Modern Literature Time Chart

2000

A selection of publications

Kate Atkinson: Emotionally Weird
Peter Carey: True History of the Kelly Gang
Seamus Heaney: The Midnight Verdict
Philip Roth: The Human Stain
K Sello Duiker: Thirteen Cents
Zadie Smith: White Teeth
Ivan Vladislavic: Propaganda by Monuments

Historic and political events

Stock market crash of dot.com companies.
USA: Navy ship attacked by suicide bombers.
France: Concorde crashes in Paris.
Iraq: Rejects new weapons inspection program.

Social history

UK: Tate Modern gallery opens. Science: Completion of draft of the sequence of the human nuclear genome.

2001

Achmat Dangor: Bitter Fruit
John Irving: The Fourth Hand
David Lodge: Thinks ...
Zakes Mda: The Heart of Redness
Salman Rushdie: Fury
K Sello Duiker: The Quiet Violence of Dreams
Amy Tan: The Bonesetter's Daughter
Anne Tyler: Back When We Were Grownups
Ivan Vladislavic: The Restless Supermarket
Zoe Wicomb: David's Story

USA: George W Bush, Republican, becomes President in controversial election.
'September 11^th' attack on World Trade Centre and Pentagon. Anthrax attacks in mail.
India: Gujarat earthquake kills 30,000 and leaves 200,000 homeless.

UK: Lord Jeffrey Archer jailed. Ronald Biggs, train robber, gives himself up. Cinema: The Lord of the Rings, part 1.

2002

Lionel Abrahams: The White Life of Felix Greenspan
Edward Albee: The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
Kate Atkinson: Not the End of the World
Margaret Atwood: Negotiating with the Dead
Michael Frayn: Spies
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
Ian McEwan: Atonement
Ann Patchett: Bel Canto
Richard Russo: Empire Falls
Carol Shields: Unless

USA: US-led action in Afghanistan against Taleban and al Qaeda. Sniper attacks on the public in Washington.
Ireland: Power-sharing suspended.
Bali: Terrorist bombing of night-club.
Iraq: Disarmament crisis continues. UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Introduction of euro banknotes and coins in some European countries. UK: Party in the Palace for Queen’s Golden Jubilee. USA: Department of Homeland Security established. Science: Odyssey Mars probe finds evidence of water ice. Cinema: The Lord of the Rings, part 2.

2003

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake
Pat Barker: Double Vision
Peter Carey: My Life as a Fake
Nilo Cruz: Anna in the Tropics
Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
Valerie Martin: Property
Toni Morrison: Love
Paul Muldoon: Moy Sand and Gravel
D B C Pierre: Vernon God Little

UK: State visit by George Bush.
Iraq: USA, Britain, and coalition invade Iraq.
Turkey: Terrorists bomb synagogues, and British interests.
Iran: Earthquake kills 30,000.

UK: Concorde supersonic aircraft taken out of service. Technology: NASA experimenting with laser-powered model aircraft. Cinema: The Lord of the Rings, part 3.