1921 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Events

March — Jorge Luis Borges returns to his birthplace, Buenos Aires in Argentina, after a period living with his family in Europe.
August 3 — Russian poet Nikolay Gumilyov's fate is sealed when he is arrested in the Soviet Union by the Cheka on charges of being a monarchist; on August 24 the Petrograd Cheka decrees execution of all 61 participants of the "Tagantsev Conspiracy", including Gumilyov. The exact dates and locations of their executions and burials are still unknown. He had divorced Russian poet Anna Akhmatova in 1918.
Autumn-Winter — T. S. Eliot works on The Waste Land in Margate and Lausanne.
December 31 — Mexican poet Manuel Maples Arce distributes the first Stridentist manifesto, Comprimido estridentista, in the broadsheet Actual n°1.
Mrs. C. A. Dawson-Scott founds PEN, an international Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists, in London with John Galsworthy, who becomes the organisation's first President; first members include Joseph Conrad, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells

Works published in English

Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada

Arthur Bourinot, Poems. Toronto: T.H. Best.
Wilson MacDonald, The Miracle Songs Of Jesus. Toronto: W. MacDonald.

India">Indian poetry">India in [Indian poetry in English]

Sri Aurobindo, Love and Death, long poem about the triumph of love over death, concerning the Ruru-Priyumvada legend
Toru Dutt, Life and Letters of Toru Dutt, London, Milford: Oxford University Press, Indian poet, writing in English, published in the United Kingdom
Maneck B. Pithawalla, A Wedding Feast, Karachi: M. B. Pithawalla* Poets of John Company, Calcutta: Tahcker, Spink and Co., 134 pages; anthology
K. S. R. Sastry, The Epic of Indian Womanhood, Madras: Imperial Trading Co.
Puran Singh, The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel and Other Sikh Poems, London: Dent
Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani, Ashoka and Other Poems, Delhi: self-published

United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom

Nancy Cunard, Outlaws
Walter de la Mare, The Veil, and Other Poems
Toru Dutt, Life and Letters of Toru Dutt, London, Milford: Oxford University Press, Indian poet, writing in English, published in the United Kingdom
T. S. Eliot, The Metaphysical Poets, critical essay on the Metaphysical poets of the 16th and 17th centuries
Robert Graves, The Pier-Glass
D. H. Lawrence, Tortoises
Bertram Lloyd, ed., The Great Kinship: An Anthology of Humanitarian Poetry
Charlotte Mew, Saturday Market
Vita Sackville-West, Orchard and Vineyard
John Collings Squire, Collected Parodies
Flora Thompson, Bog-Myrtle and Peat
W. B. Yeats, Irish author published in the United Kingdom:
* Michael Robartes and the Dancer, includes "The Second Coming" and "A Prayer For My Daughter"
* Four Plays for Dancers, adds "At the Hawk's Well" and "Calvary" to Two Plays for Dancers, published in 1919

United States">American poetry">United States

Conrad Aiken, Punch: The Immoratal Liar
Sherwood Anderson, The Triumph of the Egg
John Gould Fletcher, Breakers and Granite
Zona Gale, The Secret Way
H.D., Hymen
Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", in The Crisis
Amy Lowell, Legends
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Second April
Marianne Moore, Poems
Ezra Pound, Poems 1918–1921, New York
Charles Reznikoff, A Fourth Group of Verse
Edward Arlington Robinson, Avon's Harvest
William Carlos Williams, Sour Grapes
Yvor Winters, The Immobile Wind
Elinor Wylie, ''Nets to Catch the Wind''

Other in English

C. J. Dennis, A Book for Kids, Australia
Lesbia Harford, special issue of Birth devoted to her poetry, Australia
Patrick Joseph Hartigan, published under the pen name "Joseph O'Brien", Around the Boree Log and Other Verses, very popular Australian book of poetry which went into five editions and 18,000 copies by 1926; widely popularized across eastern Australia by recitations of John Byrne, praised in Ireland and the United States, made into a film in 1925, and 20 poems of the book were set to music in 1933; includes "Said Hanrahan", from which "We'll all be rooned" became an Australian catch phrase
W. B. Yeats, Irish author published in the United Kingdom:
* Michael Robartes and the Dancer, includes "The Second Coming" and "A Prayer For My Daughter"
* Four Plays for Dancers, adds "At the Hawk's Well" and "Calvary" to Two Plays for Dancers, published in 1919

Works published in other languages

France">French poetry">France

André Breton, Les Champs magnétiques
Max Jacob, Le Laboratoire central
Francis Jammes:
* Épitaphes, Paris: Librairie de l'Art catholic
* Le Tombeau de Jean de la Fontaine, Paris: Mercure de France
Pierre Reverdy, Étoiles peintes
Paul-Jean Toulet, Les Contrerimes, French

Indian">Indian poetry">Indian subcontinent

Including all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:

Amir Minai, Mina-yi, Urdu-language
Basavaraju Appa Rao, Basavaraju Appa Rao Gitalu, Telugu-language
Dimbeshwar Neog, Malika, Assamese-language
Govindagraj, Vagvaijayanti, 160 poems, including love poems and verses on social and mystic topics; with an introduction by N. C. Kelkar, Marathi-language
Padmadhar Chaliha, Svaraj Sangit, Indian, Assamese-language
Vallathol Narayana Menon, Magdalana Mariyam, a Malayalam khanda kavya about a repentant Mary consoled by Christ
Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Andhra paurusamu, Indian, Telugu-language, written in 1917 but printed in book form this year

Other languages

Anna Akhmatova, Plantain, Russian
August Alle, Carmina Barbata, Estonian
J. C. Bloem, Het verlangen, Dutch
António Botto, Canções, Portuguese
H. Leivick, The Golem, "dramatic poem in eight scenes", Yiddish
Federico García Lorca, Libro de poemas, Spain
Nikolay Gumilyov, The Pillar of Fire, Russian
Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Pastorale Austria
Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano, Avidez, Mexico
Carlos Pellicer, Colores en el mar, Mexico
Ramón López Velarde, La suave patria, Mexico

Births

Death years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article :

January 7 – Chester Kallman, American poet, librettist and translator best known for collaborations with Igor Stravinsky
January 15 – Raymond Souster, Canadian poet
January 31 – Kurt Marti, Swiss theologian and poet
March 1 – Richard Wilbur, American poet
April 6 – Marie Ponsot, née Birmingham, American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher and translator
April 13 – Max Harris, Australian poet, critic, columnist, commentator, publisher and bookseller
April 24 – Gabriel Okara, Nigerian poet and novelist
May 9:
* Daniel Berrigan, American Jesuit priest, poet and anti-war activist
* Mona Van Duyn, American poet
June 14 – John Bradburne, English poet and missionary
June 15 – James Emanuel, African-American poet and scholar
June 27 – Lex Banning, Australian poet born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak clearly or to write with a pen
June 29 – vasko Popa, Serbian poet
July 5 – Nanos Valaoritis, Greek poet, novelist and playwright
August 14 – Julia Hartwig, Polish poet
August 16 – Shiv K. Kumar, Indian, English-language poet, playwright and fiction writer
August 18 – Frédéric Jacques Temple, French poet and writer
August 21 – Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak, Telugu-language poet and story writer
August 31 – Hayden Carruth, American poet and literary critic
September 2 – Shukrullo, Uzbek poet
October 9 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer
October 13 – Dimitris Tsaloumas, Greek-born Australian poet, resident in Australia from 1952
October 17 – George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet, author and dramatist
December 25 – Nan McDonald, Australian poet and editor
December 26 – Adebayo Faleti, Nigerian poet, journalist, playwright, actor, broadcaster and translator
Also:
* Divya Prabha Bharali, Indian, Assamese-language poet; a woman
* Kathan Singh Jamal, Indian, Dogri-Pahadi-language poet
* Khizar Maghribi, Indian writer of parodies and humorous verse in the Kashmiri language
* Mangalacharan Chattopadhyay, Indian, Bengali-language Marxist poet
* Parsram Rohra, Indian, Sindhi-language
* Ramkrishna Sharma, Indian, Nepali-language critic, essayist, poet and short-story writer called the father of modern literary criticism in Nepali
* Rasananda Sahu, Indian, Oriya poet and novelist
* Shambhoo Nath Bhatt Haleem, Indian, Kashmiri-language poet and children's author
* Sarachchandra Muktibodh, Indian, Marathi-language poet and novelist
* Shrikrishna Powale, Indian, Marathi-language poet in the "Sthandil" Cult of Kusumagraj and Kant
* Sugan Ahuja, Indian, Sindhi-language poet and short-story writer

Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article :

January 13 – Francis William Bourdillon, 68, British poet and translator
February 15 – Akbar Allahabadi, 74, Indian, Urdu-language poet known for his satire
April 21 – Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert, Irish novelist, short-story writer and poet
May 26 – Donald Evans, American poet, publisher, music critic and journalist
June 18 – G. H. Gibson, "Ironbark", Australian
August 7 – Alexander Blok, 40, Russian poet known for his lyrics
circa August 25 – Nikolay Gumilyov, 35, Russian poet and former husband of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova
September 2 – Henry Austin Dobson, 61, English poet and essayist
September 11 – Subramania Bharati, Indian, Tamil-language writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist and social reformer, also writing Indian poetry in English
September 13 – James Hebblethwaite, English-born Australian poet, teacher and clergyman
September 26 – Matei Donici, 74, Romanian poet and Imperial Russian Army general
November 21 – Ernest Myers, 77, English poet and classicist
Also:
* Va. Ba. Patavardhan, Indian, Marathi-language critic and poet

Awards and honors

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: ''no award given''