Volume vol. III
Drama
Nonfiction +New nonfiction, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTitleDate of pub.Michael WolffAll or NothingFebruary 25Ezra Klein and Derek ThompsonAbundance March 18Andrea Long ChuAuthority: EssaysApril 8Tim BouverieAllies at WarApril 17David ZweigAn Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions April 22Monica Feria TintaA Barrister for the EarthApril 24Duncan Barrett and Nuala CalviBlitz Kids: True Stories from the Children of Wartime BritainPatrick McGeeApple in ChinaMay 13Eli ErlickBefore Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850–1950May 27Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost AmericaJuly 8Adam AleksicAlgospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of LanguageJuly 15Jennifer DasalThe Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque ParisDan WangBreakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the FutureAugust 26Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate SoaresIf Anyone Builds It, Everyone DiesSeptember 16Randi WeingartenWhy Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of DemocracySeptember 16Lyse DoucetThe Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of AfghanistanSeptember 18Philippe Sands38 Londres StreetOctober 7
Biography and memoirs +New biographies and memoirs, sorted by date of publicationAuthorTitleDate of pub.Pico IyerAflame: Learning from SilenceJanuary 14Ibrahim BabangidaA Journey in ServiceFebruary 20 Helen Garner How to end a story: collected diaries, 1978–1998 Jacinda ArdernA Different Kind of PowerJune 3Nicholas BoggsBaldwin: A Love StoryEric SchmittLast Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in CourtMiriam ToewsA Truce That Is Not PeaceAugust 26Joe ManchinDead Center: In Defense of Common SenseKamala Harris107 DaysJohn KennedyHow to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never WillEric TrumpUnder Siege: My Family's Fight to Save Our NationMargaret AtwoodBook of Lives: A Memoir of SortsNovember 4Patti SmithBread of Angels: A MemoirJohn FettermanUnfetteredDick Van Dyke100 Rules for Living to 100Olivia NuzziAmerican CantoDecember 2
Deaths +2025 deaths, sorted by date of deathIndividualBackgroundDate of deathAgeCause of deathRef. David Lodge British author and critic (Small World: An Academic Romance, Changing Places, The Picturegoers) 89 Joseph Monninger American novelist and academic (The Letters) 71 lung cancer. Tidiane Diakité Malian-born French historian and academic 80 Noreen Riols British novelist and essayist 98 Howard Buten American author and clown 74 Andrew Pyper Canadian novelist 56 Cancer Peter Schaap Dutch singer-songwriter and author 78 José Claer Canadian novelist and poet 61 Richard Foreman American playwright (Rhoda in Potatoland) 87 pneumonia Na D'Souza Indian novelist and short story writer 87 Lee Hoesung Japanese-South Korean novelist 89 František Šmahel Czech historian and academic 90 Henry Beissel Canadian poet, playwright and editor 95 Mukhtar Magauin Kazakh writer, translator and publicist 84 Stephan Krasovitsky Russian poet, translator, and priest 89 Keith Dewhurst English playwright and scriptwriter 93 Paul Benacerraf French-American philosopher 94 André Sollie Belgian author and illustrator 77 Kjell Gjerseth Norwegian novelist and journalist 78 Li Kuei-hsien Taiwanese poet and translator 87 Geneviève Callerot French novelist and resistance fighter 108 Howard Andrew Jones American author and editor 56 brain cancer Ridley Wills II American author and historian 90 Jules Feiffer American cartoonist, playwright (Knock Knock), and screenwriter (Popeye, Munro), Pulitzer Prize winner (1986) 95 heart failure Kulanthai Shanmugalingam Sri Lankan playwright 93 Don Cupitt English philosopher 90 Jalal Matini Iranian writer and scholar 96 دکتر جلال متینی ، رئیس سابق دانشگاه فردوسی درگذشت Michael Longley Northern Irish poet (The Weather in Japan) 85 complications from surgery Tabish Mehdi Indian poet and literary critic 73 Esther Jansma Dutch writer and poet 66 cancer Joseph A. Amato American historian and writer 86 Suzanne Massie American historian and academic 94 Maung Khin Min Burmese writer and linguist 83 Marina Colasanti Italian-Brazilian writer, translator and journalist 87 Mahmoud Saeed Iraqi-born American novelist and short story writer 86 Tom Robbins American novelist 92 Bestselling novelist Tom Robbins dies at 92 Antonine Maillet Canadian novelist and playwright 95 Joseph Wambaugh American novelist 88 esophageal cancer Alex Wheatle British novelist 62 prostate cancer Denise Boucher Canadian poet and playwright 89 Alastair Niven British literary scholar and author 81 Mario Vargas Llosa Peruvian novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (2010) 89 Judith Copithorne Canadian poet and playwright 85 Eric Schmaltz, "Judith Copithorne, creator of ‘poem-drawings,’ helped redefine what literature could be". The Globe and Mail, June 4, 2025. Edmund White American novelist 85 Victor-Lévy Beaulieu Canadian playwright 79 Marie-Christine Rioux, "Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, écrivain et éditeur, est décédé à 79 ans". Ici Radio-Canada, June 9, 2025. Denys Chabot Canadian novelist and journalist 80 Marie-Hélène Paquin, "Décès du journaliste et auteur valdorien Denys Chabot". Ici Radio-Canada, June 25, 2025. Anne Walmsley British editor, scholar, critic and author 93
Awards +2025 literary award winners, sorted alphabetically by awardAwardCategoryAuthorTitleAmazon.ca First Novel AwardSubterraneNicole Thompson, "Valérie Bah wins Amazon Canada First Novel Award for 'Subterrane'" . Victoria Times-Colonist, June 6, 2025.Booker PrizeFleshBookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the YearMatthew PurvisThe Pornographic Delicatessen: Midcentury Montréal's Erotic Art, Media, and SpacesBritish Book AwardsOverall Book of the YearPatriot Author of the YearIllustrator of the YearFictionJamesCrime & ThrillerHunted Debut FictionButter Non-Fiction: NarrativePatriot Non-Fiction: Lifestyle & IllustratedWhat I Ate in One Year Discoverpoyums PageturnerFaebound Children's FictionDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess Children's Illustrated, illus. by Axel SchefflerJonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin Children's Non-Fiction , illus. by Angela HardingWilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back Audiobook Fiction, narrated by