This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2003.
Events February 12 – An invitation from the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, for some poets to attend a conference at the White House is postponed when one of them, Sam Hamill, organizes a "Poets Against the War" group for poetry readings across the United States on the same date. February 15 – Anti-war protests occur in London. They are later used as the setting for Ian McEwan's 2005 novel Saturday. March – The University of Mosul library is damaged and looted during the Iraq War, but many volumes are removed for protection by staff. April 14 – The Iraq National Library and Archive is burned down during the Battle of Baghdad. April – Nicholas Hytner succeeds Sir Trevor Nunn as artistic director of London's Royal National Theatre. November 7 – UNESCO places among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity wayang kulit, a shadow puppet theatre and best known of the Indonesian wayang.Indonesian wayang Inscribed in 2003 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
New books
Fiction Peter Ackroyd – The Clerkenwell Tales Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Purple Hibiscus Mitch Albom – The Five People You Meet in Heaven Monica Ali – Brick Lane Martin Amis – Yellow Dog Margaret Atwood – Oryx and Crake Paul Auster – Oracle Night Max Barry – Jennifer Government Greg Bear – Darwin's Children Frédéric Beigbeder – Windows on the World Hilari Bell – Fall of a Kingdom Thomas Berger – Best Friends Giles Blunt – The Delicate Storm Frank Brennan – Tampering with Asylum Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code Angus Peter Campbell – An Oidhche Mus Do Sheol Sinn Lars Saabye Christensen – Maskeblomstfamilien Paulo Coelho – Eleven Minutes J. M. Coetzee – Elizabeth Costello Bernard Cornwell Sharpe's Havoc Sharpe's Christmas Heretic Douglas Coupland – Hey Nostradamus! Robert Crais – The Last Detective Julie E. Czerneda – Space, Inc. Jeffery Deaver – Twisted Don DeLillo – Cosmopolis Kate DiCamillo – The Tale of Despereaux Cory Doctorow A Place So Foreign and Eight More Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom Gerard Donovan – Schopenhauer's Telescope Fernanda Eberstadt – The Furies Rodrigo Fresán – Jardines de Kensington Cornelia Funke – Inkheart Anna Gavalda – I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere (translation) William Gibson – Pattern Recognition Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen – Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War Jean-Christophe Grangé – L'Empire des loups John Grisham – The King of Torts Margaret Peterson Haddix – Among the Barons Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Jennifer Haigh – Mrs. Kimble Zoë Heller – Notes on a Scandal Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner Michel Houellebecq – Lanzarote Evan Hunter – The Frumious Bandersnatch Alan Judd – The Kaiser's Last Kiss N. M. Kelby – Theater of the Stars: A Novel of Physics and Memory Thomas Keneally – The Tyrant's Novel Greg Keyes – The Final Prophecy Stephen King – Wolves of the Calla Dean R. Koontz The Face Odd Thomas Jhumpa Lahiri – The Namesake Dennis Lehane – Shutter Island Jonathan Lethem – The Fortress of Solitude James Luceno – The Unifying Force Steve Martini – The Arraignment Magnus Mills – The Scheme for Full Employment Paul Murray – An Evening of Long Goodbyes Julie Myerson – Something Might Happen Andrew Neiderman – The Baby Squad Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler's Wife Garth Nix – Mister Monday Chuck Palahniuk – Diary Christopher Paolini – Eragon Carolyn Parkhurst – The Dogs of Babel Per Petterson – Out Stealing Horses (Ut og stjæle hester) DBC Pierre – Vernon God Little Terry Pratchett Monstrous Regiment The Wee Free Men Jean Raspail – Les Royaumes de Borée Matthew Reilly – Scarecrow Nina Revoyr – Southland Tom Robbins – Villa Incognito J. Jill Robinson – Residual Desire Nick Sagan – Idlewild Matthew Sharpe – The Sleeping Father Wilbur Smith – Blue Horizon Olen Steinhauer – The Bridge of Sighs Neal Stephenson – Quicksilver (Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle) Matthew Stover – Shatterpoint Jonathan Stroud – The Amulet of Samarkand Anthony Swofford – Jarhead Miguel Sousa Tavares – Equador Adam Thirlwell – Politics Akira Toriyama (鳥山 明) – Toccio the Angel (Tenshi no Tocchio) Sergio Troncoso – The Nature of Truth Andrew Vachss – The Getaway Man Mario Vargas Llosa – The Way to Paradise (El paraíso en la otra esquina) Jo Walton – Tooth and Claw Irvine Welsh – Porno Tobias Wolff – Old School Roger Zelazny – Manna from Heaven (short stories)
Children and young people David Almond – The Fire-EatersHahn 2015, p. 21 Atsuko Asano – No. 6 (あさの あつこ) Cressida Cowell – How to Train Your Dragon (first in the eponymous series of 16 books) Madonna - The English Roses Elizabeth Laird – The Garbage KingHahn 2015, p. 332-333 Jim Murphy – An American Plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793Hahn 2015, p. 408 Jenny Nimmo – Charlie Bone and the Time Twister Tyne O'Connell – Pulling Princes Philip Reeve – Predator's GoldHahn 2015, p. 492 J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHahn 2015, pp. 264-265 Lemony Snicket – The Slippery Slope Dugald Steer (with Helen Ward, Wayne Anderson, etc.) – Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons Mo Willems - Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (first in a series of 8 books) Ann Turnbull – No Shame, No Fear Kay Winters (with Barry Moser) – Voices of Ancient Egypt Yang Hongying (楊紅櫻) – Four Troublemakers (四个调皮蛋, first in the Mo's Mischief – 淘气包马小跳 – series of 8 books) Peter H. Reynolds - The Dot
Drama Jordi Galceran – El mètode Grönholm (The Grönholm method) Richard Greenberg – The Violet Hour David Hare – The Permanent Way Kwame Kwei-Armah – Elmina's Kitchen Lynn Nottage – Intimate Apparel Mark O'Rowe – Crestfall Abhi Subedi – Agniko Katha
Poetry
Lavinia Greenlaw – Minsk Pope John Paul II – Roman Triptych. Meditations Dean Kalimniou – Kipos Esokleistos
Non–fiction Banglapedia – National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh Neal Bascomb – Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City Patricia Brown – A League Of My Own: Memoir of a Pitcher for the All-American Girls Andrea Curtis – Into the BlueGoodreads, Into the Blue, Book review, Retrieved 11/27/2012 Richard Dawkins – A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love Gerina Dunwich – Dunwich's Guide to Gemstone Sorcery Jerry A. Eichenberger – Your Pilot's License Marc Ferro – Le Livre noir du colonialisme John Fowles – The Journals – Volume 1 Anna Funder – Stasiland Mattias Gardell – Gods of the Blood A. C. Grayling – What Is Good?: The Search for the Best Way to Live Christopher Hitchens – A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq Erik Larson – The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America Bethany McLean – The Smartest Guys in the Room Don Miller – Blue Like Jazz Michael Moore – Dude, Where's My Country? Azar Nafisi – Reading Lolita in Tehran Alanna Nash – The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley Daniel Okrent – Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center Chuck Palahniuk – Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon Rudy Ruiz – ¡ADELANTE!: una guía personal del éxito para usted y su familia (a guide for success for immigrants) Jane Smiley – Charles Dickens Clark Ashton Smith – Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith David Starkey – Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII Lynne McTaggart – The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe Amy Tan – The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings Lynne Truss – Eats, Shoots & Leaves Penny Wolfson – Moonrise
Films The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Deaths January 5 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (born 1923) January 21 – Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet and songwriter (born 1933) February 16 – Aleksandar Tišma, Serbian novelist (born 1924) February 26 – Quentin Keynes, English explorer, writer and filmmaker (born 1921) March 11 – Brian Cleeve, English-born Irish writer and broadcaster (born 1921) March 12 – Howard Fast, American novelist (born 1914) March 14 – Lucian Boz, Romanian and Australian literary critic (born 1908) April 3 – Michael Kelly, American journalist (born 1957) April 7 – Cecile de Brunhoff, French children's writer (born 1903) June 21 George Axelrod, American dramatist and screenwriter (born 1922) Leon Uris, American novelist (born 1924) July 6 – Kathleen Raine, English poet, scholar, and translator (born 1908) July 10 – Winston Graham, English novelist (born 1908) July 14 – Éva Janikovszky, Hungarian novelist and children's writer (born 1926) July 15 – Roberto Bolaño, Chilean-born fiction writer (born 1953) July 16 – Carol Shields, American-born Canadian novelist (breast cancer; born 1935) September 3 – Alan Dugan, American poet (born 1923) September 12 – Profira Sadoveanu, Romanian journalist, memoirist, biographer, editor and translator (born 1906) September 24 – Derek Prince, English biblical scholar, author and radio presenter (born 1915) September 25 – Edward Said, Palestinian-American literary critic (born 1935) November 9 – Alan Davidson, Northern Irish historian and food writer (born 1924) December 3 – Sita Ram Goel, Indian historian, publisher and author (born 1921) December 11 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian writer (born 1927) December 12 – Fadwa Toukan, Palestinian poet (born 1917)
Awards Nobel Prize in Literature: J. M. Coetzee
Australia The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Nicholas Angel, Drown Them in the Sea C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Emma Lew, Anything the Landlord Touches Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Jill Jones, Screens Jets Heaven Miles Franklin Award: Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country
Canada Giller Prize: M. G. Vassanji – The In-Between World of Vikram Lall See 2003 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of the winners of those awards. Griffin Poetry Prize: Margaret Avison, Concrete and Wild Carrot and Paul Muldoon, Moy sand and gravel Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction: Alison Watt, The Last IslandFaculty of Arts, 2003, Edna Staebler Award , Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Alison Watt, Retrieved 11/27/2012
Sweden
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award: Maurice Sendak and Christine NöstlingerHahn 2015, p. 653
United Kingdom Booker Prize: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little Caine Prize for African Writing: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, "Weight of Whispers" Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Jennifer Donnelly, A Gathering LightHahn 2015, p. 661 Cholmondeley Award: Ciarán Carson, Michael Donaghy, Lavinia Greenlaw, Jackie Kay David Cohen Prize: Beryl Bainbridge, Thom Gunn Eric Gregory Award: Jen Hadfield, Zoë Brigley, Paul Batchelor, Olivia Cole, Sasha Dugdale, Anna Woodford James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: Volume 2 – The Power of Place James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Andrew O'Hagan, Personality Orange Prize for Fiction: Valerie Martin, Property Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: U. A. Fanthorpe Whitbread Book of The Year Award: Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel
United States Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: David Shumate, High Water Mark American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry: W. S. Merwin Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Julie Sheehan, "Brown-headed Cow Birds" Bollingen Prize for Poetry: Adrienne Rich Brittingham Prize in Poetry: Brian Teare, The Room Where I Was Born Compton Crook Award: Patricia Bray, Devlin's Luck Frost Medal: Lawrence Ferlinghetti Hugo Award: Robert J. Sawyer, Hominids Lambda Literary Awards: Multiple categories; see 2003 Lambda Literary Awards National Book Award for Fiction: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire National Book Critics Circle Award: Edward P. Jones, The Known World Newbery Medal for children's literature: Avi, Crispin: The Cross of LeadHahn 2015, p. 658 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Sabina Murray, The Caprices