10 Literary Happenings from 1924

Here are 10 notable things that happened in the literary world in 1924:

1. Simon & Schuster was established in January 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster, with an initial focus on publishing crossword puzzle books.
2. Edward Arnold in the U.K. publishes A Passage to India by E.M. Forster which explored themes of sexism, racism, and imperialism against the backdrop of a Britain-colonized India.
3. Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks, which was originally published in German in 1901, is published for the first time in English in 1924. This book is cited as the main reason for Mann winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.
4. The Argosy Book Store is founded in mid-town Manhattan. It is one of the oldest surviving independent bookstores in New York City.
5. The Green Hat by Michael Arlen is published by William Collins, Sons in the U.K. and becomes an instant bestseller, exploring themes of drug addiction, sexuality, and homesexuality. It was successfully adapted for stage, but censored to remove these “controversial” themes.
6. Louis Bromfield publishes his first novel, The Green Bay Tree. He became known for writing on environmental themes and was instrumental in promoting new soil conservation techniques after The Great Depression. His 600-acre property eventually became Malabar Farm State Park.
7. Agatha Christie publishes short story collection, Poirot Investigates, with Botley Head, a publisher with whom she had a contentious relationship over what she felt was a poor six-book contract she had signed with them. She fought to have Poirot Investigates included as one of the six books she was required to publish with them (they wanted to have it excluded because the stories had previously been published in magazines). Christie stuck to her guns and won.
8. Edna Ferber publishes the novel So Big with Doubleday which becomes a bestseller and goes on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1925.
9. Katherine Mansfield’s last collection of short stories, Something Childish and Other Stories, is published posthumously in 1924 after Mansfield dies of complications of tuberculosis in 1923.
10. Charles Hawes wins the Newbery Honor for The Dark Frigate, a book originally published by Little, Brown in 1923. Hawes died in 1923, making him the first (and possibly only) author to win a Newbery post-humously.

So many interesting things happened in 1924, in the literary world and related industries. What did I not cover? Feel free to @ me on social media (@jes_trudel on most socials but @jestrudel on Bluesky).