See also: 1963 in literature, other events of 1964, 1965 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

New books

• Armageddon - Leon Uris
• The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968 - William Manchester
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
• The Farm Book - Jan Pfloog
• Fortunate Pilgrim - Mario Puzo
• Funeral in Berlin - Len Deighton
• Herzog - Saul Bellow
• The Jealous God - John Braine
• Flowers for Hitler - Leonard Cohen
• Julian - Gore Vidal
• Little Big Man - Thomas Berger
• The Luzhin Defense - Vladimir Nabokov
• The Man - Irving Wallace
• The Martyred - Richard E. Kim
• A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
• One-Dimensional Man - Herbert Marcuse
• A Purple Place For Dying - John D. MacDonald
• Rascal - Sterling North
• The Rector of Justin - Louis Auchincloss
• Second Generation - Raymond Williams
• Shadow and Act - Ralph Ellison
• Shadow of a Bull - Maia Wojciechowska
• A Song of Six Pence - A.J. Cronin
• The Valley of Bones - Anthony Powell
• When the Lion Feeds - Wilbur Smith
• Why We Can't Wait - Martin Luther King, Jr.
• You Only Live Twice - Ian Fleming
• The Splendid Belt of Mr. Big - Sara Bulette

Births

• March 7 - Bret Easton Ellis, author
• July 3 - Joanne Harris, author

Deaths

• January 17 - T.H. White, author
• February 25 - Grace Metalious, writer Peyton Place
• August 3 - Flannery O'Connor
• August 12 - Ian Fleming
• December 21 - Carl Van Vechten

Awards

• See 1964 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Hugo Award: Clifford D. Simak, Way Station
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Emily Cheney Neville , It's Like This, Cat
• Nobel Prize for literature - Jean-Paul Sartre
• Prix Goncourt: Georges Conchon , L'Etat sauvage
• Prix Médicis: Monique Wittig, L'Opoponax
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Louis Simpson : At The End Of The Open Road
• Viareggio Prize: Giuseppe Berto , Il male oscuro