Lerone Bennett Jr., American scholar, chronicler of life for the blacks in that country and editor of Ebony, 89 (born 1928) February 15 – Tosun Bayrak, Turkish writer and translator known for efforts on works of the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi, 92 (born 1926) Steven Collins, English-born American Buddhist studies scholar, 66 (born 1951) Iseabail Macleod , Scottish lexicographer and former Director of the Scottish National Dictionary Association, 81 (born 1936) Daniel Vernet, French writer, 72, (born 1945) February 16 – Eleanor Winsor Leach, American academic from whom "Vergilians learned much... on the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, her 1974 book on the Eclogues, her two major [of] Roman literature, art, and society, and many articles on Latin poetry and painting and their reception," 80 (born 1937) February 17 – Akinwunmi Isola, Nigerian playwright, novelist (O Leku) and promoter of the Yoruba language, 78 (born 1939) February 18 – John David Morley, English novelist and travel writer, 70 (born 1948) February 20 – Tōta Kaneko (金子兜太), Japanese Person of Cultural Merit, 2005 Cikada Prize recipient, 2015 Asahi Prize recipient, 98 (born 1919) Roy McDonald, Canadian poet, 80 (born 1937) Zigmas Zinkevičius, Lithuanian linguist-historian and 1994 Herder Prize recipient, 93 (born 1925) February 21 – Beryl Fletcher, New Zealand feminist novelist, 79 (born 1938) February 22 – Euler Granda, Ecuadorian poet and 2009 Premio Eugenio Espejo recipient, 82 (born 1935) February 23 – Wolfhart Westendorf, German Egyptologist, 93 (born 1924) February 25 – Michael Green, English novelist and playwright, 91 (born 1927) Cynthia Heimel, American feminist writer of satirical books and playwright, 70 (born 1947) Penny Vincenzi, English writer of novels and short stories, 78 (born 1939) February 28 – Pierre Milza, French historian and biographer, 85 (born 1932) March 1 – Diana Der Hovanessian, Armenian American poet, translator and professor at Yerevan State University, 83 (born 1934) March 2 – Adela Calva Reyes, Mexican writer and playwright, 50–51 (born 1967) Gordon Challis, New Zealand poet, 85 (born 1932) Ota Filip, Czech novelist who wrote both in German and Czech, 87 (born 1930) March 2 – Barbara Kiefer Lewalski, American literary scholar and authority on Renaissance literature known for work on John Milton, 87 (born 1931) March 3 – Jacques Gernet, French sinologist, 96 (born 1921) Emma Hannigan, Irish writer known for writing about her experience with cancer, 45 (born 1972) Anthony Lejeune, English writer, 89 (born 1928) Ivone Ramos, Cape Verdean