Literature Trivia — 60 Book & Author Questions & Answers

1. Who wrote the novel "Pride and Prejudice," first published in 1813?

2. In George Orwell's "1984," what is the name of the totalitarian regime's leader?

3. What is the opening line of Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick"?

4. In "The Great Gatsby," what is the name of the narrator?

5. Which novel by Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961?

6. What is the name of the fictional African country in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"?

7. Who wrote "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus," published in 1818?

8. In "The Catcher in the Rye," what is the name of the teenage protagonist?

9. What is the name of the dystopian society in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"?

10. Who wrote "One Hundred Years of Solitude," a landmark of magical realism?

11. In "Wuthering Heights," what are the names of the two estates where the story takes place?

12. Who wrote "The Odyssey," the epic poem about a hero's journey home after the Trojan War?

13. Which English playwright is often called the Bard of Avon?

14. Charles Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities." What are the two cities?

15. Which American author wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954?

16. What was the real name of Mark Twain, author of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"?

17. Which Russian author wrote "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina"?

18. Which author created the detective Sherlock Holmes?

19. Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize in Literature in what year?

20. Which author wrote "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy?

21. Which French author wrote "Les Miserables" and "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame"?

22. Which American author wrote "Beloved," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988?

23. Which American poet wrote "The Road Not Taken"?

24. What is the title of Emily Dickinson's most famous poem that begins "Because I could not stop for Death"?

25. Which American poet's collection "Leaves of Grass" was first published in 1855?

26. Which poem by Edgar Allan Poe features the refrain "Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore'"?

27. Maya Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at which U.S. presidential inauguration?

28. Which English poet wrote "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan"?

29. What is the title of the epic poem attributed to Homer about the Trojan War?

30. Which poet wrote "Sonnet 18," which begins "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

31. Which American poet wrote "Howl" and was a leading figure of the Beat Generation?

32. Which 14th-century Italian poet wrote "The Divine Comedy," consisting of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso?

33. What is the real name of Dr. Seuss, author of "The Cat in the Hat"?

34. What is the name of the school that Harry Potter attends in J.K. Rowling's series?

35. In "Winnie-the-Pooh," what type of animal is Eeyore?

36. Which Roald Dahl book features a young boy and a giant peach?

37. In "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White, what type of animal is Charlotte?

38. What is the name of the lion in C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" series?

39. In "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle, what does the caterpillar turn into?

40. Who wrote "Where the Wild Things Are," published in 1963?

41. Which Shakespeare play features the characters Romeo and Juliet?

42. Which American playwright wrote "Death of a Salesman"?

43. Tennessee Williams wrote a play about a fading Southern belle named Blanche DuBois. What is its title?

44. Which Norwegian playwright wrote "A Doll's House," which challenged 19th-century marriage norms?

45. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet," what famous question does the title character ask in his soliloquy?

46. Which Greek playwright wrote "Oedipus Rex"?

47. Which play by Thornton Wilder features the line "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?"

48. Who wrote the comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest"?

49. Which literary award is presented annually for distinguished fiction by an American author?

50. The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by which institution?

51. Which literary prize is awarded annually to the best original novel written in English and published in the UK or Ireland?

52. Which medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book?

53. Which American author won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice, for "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men"?

54. Which novel by Yann Martel won the Booker Prize in 2002?

55. Which dystopian trilogy by Suzanne Collins features the annual Hunger Games?

56. Who wrote "The Da Vinci Code," published in 2003?

57. Which fantasy series by George R.R. Martin begins with "A Game of Thrones"?

58. What is the name of the first book in the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer?

59. Which novel by John Green tells the story of two teenagers who meet in a cancer support group?

60. Who wrote "Gone Girl," a psychological thriller published in 2012?