See also: 2001 in literature, other events of 2002, 2003 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic judiciary. In it, the poet accused some judges of being corrupt and issuing unfair rulings for their own personal benefit.
• November: Raymond Benson releases his final James Bond novel, a novelization of the film Die Another Day, bringing to a close an uninterrupted series of novels based upon Ian Fleming's character that started in 1981.

New books

• Alibi of a butterfly (poems) - Grazyna Miller
• Any Human Heart - William Boyd
• The Approaching Storm - Alan Dean Foster
• Atonement - Ian McEwan
• Beach House - James Patterson
• Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
• Blood Electric - Kenji Siratori
• The Bountiful Harvest - Thomas R. DeGregori
• By the Light of the Moon - Dean R. Koontz
• The Cauldron of Dreams - Gerina Dunwich
• Coastliners - Joanne Harris
• Le Concile de pierre - Jean-Christophe Grangé
• The Cottage - Danielle Steel
• The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
• Dark Journey - Elaine Cunningham
• Dead Air - Iain Banks
• Destiny's Way - Walter Jon Williams
• Die Another Day - Raymond Benson
• Dirty Cash - David Southwell
• The Emperor of Ocean Park - Stephen L. Carter
• Rebel Dream - Aaron Allston
• Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston
• 14 Dark Tales - Stephen King
• Face the Fire - Nora Roberts
• Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry
• From a Buick 8 - Stephen King
• The Girl with the Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier
• Grave Secrets - Kathy Reichs
• Hard Eight (Janet Evanovich) - Janet Evanovich
• Heart of a Soldier - James B. Stewart
• Herbal Magick - Gerina Dunwich
• Hoot - Carl Hiaasen
• In Search of America - Peter Jennings
• The Last Crossing - Guy Vanderhaeghe
• Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox
• Les Ombres errantes - Pascal Quignard
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
• The Man with the Red Tattoo - Raymond Benson
• Modigliani & the Artists of Montparnasse - Kenneth Wayne
• Night Watch - Terry Pratchett
• One Door Away from Heaven - Dean R. Koontz
• Prey - Michael Crichton
• The Purpose Driven Life - Rick Warren
• The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
• Sheepshagger - Niall Griffiths
• The Shelters of Stone - Jean M. Auel
• The Sigma Protocol - Robert Ludlum
• Attack of the Clones (novel) - R.A. Salvatore
• The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor
• The Summons - John Grisham
• Sutherlin alliance - James Spix
• ''Traitor - Matthew Stover
• Underland - Mick Farren
• Unless - Carol Shields
• Vitals - Greg Bear
• White Oleander - Janet Fitch
• You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers

New drama

• Peter Verhelst - Blush

Non-fiction

• Gerina Dunwich - A Witch's Guide to Ghosts and the Supernatural
• Gabriel García Márquez - Vivir para contarla (autobiography)

Births

Deaths

• January 28 - Astrid Lindgren, children's author, 94
• May 17 - Dave Berg (81), cartoonist for Mad Magazine
• June 20 - Timothy Findley (71), Canadian author
• July 23 - Chaim Potok, novelist
• August 25 - Dorothy Hewett (79), Australian poet and playwright

Awards

• Booker Prize: Yann Martel, The Life of Pi
• Finlandia Prize: Kari Hotakainen Trench Street
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe
• See 2002 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Griffin Poetry Prize: Christian Bök, Eunoia and Alice Notley, Disobedience
• Hugo Award: Neil Gaiman, American Gods
• IMPAC Award: Michel Houellebecq, The Elementary Particles
• Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa Adult Fiction: Yvonne Vera, Stone Virgins
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Imre Kertész
• Orange Prize for Fiction: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
• Prix Décembre: Pierre Michon, Abbés and Corps du Roi
• Prix Femina: Chantal Thomas, Les adieux à la reine
• Prix Femina (non-fiction): Michael Barry, Massoud
• Prix Goncourt: Pascal Quignard, Les Ombres errantes
• Prix Médicis French: Daniel Desmarquet, Kafka et les jeunes filles
• Prix Médicis Non-Fiction: Anne F. Garréta, Pas un jour
• Prix Médicis International: Philip Roth, The Human Stain
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Richard Russo, Empire Falls
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carl Dennis, Practical Gods
• Samuel Johnson Prize: Margaret MacMillan, Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War
• Whitbread Best Book Award: Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass

2002 books

Literaturjahr 2002 | 2002 en littérature | 2002 בספרות | Kultur i 2002 | 2002 - literatura | Litteraturåret 2002