This article gives a chronological list of years in literature (descending order), with notable publications listed with their respective years and a small selection of notable events. The time covered in individual years covers Renaissance, Baroque and Modern literature, while Medieval literature is resolved by century. Note: List of years in poetry exists specifically for poetry. See Table of years in literature for an overview of all "year in literature" pages. Several attempts have been made to create a list of world literature. Among these are the great books project including the book series Great Books of the Western World, now containing 60 volumes. In 1998 Modern Library, an American publishing company, polled its editorial board to find the best 100 novels of the 20th century: Modern Library 100 Best Novels. These attempts have been criticized for their anglophone bias and disregard of other literary traditions.

Ancient times

Middle Ages

16th century

1500s

1510s

1520s

1530s

1540s

1550s

1560s

1570s

1580s

1590s

17th century

1600s

1610s

1620s

1630s

1640s

1650s

1660s

1670s

1680s

1690s

18th century

1700s

1710s

1720s

1730s

1740s

1750s

1760s

1770s

1780s

1790s

19th century

1800s

1810s

1820s

1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

1890s

20th century

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

21st century

2000s

2010s

2020s