1972 in literature

See also: 1971 in literature, other events of 1972, 1973 in literature, list of years in literature.

Deaths

• February 15 - Edgar Snow, journalist
• March 9 - Violet Trefusis, English writer and lover of Vita Sackville-West
• April - Laurence Manning, science fiction author
• May 22 - Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate
• June 24 - R. F. Delderfield, novelist and historian
• August 22 - Ernestine Hill, travel writer
• September 21 - Henry de Montherlant, essayist
• September 27 - S. R. Ranganathan, influential librarian
• December 10 - Mark Van Doren, poet
• December 13 - L. P. Hartley, novelist
• December 23 - Abraham Joshua Heschel, theologian
• date unknown - Richard Church, poet and novelist