The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books. [edit] Events [edit] New books [edit] New drama [edit] Short stories [edit] Poetry [edit] Non-fiction [edit] Births [edit] Deaths - January 5 - Basil Williams, historian
- January 21 – George Orwell, novelist
- February 13 - Rafael Sabatini, novelist
- February 24 - Irving Bacheller, journalist and writer
- March 19 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan author
- May 6 - Agnes Smedley, American journalist and writer known for chronicling the Chinese Civil War
- May 11 - Alfred O. Andersson, newspaper publisher
- May 13 - F. E. Compton, publisher of reference books
- September 6 - Olaf Stapledon, philosopher and science-fiction author
- October 9 - Nicolai Hartmann, philosopher
- October 19 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet
- November 2 - George Bernard Shaw
- November 25 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish author
- December 28 - Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, short-story writer
- December 31 - Xavier Villaurrutia, poet and dramatist
- date unknown
[edit] Awards - James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Robert Henriques, Through the Valley
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Cecil Woodham-Smith, Florence Nightingale
- Newbery Medal for children's literature: Marguerite de Angeli, The Door in the Wall
- Newdigate prize: John Bayley
- Nobel Prize for Literature: Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell
- Premio Nadal: Elena Quiroga, Viento norte'’
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Joshua Logan, South Pacific
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: A. B. Guthrie, Jr., The Way West
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Gwendolyn Brooks, Annie Allen
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