1973 in literature

See also: 1972 in literature, other events of 1973, 1974 in literature, list of years in literature.

Deaths

• February 22 - Elizabeth Bowen, novelist
• March 6 - Pearl S. Buck
• March 26 - Sir Noel Coward, dramatist and humorist
• April 9 - Warren Lewis, author, Inkling, and brother of C. S. Lewis
• April 28 - Jacques Maritain, philosopher
• June 30 - Nancy Mitford, English novelist and biographer
• July 29 - Henri Charrière, Papillon author
• September 2 - J. R. R. Tolkien, fantasy writer
• September 23 - Pablo Neruda, poet
• September 29 - W. H. Auden, poet
• October 28 - Sergio Tofano, dramatist
• December 9 - Anthony Gilbert, crime writer