1985 in literature

See also: 1984 in literature, other events of 1985, 1986 in literature, list of years in literature.

New Books

• The Accidental Tourist - Anne Tyler
• The Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome - Wayne Kritsberg
• At the Going Down of the Sun - Elizabeth Darrell
• Blood Music - Greg Bear
• The Cider House Rules - John Irving
• Contact - Carl Sagan
• The Damnation Game - Clive Barker
• Elvis and Me - Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon
• Lake Wobegon Days - Garrison Keillor
• Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
• The Mammoth Hunters - Jean M. Auel
• Robots and Empire - Isaac Asimov
• The Secret Life of Saeed - Imil Habibi
• Secrets - Danielle Steel
• Skeleton Crew - Stephen King
• Texas - James A. Michener

Deaths

• August 30 - Taylor Caldwell
• December 7 - Robert Graves

Awards

• Booker Prize: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
• Newberry Medal for children's literature: Robin McKinley, The Hero and the Crown
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Claude Simon
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: James Lapine for book; Stephen Sondheim for music and lyrics, Sunday in the Park With George
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Alison Lurie - Foreign Affairs
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carolyn Kizer: Yin