See also: 1996 in literature, other events of 1997, 1998 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• Tom Clancy signed a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. (both part of Pearson Education), that paid him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . He then signed a second agreement for another US$25 million for a four-year book/multimedia deal. Clancy followed this up with an agreement with Berkley Books for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the an ABC television miniseries in an agreement worth US$22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

• The memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, is removed from the ninth-grade English curriculum in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, because it "portrays white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid people."

New books

• American Pastoral - Philip Roth
• Are You Experienced? - William Sutcliffe
• Barney's Version - Mordecai Richler
• The Best Laid Plans - Sidney Sheldon
• The Bible Code - Michael Drosnin
• - Sarah Ferguson
• Cat & Mouse - James Patterson
• Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
• Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs - Dave Barry
• Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs
• - Andrew Morton
• Everyday Wicca - Gerina Dunwich
• Fall On Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
• The Ghost - Danielle Steel
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J. K. Rowling
• Hornet's Nest - Patricia Cornwell
• I Am the Most Interesting Book of All (translation) - Marie Bashkirtseff
• Instruments of Darkness - Nancy Huston
• Jingo - Terry Pratchett
• Larry's Party - Carol Shields
• Moab Is My Washpot - Stephen Fry (autobiography)
• Morisson of Peking - Cyril Pearl
• - Karen Armstrong
• Night Train - Martin Amis
• The Partner - John Grisham
• Pretend You Don't See Her - Mary Higgins Clark
• The Ranch - Danielle Steel
• The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
• Special Delivery - Danielle Steel
• The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
• Timequake - Kurt Vonnegut
• - Reinhold Heller
• Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
• Unnatural Exposure - Patricia Cornwell
• A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
• A Wiccan's Guide to Prophecy and Divination - Gerina Dunwich

Births

Deaths

• January 19 - James Dickey, poet, novelist
• April 5 - Allen Ginsberg, poet
• October 14 - Harold Robbins, novelist

Awards

• Booker Prize: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Mordecai Richler: - Barney's Version
• See 1997 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Javier Marias , A Heart So White
• Nebula Award: Vonda McIntyre, The Moon and the Sun
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: E. L. Konigsburg, The View from Saturday
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Dario Fo
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
• Prix Goncourt: Patrick Rambaud , La Bataille
• Prix Décembre: Lydie Salvayre , La Compagnie des spectres
• Prix Médicis International: T. Coraghessan Boyle, America
• Prix Médicis French: Les Sept Noms du peintre - Philippe Le Guillou
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Steven Millhauser - Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Lisel Mueller : Live Together: New and Selected Poems
• Whitbread Best Book Award: Ted Hughes, Tales from Ovid