The Calendar of Literary Facts contains more than 6,500 events in literary history.

Nelson DeMille publishes The Lion’s Game

The booming U.S. economy begins to slow after nearly a decade of growth; many dot-com businesses fail

Donald Margulies receives the Pulitzer Prize in drama for Dinner with Friends

C. K. Williams receives the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Repair

Gao Xingjian receives the Nobel Prize for Literature

J. K. Rowling publishes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Margaret Atwood receives the Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin

Martin Amis publishes Experience

Yearlong fears of global disaster because of the “Y2K bug” end on New Years Day, with little computer-related disruption of power and services worldwide

Anne Hebert dies

Explore: Héloïse, Kamouraska, Anne Hébert

Alex Comfort dies

Explore: Alex(ander) Comfort

A. W. Purdy dies

Explore: A(lfred) W(ellington) Purdy

Penelope Fitzgerald dies

Explore: The Blue Flower, Penelope Fitzgerald, Summary and Description of the Story "At Hiruharama" by Penelope Fitzgerald

Karl Shapiro dies

Explore: Karl Shapiro, Auto Wreck

Barbara Cartland dies

Explore: Who was Barbara Cartland and what is her contribution to literature?

Stanley Kunitz is appointed Poet Laureate of the United States, for a term beginning in October, 2000

Explore: The War Against the Trees, Father and Son, Stanley Kunitz

Dudley Randall dies

Explore: Dudley Randall, Ballad of Birmingham

Yehuda Amichai dies

Explore: Not Like a Cypress, Yehuda Amichai

R. S. Thomas dies

Explore: Ninetieth Birthday, R. S. Thomas

Robert Cormier dies

Explore: The Chocolate War, In the Middle of the Night, Robert Cormier

Malcolm Bradbury dies

Explore: Eating People Is Wrong, Malcolm Bradbury

Gwendolyn Brooks dies

Explore: A Street in Bronzeville, Gwendolyn Brooks