| 1932 | Naipaul is born in Chaguanas, Trinidad, August 17. |
| 1948 | "Liza of Lambeth." Queen's Royal College Chronicle (Port of Spain) 23 (1948): 42-43. |
| 1950 | Leaves Trinidad to study English at University College, Oxford. |
| 1953 | Naipaul's father, Seepersad Naipaul, dies. Awarded Oxford degree in English. |
| 1955 | Marries Patricia Ann Hale, 10 January. BBC Caribbean Service, part-time |
| 1956 | "Honesty Needed in West Indian Writing." Trinidad Guardian (1956): 29. |
| 1957 | The Mystic Masseur. London: Andre Deutsch, 1957. |
| 1958 | Awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize for The Mystic Masseur |
| 1958 | "Where the Rum Comes From." New Statesman (1958): 20-21. |
| 1958 | "Seven Ages of Humour: Young Men Forget." Punch 234 (1958): 734-36. |
| 1958 | "A Letter to Maria." New Statesman 56 (1958): 14. |
| 1958 | The Suffrage of Elvira. London: Andre Deutsch, 1958. |
| 1959 | Miguel Street. London: Andre Deutsch, 1959. |
| 1960 | Returns to Trinidad (September) on a scholarship granted by the government of Trinidad & Tobago; researches (travel from end of December 1960 through April 1961) |
| 1961 | Receives the Somerset Maugham Award for Miguel Street |
| 1961 | "The Little More." The Times (1961): 13. |
| 1961 | "Living Like a Millionaire." Vogue 138 (1961): 93-93, 144, 147. |
| 1961 | A House for Mr. Biswas. London: Andre Deutsch, 1961. |
| 1962 | "Trollope in the West Indies." The Listener 67. (March 15 1962): 461. |
| 1962 | "Tea With an Author." Bim 9 (1962): 79-81. |
| 1962 | "The Immigrants: Lo! The Poor West Indian." Punch 242 (1962): 124-26. |
| 1962 | Begins in February a year-long tour (via Greece and Egypt) of India during which he gathers material for An Area of Darkness. While traveling in Kashmir during the spring-summer he writes Mr Stone and the Knights Companion. |
| 1962 | The Middle Passage. London: Andre Deutsch, 1962. |
| 1963 | "India's Cast-Off Revolution." Sunday Times (1963): 17. |
| 1963 | "Sporting Life Beyond a Boundary." Encounter 21 (1963): 73-75. |
| 1963 | "Black Man's Burden." The New York Review of Books 1.5 (1963). |
| 1963 | Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion. London: Andre Deutsch, 1963. |
| 1964 | Receives the Hawthornden Prize for Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion. |
| 1964 | An Area of Darkness. London: Andre Deutsch, 1964. |
| 1964 | "Critics and Criticism." Bim 10.38 (1964): 74-77. |
| 1964 | "Speaking of Writing." The Times (1964): 11. |
| 1964 | "Trinidad." Mademoiselle 59 (1964): 187-88. |
| 1964 | "Words on Their Own." Times Literary Supplement (1964): 472. |
| 1965 | "They Are Staring at Me." Saturday Evening Post (1965): 82-84. |
| 1965 | "A West Indian Culture?" Illustrated Weekly of India 86 (1965): 23. |
| 1965 | Buys London house in the Stockwell district in early 1965 Travels in East Africa from December 1965 through September 1966. |
| 1966 | "The Last of the Aryans." Encounter 26 (1966): 61-66. |
| 1966 | Acts as Judge of the Duff Cooper Prize. University of Kampala, Uganda. |
| 1967 | The Mimic Men. London: Andre Deutsch, 1967. |
| 1967 | "What's Wrong With Being a Snob?" Saturday Evening Post (1967): 12, 18. |
| 1967 | A Flag on the Island. London: Andre Deutsch, 1967. |
| 1968 | Receives the W.H. Smith Prize for The Mimic Men. Sells Stockwell house in September. Travels in the Carribean, Central America, and the U.S. until September 1969 |
| 1968 | "Biafra's Rights." The Times (1968): 11. |
| 1968 | "I Don't Consider Myself a West Indian." Guyana Graphic (1968). |
| 1969 | The Loss of El Dorado. London: Andre Deutsch, 1969. |
| 1969 | "Anguilla: The Shipwrecked 6000." The New York Review of Books 12.8 (1969). |
| 1969 | "St. Kitts: Papa and the Power Set." The New York Review of Books 12.9 (1969): 23-27. |
| 1969 | "Et in America Ego." The Listener 82 (1969): 302-04. |
| 1969 | "Books of the Year: A Personal Choice." Observer (1969): 17. |
| 1970 | Moves to a cottage in Wiltshire. |
| 1970 | "New Year Predictions." The Listener 83 (1970): 17. |
| 1970 | "Power to the Caribbean People." The New York Review of Books 15.4 (1970). |
| 1971 | Early in year, travels to India and Mauritius for about ten weeks. Awarded Booker Prize. From November 1971-April 1972 visits Trinidad. |
| 1971 | "One Out of Many." Atlantic Monthly 227.4 (1971): 71-82. |
| 1971 | "The Election in Ajmer." Sunday Times Magazine (1971): 8, 17. |
| 1971 | "The Circus at Luxor: Epilogue to a Novel." The New York Review of Books 17.7 (1971): 8-12. |
| 1971 | "Escape From the Puritan Ethic." Daily Telegraph Magazine (1971): 38. |
| 1971 | In a Free State. London: Andre Deutsch, 1971. |
| 1972 | "Without a Dog's Chance." The New York Review of Books 18.9 (1972): 29-31. |
| 1972 | "Mauritius: the Overcrowded Barracoon." Sunday Times Magazine (1972): 4-38. |
| 1972 | "The King Over the Water: Juan Peron." Sunday Times (1972): 29-30. |
| 1972 | "The Corpse at the Iron Gate." The New York Review of Books 19.2 (1972). |
| 1972 | "Comprehending Borges ." The New York Review of Books 19.6 (1972). |
| 1972 | "It Is Not Easy to Be Famous in a Small Town." Daily Telegraph (1972): 37. |
| 1972 | The Overcrowded Barracoon. London: Andre Deutsch, 1972. |
| 1972/74 | During this period, works with many themes and ideas in addition to several journalism projects. Travels to Argentina, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Publishes various articles in NYRB and Sunday Times Magazine dealing with his travels and observations; mostly journalistic pieces. |
| 1974 | "A Country Dying on Its Feet." The New York Review of Books 21.5 (1974). |
| 1974 | "The Killings in Trinidad: Part One." Sunday Times Magazine (1974): 16-35. |
| 1974 | "The Killings in Trinidad: Part Two." Sunday Times Magazine (1974): 24-41. |
| 1974 | "Argentina: The Brothels Behind the Graveyard." The New York Review of Books 21.14 (1974). |
| 1974 | "Conrad's Darkness." The New York Review of Books 21.16 (1974). |
| 1974 | "The Reality and the Romance." Sunday Times Magazine (1974): 56-66. |
| 1974 | "The Secret Agent." The New York Review of Books 21. 19 (1974). |
| 1975 | Guerrillas. London: Andre Deutsch, 1975. |
| 1975 | Early in the year, travels to the Congo. Writes the foreword to Seepersad Naipaul's stories. Travels to India during August-November. |
| 1975 | "A New King for the Congo." The New York Review of Books 22.11 (1975): 19-25. |
| 1976 | "India: A Wounded Civilization." The New York Review of Books 23.7 (1976). |
| 1976 | "The Wounds of India." The New York Review of Books 23.8 (1976). |
| 1976 | "Bombay: The Skyscrapers and the Chawls." The New York Review of Books 23.10 (1976). |
| 1976 | "India: New Claim on the Land." The New York Review of Books 23.11 (1976): 11-18. |
| 1976 | "India: A Defect of Vision." The New York Review of Books 23.13 (1976): 14-19. |
| 1976 | "India: Synthesis and Mimicry." The New York Review of Books 23.14 (1976): 14-19. |
| 1976 | "India: Paradise Lost ." The New York Review of Books 23.17 (1976): 10, 12, 14-19. |
| 1977 | "India: Renaissance or Continuity." The New York Review of Books 23.21-22 (1977). |
| 1977 | India: A Wounded Civilization. London: Andre Deutsch, 1977. |
| 1978-79 | Distinguished Writer in Residence at Wesleyan College, Conneticut. |
| 1979 | A Bend in the River. London: Andre Deutsch, 1979. |
| 1979 | "Indian Art and Its Illusions." The New York Review of Books 26.4 (1979). |
| 1979 | "The Flight From the Fire." The New York Review of Books 26.7 (1979). |
| 1979 | "Argentine Terror: A Memoir." The New York Review of Books 26.15 (1979). |
| 1979 | Travels from August 1979 to February 1980 in Iran and other Muslim countries. |
| 1980 | The Return of Eva Peron, With The Killings in Trinidad. London: Andre Deutsch, 1980. |
| 1980 | Receives Bennett Award (Hudson Review). |
| 1981 | Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey. London: Andre Deutsch, 1981. |
| 1981 | "Tehran Winter." The New York Review of Books 28.15 (1981). |
| 1982 | "A Note on a Borrowing by Conrad." The New York Review of Books 29.20 (1982): 37-38. |
| 1983 | "Writing A House for Mr Biswas." The New York Review of Books 30.18 (1983): 22-23. |
| 1983 | Receives Jerusalem Prize. |
| 1984 | Finding the Center: Two Narratives. London: Andre Deutsch, 1984. |
| 1984 | "Heavy Manners in Grenada." Sunday Times Colour Magazine (1984): 23-31. |
| 1984 | "An Island Betrayed." Harper's Magazine 268 (1984): 61-72. |
| 1984 | "Among the Republicans." The New York Review of Books 31.16 (1984): 5-17. |
| 1984 | Attends the Republican Convention in Dallas; report appears in New York Review of Books. |
| 1986 | "Reflections of a Reluctant Gardener." House and Garden 158 (1986): 118-19. |
| 1986 | "The Enigma of Arrival." New Yorker (1986): 26-62. |
| 1986 | Awarded Ingersoll Prize. |
| 1987 | "My Brother's Tragic Sense." Spectator 258 (1987): 22-23. |
| 1987 | "The Ceremony of Farewell." The New York Review of Books 34.2 (1987). |
| 1987 | "On Being a Writer." The New York Review of Books 34.7 (1987). |
| 1987 | "Some Thoughts on Being a Writer." Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture 11.5 (1987): 13-15. |
| 1987 | Tours the Southern United States to study its culture. |
| 1987 | The Enigma of Arrival. London: Andre Deutsch, 1987. |
| 1988 | "Rednecks." The New York Review of Books 35.20 (1988). |
| 1989 | "A Turn in Atlanta." The New York Review of Books 35.21-22 (1989). |
| 1989 | A Turn in the South. London: Andre Deutsch, 1989. |
| 1990 | Awarded Trinity Cross, Trinidad & Tobago's highest honor. |
| 1990 | "The Shadow of the Guru." The New York Review of Books 37.20 (1990). |
| 1990 | India: A Million Mutinies Now. London: Heinemann, 1990. |
| 1991 | "Our Universal Civilization." The New York Review of Books 38.3 (1991): 22-25. |
| 1991 | "A Handful of Dust: Return to Guiana." The New York Review of Books 38.7 (1991): 15-20. |
| 1992 | "Argentina: Living With Cruelty." The New York Review of Books 39.3 (1992). |
| 1992 | "The End of Peronism? " The New York Review of Books 39.4 (1992). |
| 1993 | Receives first David Cohen Prize for life-time achievement. Archive acquired by the U. of Tulsa. |
| 1994 | "A Way in the World." The New York Review of Books 41.9 (1994). |
| 1994 | A Way in the World. London: Heinemann, 1994. |
| 1995 | "Acceptance Speech of the First David Cohen British Literature Prize." Wasafiri 21 (1995): 7-8. |
| 1995 | "Letters to a Young Writer." New Yorker 71.18 (1995): 144-53. |
| 1996 | Patricia Naipaul (married in 1955) dies on 3 February. Marries Nadira Alvi, 18 April. |
| 1998 | Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples. London: Little Brown, 1998. |
| 1998 | "Indonesia: The Man of the Moment." The New York Review of Books 45.10 (1998). |
| 1999 | Letters Between a Father and Son. London: Little, Brown and Co., 1999. |
| 1999 | "Reading & Writing." The New York Review of Books 46.3 (1999). |
| 1999 | "The Writer and India." The New York Review of Books 46.4 (1999). |
| 1999 | "Memento Mori." New Statesman 128.4467 (1999): 126. |
| 2000 | Reading & Writing: A Personal Account. New York: New York Review of Books, 2000. |
| 2001 | Half a Life. London: Picador, 2001. |
2001 2001 |
"Bohemia." The New Yorker (2001): 66-71. [a story] Receives Nobel Prize in Literature on October 11, 2001 |
| 2002 | The Writer and the World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. |
| 2003 | Literary Occasions: Essays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. |
| 2004 | "Suckers." The New Yorker (2004): 76-85. [a story] |
| 2004 | Magic Seeds. London: Picador, 2004. |
Last modified 8 March 2005