26 January – Fleeing Islamist insurgents set fire to library buildings in Timbuktu containing manuscripts, mostly in Arabic, dating back to 1204.[2]
7 March – World Book Day becomes a UNESCO-designated event marked in more than 100 countries.[3]
April – J. K. Rowling publishes a detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, with the U.K. publisher Sphere Books. The author's identity is revealed by the media in July.[4]
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^Harding, Luke (28 January 2013). "Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
^ abcdefgh"2013: the year ahead in books". The Guardian. London. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
^"Curious Night at the Oliviers". Olivier Awards. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
^Brown, Graeme (20 March 2012). "Opening date for new Library of Birmingham revealed". Birmingham Post.
^"Harvill Secker Announces Two New Books From Jo Nesbo". booktrade.info. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
^Payne, Ed; Friedman, Chandler (1 December 2013). "Report: Unpublished J.D. Salinger stories leak online". CNN. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
^"Harriet Jacobs | American abolitionist and author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
^"Philip Hensher toasts the novelist Barbara Pym", 2 June 2013. Accessed 23 September 2013.
^Hahn, Daniel (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (Second ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780198715542.
^Rosin, Hanna (22 November 2013). "Even Madder Men". The New York Times.
^Courtwright, David T. (August 2015), "Book Review: Maguire and Ritter, Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade", Pacific Historical Review, 84 (3), University of California Press: 400–401, doi:10.1525/phr.2015.84.3.400
^Éric Toussaint (19 January 2014). "Que faire de ce que nous apprend Thomas Piketty sur Le Capital au XXI siecle" (in French).
^"Scriitorul Alexei Rudeanu a DECEDAT la vârsta de 73 de ani". România Liberă. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
^"Teresa Torańska nie żyje" (in Polish). Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
^"Umrla je Maruša Krese". Delo (in Slovenian). 8 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
^"Author Robert Kee dies aged 93". BBC News. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
^"Mort de l'éditeur Jacques Sadoul". Le Figaro (in French). Agence France-Presse. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
^"Granny poet marks 100th birthday with verse for victims". asahi.com. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^Siraj Memon, an icon of Sindhi literature, passes away at 79, The Express Tribune.
^Robert Welch obituary, guardian.co.uk. 1 March 2013.
^Gail Lynn Frazer obituary, legacy.com, 6 February 2013.
^Award-winning children's author E.L. Konigsburg dies in Virginia at age 83 The Washington Post.
^Décès du poète et éditeur Clément Marchand, ledevoir.com.]
^Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue novelist, dies aged 85.
^Kelly, Stuart (15 June 2013). "Iain Banks: the final interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
^Kellogg, Carolyn (24 June 2013). "'I Am Legend' author Richard Matheson has died at 87". Los Angeles Times.
^Fishlock, Trevor (16 July 2013). "A writer who brought out the flavour of Wales". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
^Jonas, Gerald (3 September 2013). "Frederik Pohl, Science Fiction Master Who Vaporized Utopias, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
^"Prof. Awoonor dies in Al-Shabab attack in Kenyan Mall". citifmonline. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
^Miles Franklin Award winning novelist Christopher Koch dead at 81.
^Álvaro Mutis muere a la edad de 90 años en México (in Spanish)
^Addio a Luciano Vincenzoni, scrisse "Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo" (in Italian)
^Kite, Lorien (2 October 2013). "Thriller writer Tom Clancy dies". FT.com. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
^"Award: Mia Couto recipient of the 2013 Camões Prize for Literature – Brazil | Portuguese American Journal". Portuguese American Journal. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
^"Dylan Thomas Prize: US writer Claire Vaye Watkins wins £30,000". BBC News. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^Maughan, Philip (13 November 2013). "Goldsmiths Prize awarded to debut novelist Eimear McBride for A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^Bury, Liz (21 October 2013). "Benjamin Myers claims inaugural Gordon Burn prize". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
^Lea, Richard (7 June 2013). "Kevin Barry wins Impac award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
^2013 Winner, Michelle de Kretser Archived 25 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Miles Franklin Literary Awards.
^Michelle de Kretser wins Miles Franklin Award for her book Questions of Travel, ABC News, Wed 19 Jun 2013.
^Steger, Jason (5 August 2013). "Frank Thring double bill wins biography award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
^"Tim O'Brien: 2013 Pritzker Literature Award Winner | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". Pritzkermilitary.org. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
^"Lynn Coady Wins The 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize". www.scotiabank.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
^"W. S. Merwin Granted International Herbert Award". Retrieved 12 March 2019.