See also: 1883 in literature, other events of 1884, 1885 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• February 1 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

New books

• Controcorrente - Joris-Karl Huysmans
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy
• 'I Say No' - Wilkie Collins
• Ishmael. A Novel - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• The Ladies Lindores - Margaret Oliphant
• Miss Bretherton - Mary Augusta Ward
• A Mummer's Wife - George A. Moore
• Ramona - Helen Hunt Jackson
• A rebours - Joris-Karl Huysmans
• Tommy Upmore - Richard Doddridge Blackmore
• The Wizard's Son - Margaret Oliphant

Births

• January 2 - Oscar Micheaux, African-American author & filmmaker (+ 1951)
• March 13 - Sir Hugh Walpole, novelist (+ 1941)
• August 8 – Sara Teasdale, poet (d. 1933)

Deaths

• November 6 - William Wells Brown, African-American writer
• April 11 - Charles Reade, English writer

Awards