See also: 1993 in literature, other events of 1994, 1995 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• First Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction awarded.

New Books

• Accident - Danielle Steel
• The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
• The Chamber - John Grisham
• Creatures of the Kingdom - James A. Michener
• Dark Rivers of the Heart - Dean R. Koontz
• Daughter of Damascus - Shiham Turjuman
• Dead Right - David Frum
• The Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy
• Disclosure - Michael Crichton
• The Ghosts of Sleath - James Herbert
• The Gift - Danielle Steel
• How Late It Was, How Late - James Kelman
• The Ice Storm - Rick Moody
• The Informers - Bret Easton Ellis
• In Search of CHURCHILL - Martin Gilbert
• Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
• In the Lake of the Woods - Tim O'Brien
• Insomnia - Stephen King
• Just Like That - Lily Brett
• Life After God - Douglas Coupland
• Nothing Lasts Forever - Sidney Sheldon
• Point de côté - Judith Godrèche
• Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - James Finn Garner
• Recessional - James A. Michener
• Songs of Earth and Power - Greg Bear
• Soul Music - Terry Pratchett
• The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
• Troubling a Star - Madeleine L'Engle
• La Virevolte - Nancy Huston
• The Wind in the Wheat, by Reed Arvin
• Wings - Danielle Steel

Births

Deaths

• January 30 - Pierre Boulle, author
• February 6 - Jack Kirby, comic book writer
• March 28 - Eugene Ionesco, playwright
• April 16 - Ralph Ellison, scholar, writer
• May 30 – Juan Carlos Onetti, Uruguayan writer

Awards

• Booker Prize: James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: M.G. Vassanji, The Book of Secrets
• See 1994 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Nebula Award: Greg Bear, Moving Mars
• Newbery Medal for children's literature: Lois Lowry, The Giver
• Nobel Prize for Literature: Kenzaburo Oe
• Prix Goncourt: Didier Van Cauwelaert, Un Aller simple
• Prix Décembre: Jean Hatzfeld, L'Air de guerre and Éric Holder, La Belle Jardinière
• Prix Médicis French: Yves Berger, Immobile dans le courant du fleuve
• Prix Médicis International: Robert Schneider, Frère Sommeil
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Edward Albee, Three Tall Women
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Yusef Komunyakaa, Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems
• Whitbread Best Book Award: William Trevor, Felicia’s Journey